Sight, Sound & Story: Behind the Edit of “Pluribus”
Inside the Episode: Pluribus, the latest series from Vince Gilligan, delivers a gripping blend of thriller, mystery, and dark humor. Set in a world reshaped by a mysterious event that links nearly all of humanity into a shared consciousness, an unsettling wave of forced happiness takes hold.
Step inside the edit of Pluribus with an all-star team: Skip Macdonald, ACE, Chris McCaleb, ACE, and Joey Liew. Hear how their longtime collaboration with Vince Gilligan informs their approach to story, tone, and pacing.
Featuring exclusive scene breakdowns and behind-the-scenes insights into the moments that define the series. Moderated by Josh Apter, this is a must-see conversation for anyone passionate about storytelling and the art of editing.
Moderator: Josh Apter (Founder and Owner of Manhattan Edit Workshop)
Panelists: Editors Skip Macdonald, ACE (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul), Chris McCaleb, ACE (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) & Joey Liew (Better Call Saul, Rabbit Hole)
When: Thursday, May 7, 2026
Time: 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT
General Admission: FREE!
All attendees who register for this event will receive a link and password before the start of the event. This will gain free access for attendees. This will also give free replays for 48 hours.
By signing up for the event, all attendees agree to receive promotional emails from Manhattan Edit Workshop.
Panelists:
Skip Macdonald, ACE, is an American film and television editor renowned for his work on the critically acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad, its prequel spin-off Better Call Saul, and the feature film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. A member of the American Cinema Editors (ACE), Macdonald has earned multiple Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series, including for the Breaking Bad series finale, “Felina,” in 2014, and the Better Call Saul finale, “Saul Gone,” in 2023. His editing style emphasizes precise pacing, tension-building, and collaboration with directors and showrunners such as Vince Gilligan to maintain the narrative tone and emotional depth.
Macdonald entered the industry in the late 1970s as a sound apprentice on the independent film The Great American Success Story (originally titled Ringer), starring Jeff Bridges and Bianca Jagger. He advanced through roles in sound editing and assistance on major productions such as Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate, where he handled cutting and Foley work, and later assisted on Nell and Primal Fear. Transitioning to picture editing, he took over as editor on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer after the original editor departed, marking a pivotal shift in his career toward scripted television.
His involvement with the Breaking Bad universe began in its inaugural 2008 season, when he was recommended by a post-production producer and hired following an interview with series creator Vince Gilligan; he continued editing every season of both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, contributing to their distinctive montage sequences and time-jump structures. Beyond this franchise, Macdonald’s credits include the pilot episode of Hell on Wheels, episodes of Foundation, and other projects like Las Vegas. His career spans over four decades, highlighting a progression from sound work to Emmy-winning picture editing in high-profile drama series.
Chris McCaleb, ACE, is an American film editor, director, and producer best known as the co-creator of the web series Prom Queen and co-host of the *Better Call Saul Insider* and New Mediacracy podcasts. McCaleb was nominated three times for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Drama Series: once for his work on the AMC neo-western crime drama series Breaking Bad, and twice for the AMC legal crime drama series Better Call Saul.
Joey Liew is a Thai-American Editor from Los Angeles. With over two decades of industry experience, he has worked in long-form and short, scripted and non-scripted.
His credits include Pluribus, Better Call Saul (ACE Eddie Winner, 2021), Ann Rice’s Mayfair Witches, Rabbit Hole,long-form and T@gged, along with indie features, short films, music videos, and commercials.
Josh Apter has worked in all areas of filmmaking, from location sound recordist on numerous feature films, to videographer for Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation, where he recorded the testimonies of over 150 Holocaust survivors. As a film editor, Josh has worked on over ten feature films, including “The Holy Land” (winner Slamdance FF/Cavu Pictures Distributor), “Kaaterskill Falls,” and “Barbecue is a Noun” (Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Rome International Film Festival and the River Run Film Festival).
From his love of post-production, Josh founded Manhattan Edit Workshop in 2002. MEWShop is an Avid, Assimilate, and Blackmagic Authorized Training Center offering a variety of classes in the art and technique of film editing. With clients ranging from AMC Networks, HBO, NBC, CBS, WNET, and CNN, Manhattan Edit Workshop has become the premier training destination for the highest-level content creators and media professionals.