The Editor of the Griselda Netflix Series: Joaquin Elizondo
Go beyond the story of Griselda, the woman otherwise known as the “Black Widow,” with the editor of the Netflix limited series, Joaquin Elizondo.
Joaquin shares his journey of becoming a Netflix editor and emphasizes the importance of putting yourself out there, communicating your goals, and having a strong support system to achieve success in the industry. Now, he is paying it forward by sharing his wisdom with The Hollywood Editing Mentor and Filmmakers Academy.
In the full episode available to Filmmakers Academy members, Joaquin talks shop, explaining how working on a pilot episode of a new series differs from his time on the previous Narcos series. Even though it was the same team, they wanted a different style for the Griselda series, avoiding the feel of past iterations. He explores everything from his editing process and managing his time to experiences on the show and collaborating with other editors and the VFX team.
THE EDITING SYSTEM FOR THE GRISELDA SERIES
On Griselda, Joaquin and the editors used the Avid Media Composer, which is the industry standard for big Hollywood productions.
“Honestly,” says Joaquin, “I cut the series on a laptop — on a 2017 Macbook Pro.”
Along with Joaquin’s laptop were two monitors, a gaming mouse, and a gaming keyboard (for the buttons and shortcuts).
Editor Joaquin Elizondo calls in while working remotely on Griselda | Photo by Joaquin Elizondo
What Joaquin learned over the years was to stop putting so much focus on the tech and to instead focus on storytelling.
“I’m just really focused on telling a good story. Obviously, it has to work — the equipment. But it wasn’t anything super fancy.”
The editing team worked remotely for around six months. Thereafter, they had a “really, really cool setup” provided by production where the media was housed locally.
“So, we weren’t like tapping into, say, another computer as people usually do with like, say, like Jump, where you’re tapping into like a remote computer. We had all the media here locally.”
They received the dailies on their drives from the lab, synching with all the editors and assistants. Altogether the project took a year. In the second half of the year, they took a hybrid approach to their setup. This meant they would work from home and then periodically go into the office to work in the editing bay.
GRISELDA AND NARCOS: MEXICO ARE IN DIFFERENT CINEMATIC UNIVERSES
Even though Joaquin didn’t work with Andrés Bais on Narcos: Mexico, they all agreed they wanted a different look and feel for the Griselda series.
“Even when I heard about it, you automatically go, yeah, you want something different because this is not within the Narcos universe,” explains Joaquin. “We all naturally knew that was not what we wanted to do here.”
Griselda producer/director Andrés Baiz. Image © Netflix
Andrés is known for his use of music in his storytelling, using needle drops to convey the mood and tone of the scene. For Griselda, Andrés was inspired by classical music and orchestras. While they would eventually have a composer, Joaquin first edited the scenes to temp music.
“While we’re cutting and presenting all these cuts to the producers and director, we have to provide temp music, right? And that was a bit tough because I just couldn’t… it just didn’t feel completely right for the period. Initially, I was thinking more like Scarface, like Giorgio Moroder, but it’s like no, that’s too obvious.”
They continued to experiment with the music until composer Carlos Rafael Rivera came on board and created a masterful musical composition.
INSIDE THE EDITING PROCESS OF A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES
The editors started just a week before the first day of shooting the Netflix Griselda series. Their prep week was all about dialing in the tech. In fact, everyone was so busy, including director, Andrés Bais, that there wasn’t too much of a back-and-forth at that stage.
As production got underway, they went to work. Editorial is naturally one day behind. So, if production shoots on a Monday, they receive that footage on Tuesday.
“Basically, I would come to my computer, my system, and I would see the footage, the dailies, right? I mean, first, my assistant, Chris [Cavanagh], he’ll get that footage and organize it into scene bins, right? So, I get that footage and distribute it to those individual scenes.”
An example of Griselda’s editing timeline | Photo by Joaquin Elizondo
When Joaquin opens up his system, he sees what scenes he needs to cut for that day. Joaquin impresses on editors to learn how to master the art of time management. Joaquin always keeps up with the camera, making sure that he finishes the scenes and doesn’t fall behind.
“Now, sometimes, of course, you’re gonna get a huge scene and you’re like, ‘Man, I can’t figure this thing out. I’ll come back to it tomorrow with fresh eyes.’ But I’m always trying to finish every scene that I get that day, and then be ready for the next scenes that we get the following day.”
