Editors – Joaquin Elizondo and Chris Cavanagh
The GRISELDA editing team of Joaquin Elizondo and Chris Cavanagh didn’t have an easy time finding work when they first made their way to Hollywood, but through a mentor/mentee relationship built on a foundation of trust, they would eventually join forces on another drug war-themed Netflix show, NARCOS: MEXICO. That NARCOS crew would go on to form the foundation of the team behind GRISELDA.
GRISELDA is directed by Andrés Baiz, produced by Eric Newman and Sofía Vergara, and written by Doug Miro and Ingrid Escajeda. It stars Vergara as Griselda Blanco, a notorious Colombian drug lord. The story follows her rise in the Miami drug scene and her pursuit of power and wealth.
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 prior to Griselda include Narcos: Mexico (Netflix), The Hot Zone: Anthrax (NatGeo) and Dark Winds (AMC). 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.
CHRIS CAVANAGH
In the last few years, Chris has been pursuing his passion for editing scripted stories. Prior to his work on Griselda, Chris recently served as an editor on NARCOS: MEXICO Season 3 for NETFLIX. Before that, he was editing as an assistant editor and mentored by top-shelf editors on COBRA KAI for NETFLIX, STAR TREK for PARAMOUNT+, and DARK WINDS for AMC. Before moving to LA to work in scripted entertainment, Chris edited dozens of unscripted TV shows, documentaries, and indie films in NYC. When he’s not in a cutting room, Chris is playing with his two kids, cooking dinner with his wife, or attempting to complete one of the 7,942 daily tasks required to exist as both a professional and a parent in the 21st century.
Editing Griselda
In our discussion with the GRISELDA editing team, we talk about:
- Not making NARCOS all over again
- Letting go of the facts to keep things fresh
- Real-time language translation before its time
- Making the most of mentorship
- Doing the director’s cut during the assembly
The Credits
Visit ExtremeMusic for all your production audio needs
Read the Rough Cut multimedia blog at Frame.io
See what’s new with Avid Media Composer
Get FREE STUFF from Joaquin’s Hollywood Editing Mentor program
Subscribe to The Rough Cut podcast and never miss an episode
Visit The Rough Cut on YouTube