Hillary Wills

## External Links

> *It's a labor of love.*— Hillary Wills, on working on *The Orville*
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**Hillary Wills** was an editor on *The Orville**.* She joined the show for the second season as an assistant editor and took the reigns as editor for the episode *Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow*. She served as an editor on Season 3. Wills left the show at the end of December 3, 2021, following post-production of Season 3.

## Background

In an interview with the Planetary Union Network, Wills said she entered the film industry thanks to *Star Trek: The Next Generation* and *Doctor Who*, which she watched growing up.

## The Orville

Hillary Wills actively jockeyed for a job in The Orville's editing department during Season 1 and was hired in time to work on the next season under editor Tom Costantino. "I watched the pilot of The Orville and the pilot of *Star Trek: Discovery* back-to-back last year, and set my sights on The Orville. I did everything I could to meet Tom, become friends with him, and work my way onto the show."

Wills first met Costantino at the ACE (American Cinema Editors) Awards Show. She recounts that she fastidiously checked the guest list under the surname letter 'C' to see if Costantino checked in, and chat with him about working on the show.

Upon joining, she was happy to learn that, with only two editor/assistant teams (the other being Scott Powell and Bart Rachmil), she had more material to work on than with other shows.

In August 2018, Wills described her work routine on the show:

> *I receive the dailies in the morning and verify all the paperwork and footage has been transferred, [then] prep it for Tom to use ... as well as [ScriptSync] the footage to a digital script so he can click on a line of dialogue and play all of the takes of that line. I also do a lot of sound design, temp VFX, marking and tracking VFX, marking and tracking ADR, importing and cutting in ADR, creating outputs, and a billion other things!*
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She works on up to 350 effects shots per episode.

### Season 3

Wills announced on November 12, 2019 that she had been promoted to editor for Season 3. She worked on the show through its post-production. On December 3, 2021, Wills announced via Twitter that it would be her final day working on the show: "I may be a little misty eyed myself. Working on #TheOrville was an unforgettable experience and i'll [*sic*] be forever grateful to be a part of it!"

## Trivia

* After watching the pilot, Wills says she thought The Orville was a comedy-parody of *Star Trek*.

## Interviews

* "Space Farce" - Group interview with the editing department
* Planetary Union Network episode #17: Interview with the editors
* Matt Feury interviews Wills and Costantino

## References

1. ↑ [[1]]
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The Orville Fan Podcast w/ Tom Costantino, Scott Powell, Bart Rachmil & Hillary Wills". Planetary Union Network. March 19, 2018.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Orville: TV Editorial. Avid at NAB. 2019.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 u/HillaryEdits. "Hi Reddit! Want to talk editing? AMA with Tom Costantino happening here!". Reddit. Aug. 2018.
5. ↑ Goldman, Michael. "Space Farce : The Exploratory Workflow of ‘The Orville’". *CineMontage*. Aug. 17, 2018.
6. ↑ @ChillyKillary. "Whoops my insta isn’t public - here is the pic!". Twitter. Nov. 12, 2019.
7. ↑ @ChillyKillary. "It’s true, I wrap today on #TheOrville s3. It’s ambitious, beautiful, and amazing- as are the cast and crew. I love you guys. Rocket". Twitter. Dec. 3, 2021.
8. ↑ @ChillyKillary. "Smiling face with tear Thank you
@TomCostantino
for the sendoff. I may be a little misty eyed myself. Working on #TheOrville was an unforgettable experience and i'll be forever grateful to be a part of it!". Twitter. Dec. 3, 2021.