Case Study: Turning Long‑Form Interviews into 90‑Second Social Clips

Case Study: Turning Long‑Form Interviews into 90‑Second Social Clips

Hook: One 45-minute interview, five 90-second clips, double the audience. We break down the process, timing, and tooling that make it repeatable.

Context & goals

Our editorial team was tasked with promoting long-form interview episodes while driving short-form discovery. Objectives: create five 90-second clips per episode, maintain narrative integrity, and ensure clips map back to canonical factsheets for reuse.

Workflow overview

1. Ingest & index: Transcribe, timestamp, and index the interview into a semantic store. We used a hybrid retrieval approach (semantic + structured facts) inspired by the Vector Search + SQL pattern.
2. Find high-value moments: Use engagement signals and editor intuition to pick 8–10 candidate clips.
3. Script & rewrite: Convert the chosen moments into a short script for clarity. Rewrites focus on preserving intent while tightening the hook. Preference constraints from the team’s preference-first model guided tone and CTA choices.
4. Shoot supplemental B-roll: Add cutaways and illustrative visuals following the guidance of the Cinematographer's Toolbox 2026 on lenses and on-set workflows to save time while preserving intent.
5. Edit & localize: Produce 3 variants per clip: native platform, captioned, and short‑form vertical for stories.
6. Publish & measure: Deploy across platforms, measure retention and CTR, and fold results into the next episode’s selection criteria.

Templates we used

90‑second clip script template

1. 00–10s: Hook that answers “Why should I care?”
2. 10–60s: Core insight—one idea, two supporting points
3. 60–80s: Concrete example or data point
4. 80–90s: CTA & reference to full episode

Production economy tips

• Two-shift scheduling: Run capture in two shifts to keep hosts fresh and maximize yield; see the case study on Two-Shift Show Scheduling.
• Microgrants & partnerships: Offer small creator microgrants to produce localized edits; refer to the News Roundup on Microgrants for ideas.
• Live safety & pop-ups: If you film in public spaces or pop-up interview booths, follow live-event safety rules summarized at How 2026 Live-Event Safety Rules Are Reshaping Pop-Up Retail and Trunk Shows.

Data & outcomes

Across three episodes using this workflow we observed:

• Average clip completion rate up 28% vs previous ad-hoc clips.
• Referral to full episode increased by 14% when the CTA followed the preference-first rewrite template.
• Editor throughput improved 2.4x due to standardized templates and a tighter production chain.

Lessons learned

• Canonical factsheets reduce risk: Always map claims to a canonical factsheet to prevent drift.
• Invest in B-roll libraries: Reusable cutaways reduced editing time dramatically.
• Measure the right thing: Track referrals to the long-form asset, not just views.

Actionable checklist to replicate

1. Transcribe and index within 24 hours.
2. Create canonical factsheet and vector index entry.
3. Pick 8 champs, pare to 5, then rewrite per 90s template.
4. Batch-edit similar clips to amortize setup time.
5. Measure referral CTR and retention; iterate.

For deeper technical guidance on cinematography decisions that save time on set, consult the Cinematographer's Toolbox 2026. If you’re structuring labor across shifts and worry about host wellbeing, the Two-Shift Show Scheduling case study offers practical scheduling templates.

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