From over 1,500 hours of footage to two Emmy nominations—here’s how the team behind Chimp Crazy used Frame.io to stay on track and in sync to create HBO’s most-watched documentary in the last five years. Consider voting for Chimp Crazy in this year’s Emmy Awards.
Without Frame.io, the days would have been longer…and the frustration would have been significantly higher.
Evan Wise, ACE, Supervising Editor for Chimp Crazy
Chimp Crazy is a four-part HBO documentary about Tonia Haddix—who took care of seven chimpanzees—and the big mystery that followed when one of them disappeared. The show became HBO’s most-watched documentary in five years and was called “jaw-dropping” by The New York Times.
We sat down with supervising editor/writer/producer Evan Wise (ACE) and editor/writer/producer Adrienne Gits (ACE) who were part of a larger remote crew that included Doug Able (ACE, BFE), Chuck Divak (ACE), Sascha Stanton-Craven, and writer/producer Timothy Moran — spread out across New York, Los Angeles, Kentucky, and even Argentina.
Despite the distance, they were able to put together a powerful and emotional story that earned them the ACE Eddie Award for Best Edited Documentary Series and two Emmy nominations: one for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program and one for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program.
Not pictured: Sascha Stanton-Craven, Timothy Moran © Evan Wise
When a wild unedited story met a distributed team
Before Evan joined the project, he had just finished another show with HBO and was looking forward to a break. But when a producer sent him a short preview of Chimp Crazy, he couldn’t look away:
“And as soon as I saw it, I was like, ‘Oh, I have to work on this.’ This is the best story I’ve ever seen. Amazing access. Unique animals. There’s no world where I can’t work on this.”
When Evan officially joined the team, they had two years of footage in the can. The catch? It was completely unedited. As he put it, it was like getting ‘dropped into the ocean.”
The team was also spread across time zones, adding an extra layer of complexity to their collaboration. Two editors were based in New York, another was in Kentucky, with Adrienne and the production in Los Angeles—as well as a writer‑producer in Argentina.
On top of that, the Chimp Crazy story continued to unfold throughout the edit. New scenes, new characters, and even old footage from a storage unit had to be worked into the story—even after editing was “finished.”
That’s why it was critical for the team to have one place to collect all feedback, and a way for that feedback to stay with the edit.
Choosing to use Frame.io as the central collaboration layer
Zero ramp-up time for the crew
The team chose Frame.io for their collaboration hub. Although most had previously used the platform, those who didn’t—like Adrienne—found it easy to learn to use. “I don’t remember needing any ramping up,” she said. “It was pretty intuitive.”
It’s never been hard to convince people to use Frame.io.
Defusing the ‘note bomb’
Adrienne recalls every editor’s lament: When the first feedback comes in from emails, chats, and even spreadsheets, referring to the chaos as “the note bomb.” Notes get repeated or missed altogether—sometimes they didn’t line up with the timeline, leading to confusion and delays.
“There’s nothing worse than sending something out and everybody watches it, and then you just start getting emails with everybody’s notes separately, like this note bomb…So having everything marked on the picture was a major game-changer.”
With Frame.io, everyone left comments directly on the video, which were tied to the exact time in the cut. Everyone’s comments were organized in one place and could be quickly and easily addressed.
Evan especially loved that Frame.io allowed him to filter comments by role.
“I can uncheck the archivist or the lawyer and whoever else—so I only have the director’s notes and can first process those. Then when I’m ready, I recheck everybody else, and I can get started on the other things.”
I love the ability to filter comments on Frame.io.
Hundreds of review cycles
Evan says there were so many rounds of feedback that it was “incalculable.”
But Frame.io kept it manageable by enabling the team to track, prioritize, and respond to feedback without confusion.
[T]here’s a lot less frustration using Frame.io in the process, because it really does streamline everyone’s thoughts.
Delivering the final—a mixture of relief, sadness, and excitement
Finishing the final episode brought out a range of emotions for Evan. He was proud, relieved, and yes, a little sad that it was over. He said he knew while working on the show that it was going to be something special. Seeing the audience response confirmed that.
“There’s a feeling that I’ve had a couple times in my career when we were just working on something and you just go, ‘Oh, I know this is going to be good,‘” Evans says.
Chimp Crazy became HBO’s most-watched documentary in five years. It won the ACE Eddie Award and was nominated for two Primetime Emmys.
Frame.io played a big part in making that happen. It helped the team stay organized, save time, and pivot quickly when the story changed. With all their feedback in one place, Evan and Adrienne could focus on what mattered: telling a great story.
On any project where you have a really tight schedule or you have an air date that you have to hit, whatever you can do to be more efficient and to make the most out of the time is super important. If Frame.io can shave off a couple of minutes or an hour, or cumulatively a day or two, that’s more time you have to be creative.
Looking ahead: New projects with even better ways to work with Frame.io
The team has since moved on to new projects, but they’re already thinking about how the latest version of Frame.io can further streamline their workflows. They’re especially excited about Anchor Comments, which bring even more clarity to exact points on the image, and Comment Attachments, which allow adding full-resolution stills, documents, or graphics to comments for precise references or context.
Emmy voting for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program and Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program is open through August 27. If Chimp Crazy earned your vote, now’s the time →
