We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Imanol Delgado Cadivich a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Imanol, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
Last Summer I was selected to be part of the Academy Gold Rising program on the Production Track. The Program is from the Academy of Motion Pictures, Art and Sciences, they selected around 30 people to be part of the Production Track, where we did a short film with the help of the Academy. There are 6 different tracks Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Production Design, Sound, and Visual Effects. Every Track has its mentor who is someone who is highly regarded in their field. My mentor is Mark Helfrich, ACE, a Legendary Editor who works on amazing projects like A Family Man, Prison Break, Scary Movie, and the Original 1987 Predator movie.
Over 7000 people over the world apply to be part of such an amazing program. I was lucky enough that my essay caught their attention. In that essay, I told my life through the different Editing software I used over the years and how that reflected in the person I am. After that, I had a great interview with Tracy Dillon, where I got to explain why I am so passionate about Film editing.
With the Academy Gold, we produce a Short Film called Flutter. Which was Edited on Disney Studios. I worked on the film, the trailer, and the BTS video.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m a Mexican Film Editor. I’ve been watching films all my life and I have always been curious about how they make them. When I was a kid my favorite films were the Harry Potter Saga and I remember watching the Making Off of the films. I was so blown away by how they brought Hogwarts to life. From there I knew I wanted to work in film but the way I found Editing was thanks to my grandma. She bought me a camera as a Christmas Present in 2008 when I was 10 years old. I remember taking the camera everywhere, I would film everything around me. But I had a problem, the camera only shot clips, and if I wanted to put different moments of the clip mixed with another clip I couldn’t do that. Thankfully I shared the problem with a friend of my dad and he introduced me to the greatest software in the world: Windows Movie Maker. That’s where I learned the fundamental things of editing, by cutting clips in between and adding music or sound effects. It was like when the first humans found fire.
As I grew older I knew I wanted to be working in Film and that I liked to edit. On High School, I did a couple of short films and I took the lead as Director/Editor I went to College to Study Communications. I studied for a Bachelor’s in Communications and Digital Media at the “Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey Campus Ciudad de México”. Here I got to learn Premiere & DaVinci Resolve, work with better Cameras and Equipment, and meet people who had my passion. Here I edited over 20 short films and started to establish myself as a professional. In January 2020 I went on a study abroad to Los Angeles and enrolled in the New York Film Academy. The first couple of months were great I got to learn Avid Media Composer and got my Certification as a user in it. Unfortunately, as we all know March of 2020 was when the world shut down and I had to cut short my experience in LA and go back home. During the pandemic I got the chance to Direct and Edit a Stream Concert for Mexican Rockband – Resistencia which was a hit, getting press and selling a bunch of tickets. In 2022 I came back to LA to study for an MFA in Filmmaking at the New York Film Academy. I graduated with honors in December 2023.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
For me, the best part of filmmaking is the collaboration aspect of it. We are all working in order to achieve the vision of the director while we are all trying to make the best possible film. During my time at the Academy Gold Program, I could see how the mentors relate to each other, how they communicate, express ideas, or give constructive criticism to each other to improve the film. It takes a whole village to make a film and everyone’s role is crucial to create the best possible film.
One of the best parts of being an editor is being able to see how the film changes every single time. No cut is identical and is about learning what tiny changes can make the most significant impact in order to tell a story. What happens if you move scenes out of the established order in order to create mystery? Or what happens if we never show the faces of the antagonist so it can be revealed at the end of the 2nd act?
Any advice for managing a team?
During the post-production of the Short Film Flutter, we had a pretty short and tight schedule so it was very easy to get lost and get stressed; We had only a week to cut the film so that meant long days. Luckily our Mentor, Mark Helfrich, was there to help us navigate these circumstances and always told us to “Expect the unexpected”. This line I didn’t understand it at first, it sounds almost self-explanatory, but as the days passed and everything kept changing nothing was going according to the original plan. So that’s where I started to understand what “Expecting the Unexpected” meant. For me is to be prepared to improvise when things don’t go as planned, to anticipate any sudden changes, and to be ready to adapt. So once you hit the mentality of expecting the unexpected the whole Post Team was like a well-oiled machine, whatever was thrown to us we could make it in a short time and we got to finish the film in time.
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Image Credits
Blaine Harrington IV Photography