Tisch alum A.J. Catoline always had an interest in film and writing, but he discovered that his true passion was for editing in an NYU filmmaking course. Now, he’s an Emmy-winning film editor and has worked on many unscripted series, documentary films and iconic television shows — including the critically acclaimed “Ted Lasso” on Apple TV+.
In an interview with WSN, Catoline discussed NYU’s influence on his career journey, his professional insights and the challenges facing the entertainment industry.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
WSN: What inspired you to pursue film editing?
Catoline: I discovered editing first when I was at NYU. I was really impressed with how the emotion of a film changed with changing shots, editing and adding music and sound effects — and it really blew my mind. I actually liked it a bit more than writing, because when you write something, it’s not the finished product. If you write a screenplay, it has to be produced. If you write a novel, it has to be published. So there’s always another layer of steps for a writer to deliver their product, but what I found with film was that it’s the final delivery. The editor is taking these shots and this sound and making a film, so to me, it was like writing, but with pictures and sound instead of words. That really impressed me and I thought, this is for me, because I really see the power of this.
Catoline, who grew up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in dramatic writing in 1992. After that, he moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in the University of Southern California’s professional writing program.
Catoline’s got his first major professional editing position as he was working on a school film project while studying at USC. His documentary, titled “Timothy Leary’s Last Trip,” takes place from the 1960s to 1996 and centers around Leary — a psychologist, author and psychedelic advocate — as he reflects on his life.
WSN: How did ‘Timothy Leary’s Last Trip’ propel your career?
Catoline: For that documentary, I was the filmmaker and editor as well. It went to a film festival called Slamdance, which runs as the counterculture festival of Sundance. I did an interview on a news magazine TV show focused on different counterculture and paranormal subjects, and when they put me on the show, I said to them, ‘Well, what about all these other stories you’re telling — do you need an editor or a producer?’ They said, ‘absolutely,’ so they hired me. Once I got on that show, I got more and more credits in television and comedy and reality, and it just kept building, and I just kept going from project to project to project. But then the goal for me was to move into scripted television, which requires a bit more credits and a bit more connections.
Over the past 25 years, Catoline has garnered a wide range of experience as a freelance picture editor. His credits include reality shows like “Flavor of Love,” sitcoms such as “Speechless” on ABC and independent series like “Brockmire.”
In 2020, Catoline began working on the show “Ted Lasso,” which follows an American college football coach who travels to London to revive a struggling Premier League soccer team. The popular comedy show has earned dozens of accolades since its first season, including TCA Awards, Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards. In 2021, Catoline took home an Emmy for Single-Camera Picture Editing for his work on the show.
WSN: What was your favorite message from ‘Ted Lasso?’
Catoline: The word of the show is ‘believe,’ and in the episode that I won an Emmy for — which is the finale of season one — the title of that episode was ‘The Hope That Kills You.’ The show aired in August of 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic, and the title was great because that’s all everyone had at that time: hope. People were going through hard times, and everyone had hoped things would get better, but sometimes despite our dreams, we all deal with the negativity in life. In that episode, there is a time when Ted Lasso, the coach, gives a beautiful speech about how it’s easier to go through challenges when you’re with friends and family and community, and that resonated with me. I just absolutely loved editing that and I still cry when I watch it, even though I’ve seen it thousands of times. That’s how I knew it was working as an editor — if it’s working on me after all these views, and it’s going to work with an audience too.
When he’s not editing “Ted Lasso,” Catoline serves on the board of directors for the Motion Picture Editors Guild, a union that represents over 8,800 film and television editors across the United States. He said that the union has allowed him to find a community of other filmmakers during unprecedented challenges, especially the loss of jobs following an increased prevalence of artificial intelligence in the industry. As the publications committee chair for the union, Catoline often writes about members’ stories for CineMontage Magazine.
Catoline said that in his years of experience, he’s found that keeping strong connections with professionals and being active in the industry community is the “biggest key to success.”
WSN: How has the entertainment industry changed over your career?
Catoline: Fortunately, I found a lot of work during the time we’ve referred to in Hollywood recently as ‘peak TV,’ where all these streaming networks were making these incredible shows. Many have said this golden age of TV has ended, but I hope not, and I hope it will rebound. We’ve had a real challenge in Hollywood and we’ve taken a lot of hits. We had COVID, then we had two historic dual strikes with the writers and the actors and now we’re dealing with the fires, which was not a great start for our industry in 2025. But I am grateful because I got to work on great show after great show, culminating in ‘Ted Lasso,’ which was the best job I ever had in my life. I am very grateful, and now I am looking forward to seeing what is next and will be ready to transition into whatever our new industry will be.
Contact Amelia Hernandez Gioia at [email protected].
