Eric Litman (‘One Piece’ editor) on being ‘so excited to get involved’ in Netflix live-action series [Exclusive Video Interview]
“One Piece” editor Eric Litman is “so excited to get involved” in the live-action Netflix version of the popular Japanese manga series by Eiichiro Oda, which was also turned into an animated TV show in 1999. Litman had previously collaborated with co-showrunner Matt Owens on Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” so he was happy to continue their working relationship on the new pirate-themed project. “When I finally got the call that they wanted to bring me on, I was just absolutely beyond myself,” the editor tells us. Watch the exclusive video interview above.
Litman calls it a “responsibility” and an “honor” to be a part of such a world-renowned franchise, adding, “You want to make sure you do right by the fans.” As he explains, “Anime hasn’t always translated well in the past. And we wanted to make sure that the fans really responded well to the show, and the way we did that was we wanted to make sure the show was grounded.”
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The ensemble of “One Piece” includes Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, Emily Rudd as Nami, Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp and Taz Skylar as Sanji, who all join together as the “Straw Hat Pirates” in search of the fabled “One Piece” treasure that has the power to elevate Luffy to become the “King of the Pirates.” Along the way, they encounter a cavalcade of colorful villains like Jeff Ward‘s Buggy the Clown and Vincent Regan‘s Monkey D. Garp.
Speaking about the young group of cast members, Litman declares, “Everybody came prepared to set and everybody on the show really knew their characters inside and out.” The artisan notes, “Plus, we also had the benefit of our our showrunners, Matt Owens and Steven Maeda, and then also Oda, who knew these characters really well, so they were able to steer the ship and give us very well thought-out notes to really help craft the show.”
Also in our exclusive video interview, Litman talks about setting the editorial tone in the “first 20 minutes” of the pilot, what his collaboration was like with the visual effects department, and why he chose the Zoro-themed fourth episode, titled “The Pirates Are Coming,” as his Emmy submission this year. As for the upcoming Season 2 of “One Piece,” he teases, “I’m pretty excited about where things are going. There are some pretty cool powers coming.”
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