Thursday, Aug 13, 2026
Have you ever watched an episode of Apple TV+’s heartfelt comedy, Ted Lasso, and found yourself getting a little misty-eyed? You’re not alone.
A.J. Catoline ‘92 (BFA, Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing), Emmy-award winning editor of all four seasons of Ted Lasso, says that’s the very thing that helps him know when a story is going to work. He can just feel it.
Catoline, a graduate of the Tisch Dramatic Writing program, started at NYU with the goal of becoming a writer. During his time at Tisch, he quickly discovered a passion for writing in a different way: editing. This passion led him to work on a wide variety of projects from the late 90’s to today, where he has worked as one of the picture editors on the hit TV series since 2019. Season 4 of the show just launched on August 5, 2026, featuring a whole new cast, but according to Catoline, the same heart.
Alex Manges, Assistant Director of Tisch Alumni Relations, sat down with A.J. to learn more about his time at Tisch, and how the wholesome Ted Lasso ethos extends beyond the screens.
Tell me about what brought you to NYU Tisch.
A.J. Catoline: We lived in Paris when I was young which made a huge impression on me creatively. The art, the culture, film & theater, everything. I'd always been interested in film and theater, so when it came time to look for schools, it was kind of a simple thing. I went to visit NYU and I saw the arch in Washington Square Park. I think it made some artistic connection with the Arc de Triomphe in my brain, and New York City immediately felt familiar. I applied to Tisch, got in, and received a small scholarship! That really was important to me. I'm grateful that the school had that funding from generous alumni donors who helped me go to Tisch.
Did you have any professors or classes at NYU that sparked an interest in editing?
AJC: I was very interested in screenwriting and journalism, which led me to the Dramatic Writing department. What I really loved about Tisch was the integration with other departments. They encouraged us to take that elevator to see what was going on on other floors, so I did!
I did a lot of TA-ing in the television classes, which were up on the top floor in those beautiful studios. Getting my hands on that equipment early on really started to push my mind into thinking about the different possibilities of storytelling.
There was a class called “Video as Tool and Art”, and I remember the name because it stuck with me. We had to go shoot something and then cut a short film. That was where I first saw the magic of editing and discovered that you can change the music, you can change the order of shots, and it completely changes the feeling of the cut and the story that you're telling.
I learned that editing was just like writing, but with picture and sound.
Where did you land after graduating from NYU Tisch?
AJC: After Tisch, I went out to LA and got a master’s degree at USC. I started to discover editing using computers, like Avid Media Composer. I took that same mentality from NYU of, "I need to borrow equipment when other people aren't using it," so I’d be in editing rooms at 2 in the morning working on anything I could.
I started to just explore, and I did PSAs, short documentaries, short films, music videos, and I started to build a knack for editing professionally. I got my first paid editing job in the late 90s with an LA news program, around 1997, and I've been doing it ever since. I worked for MTV, I did The Tom Green Show and I did some of the early Jackass videos.
There was an explosion of reality TV around the early 2000s. I got my foothold in the business through unscripted programs, but always focused on comedy. Scripted and unscripted editors usually stay in their own lanes, but I always wanted to bridge them and do both. Around 2014 or so, I started trying my hand at more scripted projects. Coincidentally, I did a show that Jason Sudeikis was in for the History Channel where Dan Harmon did spoofs on historical characters, and Jason came along and played Thomas Edison. I never got to meet Jason there, but I got to edit him, and I was like, "This guy's great!"
How did you find your way to Ted Lasso?
AJC: Several years before Ted Lasso, I interviewed with a producer I really liked. I didn’t get hired for that editing position, but we kept in touch. Years later, my agent sent me a few upcoming projects that were looking for editors. One of them was Ted Lasso, and I saw that Jason was in it, and the producer that I had met with all those years ago was attached to the project. So I called him up! He said, I think they’re hiring someone but I don’t know. I thought that was it until a little while later he called back and said, “Listen, this show's supposed to start in the next 2 months, and we still haven't hired an editor. Are you available?” I was like, “Hell yes.”
