Picture editor Timothy A. Good, ACE, played a crucial role in shaping season one of the post-apocalyptic drama The Last of Us, cutting seven of the nine episodes, including the pilot. Good is proud of all his work on the HBO series, but episode three holds a special place in his heart.
"I almost felt like it was meant for me to cut," he says of "Long, Long Time," which focuses on the love story between Bill (Nick Offerman), a hardened survivor living alone in an abandoned town, and Frank (Murray Bartlett), a stranger eager for company.
"I am a Frank; I am married to a Bill," says Good, whose husband is screenwriter Elias Madias (True Love Blooms).
Watching the dailies of the episode, which was written by series cocreator Craig Mazin, Good picked up on the signals Bill and Frank were giving each other as gay men as they tried to figure each other out and make each other feel safe. "All of those little nuances I was very keenly aware of, and it was very important for me to get those into the episode," he points out.
Queer romance also abounds in episode seven, "Left Behind," in which Riley (Storm Reid) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) sneak out to an abandoned mall and share a kiss. Good says his co-editor Emily Mendez's voice as a lesbian and a woman was needed on that episode. So he enlisted the up-and-coming talent to cut half of the story. "She found things I would've never known," he says.
Good, a visiting lecturer at UCLA, values mentorship, noting he benefitted from the support of other editors early on in his career. After graduating from Northwestern University, Good, who grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, moved to Los Angeles and was hired as an assistant editor on The O.C., where he was mentored by editor Norman Buckley, now a director. "He taught me the craft that I didn't have," Good says.
By the fourth and final season of The O.C., Good was a full-fledged editor. Then series creator Josh Schwartz and executive producer Stephanie Savage asked him to edit the pilot of their next show, Gossip Girl. Good says that opportunity put him on the map. He went on to edit Fringe and The Umbrella Academy before diving into The Last of Us.
Good sees himself — and all editors — as nurturers and caretakers of stories. Editors are also curious and keen observers, he says. "When I'm at dinner, I'm more interested in the next table than I am in my own," he says. "I'm always like, 'How are they doing? What's going on over there?'"
