by Rob Feld
Assembling the team to cut the murder mystery “The Better Sister” was a case study in post-production networking.
Gershon Hinkson first worked with series co-creator Olivia Milch on “Ocean’s Eight.” “We immediately kind of just clicked,” Hinkson said. “When she called me for ‘The Better Sister,’ my response was ‘Hell yes!’ Because where I’m from, if it’s not a hell yes…,” Hinkson’s voice trailed off.
Erica Freed was drawn to the show in part because of Hinkson. “As soon as I heard that Gershon was on it, I knew I definitely wanted to be on this show,” she said. The two had worked together, remotely, on “Severance” and immediately began mapping out how their collaboration could work this time. Jonah Moran rounded out the team, brought in through Freed’s persistent recommendations: “Every time Erica calls to ask, ‘What are you doing?’ my thought is, ‘You tell me.’” Moran recalled. “And it was this.”
“The Better Sister” is an eight-episode thriller on Amazon Prime based on the bestselling novel by Alafair Burke. It centers on Chloe (Jessica Biel), a high-profile media executive, and her estranged sister Nicky (Elizabeth Banks), who are forced to reunite after Chloe’s husband Adam (Corey Stoll) is murdered. As the sisters navigate their traumatic shared past, long-buried family secrets surface. The content gave the editors plenty of voices and approaches to play with, as the characters move back and forth through confusing memories, through a process that kept the edit front and center.
CineMontage: What was the editorial workflow like on this show and how much input did you have over how it was going to be structured?
Gershon Hinkson: There was an early debate about whether to block or cross-board, and Erica and I realized that if we just did block editing, we’d be stuck waiting around between episodes. At one point they wanted one of us to start and do the first two episodes alone. But we saw on the schedule that episodes one and two would be due only a week apart. That wasn’t enough time. We had to convince the producers and post team to let us leapfrog: Erica would take episode one, I’d cut episode two, then she’d do three, and Jonah would come on for four. It was a hard sell, because on paper the other way seemed more efficient. But we knew what it would look like once footage started coming in—and how easily a neat schedule could fall apart.
Gershon Hinkson, picture editor. PHOTO: Courtesy Gershon Hinkson.
Erica Freed: They were block shooting, which used to mean shoot an episode, cut an episode, turn it over. Then it became, bring on a director to shoot two at once, and editors can just do both—because we’re used to getting a full day of dailies. That system stuck for a while, but as editors, we started pushing back. We needed to dig in deeper, not just assembly line cut. So we made our case: split the block editorially. Now I see more shows adopting that model, and it’s so much better.
Hinkson: And Jonah coming on made a big difference too. Another factor is who your showrunner is. Ben [Watkins] ran it like a feature—time wasn’t the issue, it was the quality. That flexibility reminded me of working with Spike Lee on the “She’s Gotta Have It” series. When your showrunner’s an established voice, there’s usually more room to do the work right.
CineMontage: How did you develop the show’s editorial voice or grammar over the course of the season?
Freed: The pilot was pretty standalone. It was directed by Craig Gillespie, cut first by Tatiana Riegel, and I shepherded it through. A lot of their structure stayed in place. It set the tone, especially how we played with memory and perception—but it wasn’t really the same style we used later. One was setup-heavy. Everything else was about unraveling. We had early conversations about setting rules for memory and flashbacks—and then we broke those rules. It became, “Why is that guy in the scene? He’s dead.” But then we’d realize: “Right, this is a memory. He’s not really here.” That gave us license to show whatever felt authentic to the character’s experience in that moment.
CineMontage: What kind of coverage were you working with? Was it consistent, or did it vary by director?
Hinkson: It varied. Some directors liked a roving camera, some preferred to stay locked in space. But overall, I’d say the coverage was very accessible—nothing too slick or overly stylized. That helps keep viewers grounded in the story. It’s a tactic I’ve seen before. I remember talking to the DP from “Once Were Warriors” who described a similar approach.
Moran: And it gave us a ton of latitude. We could shift pacing, reorder scenes, truncate or expand moments—it was great for building propulsive episodes. Because it’s a thriller, we had to keep things moving but also know when to let the tension breathe. The coverage really let us make those adjustments.
Hinkson: If it had been more stylized, we’d have been locked into one approach. But this gave us options.
CineMontage: Was there a moment you struggled with, where finding the solution taught you something about the show or your team?
Hinkson: For me, it was tone. In episode two, there’s a scene in the interview room. I cut it a little creepy—created tension between the detectives and the suspect. It worked, but once the rest of the season started coming together, it didn’t match the tone we were building. The performances stayed, but I reworked the pacing and score to bring it in line. There was nothing wrong with the first version—it just didn’t belong in this version of the show. You find the path once you’re walking it.
Moran: I came in last, and because I only had two episodes, I also took on a lot of side missions. Ben would call and say, “I’ve got something for you—let’s play with this scene.” We’d workshop something for a few days—often flashbacks or surreal moments—and see how far we could push it. Some scenes got moved, dropped, or repurposed. Sometimes it was, “What happens if we add just this little visual blur?” It was exhilarating. The structure of our editorial team gave us the flexibility to keep evolving the visual language of the series.
Freed: Those flashbacks—we were constantly reinventing them. Some were written as full scenes with dialogue, but on screen, they just felt too long. We’d cut them down to a single beat, and that gave the moment more emotional impact than the whole scripted scene. Then we’d come back into the present with the character in turmoil over that one memory. Jonah had this bird’s-eye view at the end, so he was going back and pulling pieces into new places. The pacing just got tighter and tighter. It’s what you hope for in a team of editors—to be able to collaborate like that—but it doesn’t always happen. Here, it really did.
Erica Freed, picture editor. PHOTO: Courtesy Erica Freed.
Hinkson: Toward the end, they sent us links to all the finished episodes, and I was blown away by what Erica and Jonah had done. I remember watching the opening of episode eight, thinking, “This is incredible.” During the process, we were all so focused—heads down, trying to hit deadlines. We didn’t have time to appreciate each other’s work. Once the showrunners locked in, the whole thing really clicked. I get goosebumps thinking about it. It was a great experience—one of those jobs where everything aligned. This is a show I think people are going to want to watch from start to finish. It’s not going to suffer from series fatigue.
Moran: I thought I was signing on for a thriller—and it is—but it turned out to be so much more. There are these emotional, performative moments, and then sudden humor. Watching Erica and Gershon’s cuts, I’d laugh out loud at unexpected moments. The choices were always surprising and alive. It’s not just one thing—it’s many things—and that’s what makes it exciting.
