Framing Britney Spears

Matt Feury

Editors – Geoff O’Brien and Pierre Takal

Framing Britney Spears editors Geoff O’Brien and Pierre Takal joined forces to take on the monumental editorial challenge of compressing twenty years into just over an hour of screen time to tell a story that is both informative and provocative.  Released on February 5, 2021 as an edition of The New York Times Presents on FX and FX on Hulu, the documentary explores Spears’s rise to fame as a pop star, her treatment by the paparazzi, her highly publicized breakdown in 2007, and her court-mandated conservatorship overseen by her father.  The documentary received critical acclaim and garnered two nominations at the 73rd Primetime Emmy® Awards; including a nomination for Geoff and Pierre’s work in the cutting room.

GEOFF O’BRIEN

Aside from his work on Framing Britney Spears, Geoff has been a major creative contributor and editor for series including The Weekly from The New York Times, Fiasco on Epix and PBS’s Frontline. He also worked on three award-winning feature documentaries, Note By Note: The Making of Steinway L1037; Brick By Brick (a documentary that chronicles segregation in the Yonkers public school system) and It Started As A Joke (chronicling Eugene Mirman and his comedy festival).

PIERRE TAKAL

In addition to his work on the New York Times Presents series, Pierre has cut for the PBS investigative series, Frontline and on documentaries such as Eagle Huntress, Rats, I am Human and One Direction: This Is Us.  But that’s not all.  Not only does Pierre Takal do Emmy®-worthy work in the editing room, he’s also an accomplished composer, at times taking on both composing and editing duties on the same project.

Editing Framing Britney Spears

In our discussion with Framing Britney Spears editors Geoff O’Brien and Pierre Takal, we talk about:

  • Utilizing the resources of The New York Times
  • Collaborating  remotely during the pandemic
  • Quickly setting the context for the conservatorship controversy
  • Knowing where to stop on a story that is still unfolding
  • How this project evolved their opinions of their own industry

The Credits

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