None of us knew what this show was going to be. We went online and googled “Ted Lasso” and saw that it was based on an NBC ad campaign from 2013 to promote the Premier League. We thought it was going to be a sketch comedy show, but then we got the scripts—they were these beautiful, long-written stories that were very, both dramatic and comedic, and had a lot of heart and a lot of very rich and deep characters.
None of us had any idea it was going to become a massive hit. I just think we were regular, good people trying to make the best show we could, which allowed us to be ourselves and create something wonderful together.
The first season aired during the pandemic, in August 2020, and everyone tells me the show just hit at the perfect time. It was exactly what people needed at that time in the middle of the pandemic, that sense of hope. It still is today.
What is one of your most impactful memories from your four seasons on the show?
AJC: I cut an episode called The Hope That Kills You, which was the finale of Season One. It’s a beautiful culmination about hope, loss, and moving forward together, and I had the pleasure to work on it with Jason.
I was nominated for an Emmy for the episode, which I never thought would happen in my career. At the ceremony, Brendan Hunt [the actor who plays Coach Beard] announced the winner. When he said “The winner is A.J. Catoline for Ted Lasso.”, it was as if it was an editing effect—the sound dropped out, and everything went into slow-mo. I walked up on that stage in this, like, vortex of, ‘Oh my god, I can't believe this is happening. I'm up on the Emmy stage.’ It was a beautiful moment for me.
People tell me, you know, Ted Lasso changed my life. I'm like, it changed mine, too.
Ted Lasso’s overall ethos is one of friendship, support, and found family, and it seems like that comes from a true place with the creators. Can you talk a bit about what makes the production team so unique?
AJC: Jason Sudeikis likes to say that Ted Lasso is not just a TV show, it's a vibe. It is very much a family of the cast and the crew. The cast are obviously very close, and we’re friends with them as well, but there’s something special specifically with the post-production crew.
I've been on this from the beginning with Melissa McCoy and Francesca Castro and Alex Szabo. We call ourselves the OG Crew, which is very rare in Hollywood. Usually, as a show moves through its seasons, people leave, they go on to other projects, some people get not asked back—it happens, it's just the way Hollywood works. It is very rare to have the same crew on season four of a show that you had on season one. I believe it’s because we love each other, we work so well together, we have such a creative shorthand with each other. Oftentimes we don't even need to kind of speak, we can kind of feel what the other person wants, like a mind-meld thing.
As an editor, how do you know when you’ve hit the right tone with an episode?
AJC: I've said this before, and I'm happy to say it to you: there are times that I get teary-eyed editing this show. Even after a thousand times of watching something, I still get to a point where I get misty-eyed—it’s my own way of knowing that something is clicking. And I told that to Jason the other day, I was like, I can tell you this is working because I'm still getting the feels.
That's important for an editor. It's not just about making the cuts, you want to feel the cuts. You want to be able to play it back and feel it. I would encourage young editors to be in touch with their senses and their feelings, because you'll know it when you're cutting something together. If you feel it, the audience will feel it, and that’s where the story shines.
Do you have any advice for film students as they begin their careers?
AJC: The advice I give to everyone is to keep your connections. Stay in touch with everyone, because someone you met 10 years ago could be producing a great show—you just never know.
One of my dear friends from Tisch was filmmaker Morgan Spurlock [Super Size Me], who sadly died a few years ago. We stayed in touch forever, and some NYU friends and I a memorial tribute for him. I cut a film about his life and all his work, and that was very emotional. You make those friends early, and you keep them.
I also encourage all students in film school to look up the guild for your craft: editing, camera, hair and makeup, art directors etc. They’re all there, and they’re incredibly powerful resources. These unions are great opportunities to meet people and to get involved and really be a part of the collective work of saving our beloved film industry, and bringing it back to the health it deserves to be at.