They shot the Griselda series over the course of about four months, shooting two episodes at a time. While production went on hiatus for about six weeks, the editorial department kept going.
“That was great,” says Joaquin, “because you can get ahead but also really spend time crafting the scenes.”
Director Andrés Baiz reviews a cut of Griselda in the edit room | Photo by Joaquin Elizondo
They also had time to send the director scenes to review while he was prepping for the second half of production. Then, he would send back notes and this allowed Joaquin to really get ahead in the editing process.
“Obviously you’re gonna have a director’s cut eventually and everything,” says Joaquin, “but you’re getting a bit ahead by already having [the director’s] notes incorporated into those cuts. So, we’re building — it’s kind of like this hybrid of an editor’s cut and a director’s cut in this case.”
EDITING VFX ON THE ‘MACHETE SCENE’
In the first episode of the series, Griselda Blanco (Sofía Vergara) desperately tries to sell the cocaine she brought, and finally lands a meeting with Eddie ‘The Bird’ Rancon (Alberto Mateo). This leads to an explosion of action.
Joaquin doesn’t recall exactly but believes the action sequence was shot with two cameras — however, there is a chance that there was a third camera. While the scene was a huge VFX scene, there was still VFX involved.
The VFX supervisor, Andrew Ceperley, and Joaquin are friends and collaborated together on Narcos: Mexico. So, while Andrew was on set, he was sending Joaquin updates and pictures and mentioned that they were using a watermelon and machete.
Joaquin’s approach was the same as usual, “You just cut it normally.”
The key to the scene, according to Joaquin, was the actor pulling the machete just right.
“Which that watermelon’s gonna turn into a head eventually.”
All the while, Joaquin was communicating with Andrew to see what he thinks works best for VFX, as well.
The crew prepares for a fruit-filled assassination scene behind the scenes of Griselda | Photo by Joaquin Elizondo
After they are done with the watermelon, they bring out the actor who does a contorting movement with his body, like a machete is being pulled out of his head. Then, it became about finding the right movement to convey the action.
Then, after some more back and forth, they will eventually have a temp version in Avid, combining both shots. In this case, the watermelon with the machete and the actor contorting on the ground.
“You’re just trying to sell the idea,” says Joaquin.
Eventually, Andrew and the VFX editor David Conley put a temp comp together. But they didn’t see the final until later in the mix.
“The rest you just cut normally, continues Joaquin. “I guess in your head have like the VFX in there, and then obviously, my assistant also plays a huge part in doing the temp work. Muzzle flashes and stuff like that he will incorporate into our temp and editorial. Some stuff looks great and then other stuff is like, yeah, obviously, this is gonna need the VFX artists. But again, you’re just selling the idea and really focusing more on pacing the dramatic elements of the scene. And so massaging those VFX, this happens over time.”
A glimpse of the Griselda team working on the mixing stage | Photo by Joaquin Elizondo
WATCH GRISELDA ON NETFLIX
Griselda is a Netflix Original and is now streaming.
Become a member of Filmmakers Academy to watch the full interview with Netflix editor, Joaquin Elizondo.
EDITOR JOAQUIN ELIZONDO
Hollywood Editing Mentor, Joaquin Elizondo | Photo by Joaquin Elizondo
Joaquin Elizondo has over 20 years of experience as an editor. He currently works in the world of scripted television shows in Hollywood. His most recent editing credits include Narcos: Mexico (Netflix), The Hot Zone: Anthrax (NatGeo), Dark Winds (AMC), and he is currently working on Griselda, a new Netflix limited series starring Sofia Vergara.
Before arriving in Los Angeles, Joaquin worked in unscripted television for several years in New York City. There he edited content for HBO Sports, NBC, Telemundo, and was the lead editor on Bravo’s late-night talk show Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
Joaquin majored in Film & Video Studies at the University of Michigan. He grew up in the San Diego-Tijuana border region where he began his career cutting a wide range of projects. They include news, promos, commercials, and documentaries.
As someone who has sought out and benefited from mentorship, Joaquin is now taking on the role of mentor by helping aspiring editors and assistants navigate the path to achieving their career goals. He created the Hollywood Editing Mentor Program and Podcast to guide and support those trying to break into or advance their post-production careers.
| Filmmakers Academy Courses by Joaquin Elizondo: |
