The Editing Process Behind Dialogue-Driven Drama The Revisionist

Editor Jon Fine joins GG Hawkins to discuss shaping The Revisionist, a dialogue-driven drama directed by Alex Vlack and starring Alison Brie, André Holland, and Dustin Hoffman. Fine explains how the cast’s performances transformed the tone of the script, how music and abrupt sonic interruptions helped place viewers inside a writer’s creative process, and how restructuring the film made its shifting layers of fiction and reality clearer. He also shares his Premiere Pro workflow, his approach to testing editorial ideas, and why emerging filmmakers should learn by making their own projects.

In this episode, No Film School's GG Hawkins and guest Jon Fine discuss...

• How Fine’s longtime creative partnership with director Alex Vlack led to The Revisionist

• Discovering unexpected humor and tragedy in the actors’ interpretations of the script

• Finding a consistent tone across four distinct central performances

• The creative advantages of having an editor and director work together in the same room

• Using Philip Klein’s score to evoke the interior world of Alison Brie’s writer character

• Interrupting music with hard cuts to create surprise, humor, and playfulness

• Organizing scenes, takes, transcripts, and searchable dialogue in Adobe Premiere Pro

• Building a fast first assembly that closely followed the original screenplay

• Restructuring the film to make the writer’s influence over the unfolding story more apparent

• Using producer, audience, and actor feedback throughout the iterative editing process

• Balancing the ensemble while keeping Alison Brie’s character as the story’s emotional anchor

• Finding usable moments within Dustin Hoffman’s improvisations

• Why limited locations, a small cast, and dialogue-heavy scenes can benefit independent filmmakers

• Auditioning editorial ideas quickly instead of becoming overly attached to one version

• Creating an editing environment with natural light, plants, instruments, and opportunities to step outside

• What traditional editors can learn from filmmakers cutting polished videos on their phones

• Why the most effective way to learn editing is to make films with friends

Memorable Quotes:

• “I still think the best way to make a film is to be in the room with someone.”

• “We wanted it to feel like you were inside of the head of a writer. You’re in her mind.”

• “I’m really in favor of just auditioning ideas and trying things.”

• “I think the best way to learn is in practice.”

Guests:

• Jon Fine

Resources:

• The Revisionist on IMDb

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