Cory Stillman
Hulu’s Vanderpump Villa just might be one of the funniest reality TV shows in recent memory, following the chaotic employees at the luxurious French château of the same name. But beyond hilarious stars like Lisa Vanderpump and Marciano Brunette, much of the show’s comedy stems from its stellar editing team, including Kelley Tourangeau, Kara Torsney-Weir, and Lauren Stava.
“Every show has its own editing challenges, but what was great about Vanderpump Villa was how the team wanted to lean into the comedy. We had such an incredible cast that provided us with such amazing content,” says Tourangeau. “On Vanderpump Villa we found the line between keeping the emotional elements and pairing them with comedic beats.”
Music plays a pivotal role in advancing the comedy of the show, not just in terms of genre but also in how it is incorporated alongside a given scene.
“You can take the most simple look one cast member is giving another, and change the meaning behind it with each different genre of music you place under it,” says Stava. “Stops in the music can also help punctuate a particular moment.”
Of course, what is perhaps most impressive about Vanderpump Villa is how all that hilarious storytelling is culled together from hundreds of hours of raw footage. Tourangeau, Torsney-Weir, and Stava all relied on a tight workflow and a rapid pace in preparing each episode for release. They approach their episodes with a rough idea of what the story will be, but sifting through footage can often lead to a few fun surprises.
“We start our edit from a story stringout that depicts what the general story for that episode should be. Then we watch the raw footage to make sure there’s nothing missing from the stringout that will make the best scene possible,” Tourangeau says.
“When we first get the episode, we watch the raw footage through the lens of the overall style of the show. On this show, we had some really cool ways to tell the stories of the cast and the Villa guests. For example, we used what we called upstairs/downstairs transitions to show the contrast between the working life of the cast members and the luxurious stay of the guests,” Torsney-Weir explains.
Check out our full conversation below with this talented trio of women cutting together your favorite episodes of Vanderpump Villa!
How did each of you become involved with editing Vanderpump Villa?
Kelley Tourangeau: I started my career at Bunim/Murray Productions which is known for creating the first unscripted series with The Real World, and creating hits such as, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, The Challenge and Total Divas. It has been an amazing experience because I was able to work my way up from Logger to Editor at this company. I had already worked with the Executive Producer on Vanderpump Villa, Jacob Lane, and Supervising Producer, Kaitlyn Cavanagh, on a handful of shows and established a great working relationship with them. So when they were starting up Vanderpump Villa, the stars aligned and I was brought onto the project.
Kara Torsney-Weir: I’ve worked with Bunim/Murray on a number of shows so when this opportunity arose, I just had to jump on it! The team, the content – it was all going to be too good to pass up!
Lauren Stava: I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Bunim-Murray Productions, who produces Vanderpump Villa, on many different shows over the last decade. They reached out to me and asked if I would like to work on VPV, and I immediately accepted. I love working with this team, and am so excited that we get to contribute to the Vanderpump Universe.
Can you describe your typical workflow when editing an episode of the show?
Tourangeau: We start our edit from a story stringout that depicts what the general story for that episode should be. Then we watch the raw footage to make sure there’s nothing missing from the stringout that will make the best scene possible. Once we’ve finished a radio edit – the picture and dialogue is what we want it to be, we move onto sound design and music to enhance the story.
What is the process like for selecting and integrating music into the episodes?
Stava: We used a combination of library cues and original scoring for the sound of Vanderpump Villa. Our very talented Composer, David Korkis, provided a classical and elegant feel for the stylistically-heavy portions of the show. And our very talented Music Supervisor, Kate Rubino, balanced this out by providing everything from quirky comedy cues to popular music, from artists such as Selena Gomez.
Can you talk about how you balance the different elements (dialogue, music, SFX) to create a cohesive final product?
Tourangeau: Yes of course! For my workflow, I typically do a radio cut of the dialogue first. In doing so, I work out the pacing of the scene. Whenever I get a stringout, if time is permitting, I always watch the raw footage because there, you can find the gems that can enhance the storyline that might not be included in the stringouts. Once I get that to my liking, I start the fun part- music. Music can help set the tone of the story we’re telling coupled with sound design. The style of the series can ensure that all of the episodes are cohesive. For example, in Vanderpump Villa, we had these beautiful Upstairs/ Downstairs transitions. We would have a split screen to show what the guests were experiencing versus what the staff were preparing for them. And of course we got to see the beautiful food that the talented chefs created to curate the experience for the guests.
Can you share an example of a particularly challenging scene to edit and how you approached it?
Tourangeau: Every show has its own editing challenges, but what was great about Vanderpump Villa was how the team wanted to lean into the comedy. We had such an incredible cast that provided us with such amazing content. On Vanderpump Villa we found the line between keeping the emotional elements and pairing them with comedic beats. In editing Vanderpump Villa it was amazing to combine so many elements. You have the drama with the staff, the visually stunning events that we have come to expect from Lisa Vanderpump, and the touching stories of the guests that stay at the Villa. But one of my favorite scenes that I got to work was in episode 101. It was a scene filled with drama. Marciano, one of the servers, was upset with Telly, one of the bartenders, for leaving the bar and not making drinks for the guests quickly enough. This scene was an act out and I was able to enhance it with music and sound design to entice the audience to stick around for the next act.
How do you approach editing to ensure that the narrative arc of each episode is engaging?
Torsney-Weir: When we first get the episode, we watch the raw footage through the lens of the overall style of the show. On this show, we had some really cool ways to tell the stories of the cast and the Villa guests. For example, we used what we called upstairs/downstairs transitions to show the contrast between the working life of the cast members and the luxurious stay of the guests.
Are there specific techniques you use to enhance the drama or humor in certain scenes?
Torsney-Weir: I always love to find natural stops in my comedy cues to highlight a fun moment or joke. For drama, we have a large sound effect library full of great risers and hits to elevate the emotions.
Stava: Music definitely plays a key role in enhancing the drama or humor in certain scenes. You can take the most simple look one cast member is giving another, and change the meaning behind it with each different genre of music you place under it. Stops in the music can also help punctuate a particular moment. On Vanderpump Villa, we use music stops quite frequently during both dramatic and comedic moments, to really highlight the terrible or hilarious thing that was said. Music becomes its own character in this show, and as editors we had a lot of fun with some of the non-traditional ways we were able to use some of these songs.
What role does collaboration play in your editing process, both within your team and with other departments?
Stava: This show had a fairly fast-paced schedule, but that allowed every Editor to get their hands on almost every episode in the season. This is usually rare, and it’s a really cool thing to be involved from the beginning to the end, instead of living on your own episode island. Some days some of us would be building new episodes, while others were addressing notes on the rest. Then we would rotate around depending on the cut schedule for that week, which always kept things fresh and exciting.
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