Star Trek: Discovery editor Chad Rubel shares his experience on remote post-production for season 3

Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham in Star Trek: Discovery season 3

Fans of Star Trek: Discovery might be wondering just what is going on behind the scenes as editing continues remotely and no announcement of a premiere date for season 3. In a recent interview with Trek Report, series editor Chad Rubel shared his lifelong love for the franchise, giving a look at the process of remotely editing a high profile series like Discovery during the pandemic.

A lifelong fan, Rubel is no stranger to the enormous amount of content set forth in the Star Trek universe, which he says makes the job of editing more of a challenge. “The hardest part of working on such a big franchise is that there is a lot more riding on it,” Rubel said. “Normally, you are creating a world on a new show. On Discovery, you have a world that has already been established, and you want it all to work on a bigger level.”

In the interview, Rubel said that while he is in contact prior to filming, he doesn’t actually meet with episode directors until shooting has completed. When production halted in Hollywood offices back in March, the post production team began working from home after transferring all of the season 3 footage to “giant hard drives”, according to Rubel. 

“When editing from home, I was able to stream the episode in real-time to producers over the internet to give notes,” Rubel told Trek Report. “That way, I was able to make changes and have them watch with no lag in time...It actually worked out great.”

Rubel’s editing work for Star Trek extends beyond Discovery, as he also edited two Short Treks, “Ask Not” and “Children of Mars”. According to Trek Report, Rubel’s filmmaking roots run deep, all the way back to a TV production course in high school which originally inspired him to pursue the field.

While he didn’t give any hints as to a release date for season 3 of Discovery, Rubel is confident that audiences won’t be disappointed. “All of the post departments are going above and beyond working remotely on Discovery,” he said, adding “I am really proud of the work that we did and can’t wait for the fans to see season 3.”

Sadly, all of us fans will have to wait, for a while at least. Until then, we can use the time to brush up on seasons 1 and 2 of Star Trek: Discovery, streaming now on CBS All Access.