What is a reality show 'rough cut'?

What is a reality show 'rough cut'?

Richard Hall (Reality TV Producer) gives expert video advice on: How are 'reaction shots' used in reality TV editing?; What is a 'story arc'? and more...

A rough cut is your first pass on a finished product of a reality show. Rough cuts generally are pretty good. The thing about rough cuts is: let's say a shows running time is 43:30 so a classic hour run for cable, your first rough cut might come in at 47:30. It might be 4 minutes heavy and that means that you and the client are deciding the network; you're deciding we have this and we have this: what do want to lose what do you want to keep? The next cut gets a lot closer to time.