
Going undercover with The Mole Agent
data-src=https://creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/avatars/332115/6078a67887db9-bpthumb.jpg data-srcset=https://creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/avatars/332115/6078a6785ea00-bpfull.jpg 2x class=lazyload avatar avatar-80 photo height=80 width=80 />
Meagan Keane April 15, 2021
0 Comments
Featured as a nominee for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards, The Mole Agent tells the story of an 83-year-old man who is hired by a private investigator to disguise himself as a resident in a Chilean retirement home suspected of elder abuse. Surprisingly heartwarming and charming while offering the intrigue of a detective mission, the film shines a light on the realities of growing old and coping with the loneliness that can accompany living in a facility. The Mole Agent received the 2021 Cinema Eye Honors Award for The Unforgettables.
We sat down with the editor, Carolina Siraqyan, to find out more about the making of the film using Premiere Pro. We spoke with her about challenges she faced during the edit as well as during her career and how she overcame them.
Some contents or functionalities here are not available due to your cookie preferences!
This happens because the functionality/content marked as Google Youtube uses cookies that you choosed to keep disabled. In order to view this content or use this functionality, please enable cookies: click here to open your cookie preferences.
How and where did you first learn to edit?I studied audiovisual communications in my home country of Chile. In all the fields of this profession, editing, without a doubt, captured me.
I began working as an editing assistant, with a Moviola 35 mm in the 90's, with an editor that was very generous and shared all his knowledge with me. Since then, I have been learning through my experience of more than 30 years of work.
How do you begin a project/set up your workspace?When I begin a project, I dedicate an important amount of time deciding how I structure its order. I think that each project has a certain methodology of order and its own details that must be analyzed. This will allow for fluidity in the future. In documentaries like The Mole Agent, the order of material is more complex as there is no script, so you have to order the material in such a way that you can easily remember and quickly find shots to combine in the best way.
In The Mole Agent, there were 72 days of shooting and I had two months visualizing and cataloging in order to register the material according to certain parameters that I had decided.
Tell us about a favorite scene or moment from this project and why it stands out to you.One of my favorites, because I have a number of them, or at least one that strongly underlines the message of the film, is when Sergio is speaking in the garden with the old lady, who recites a poem and then she recounts her loneliness, which moves me even after having seen it a thousand times. I feel that this scene expresses perfectly the reality of old age, which cannot be eluded.
After several screenings to colleagues who shared their thoughts and opinions with us, an important moment during the credits occurred when they all spoke of their elderly relatives, their mothers and not of the film. In that moment, with [director] Maite Alberdi, we realized we were on the right road, and we had the general structure of the film.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/15203351/MoleAgent2_gravitasVentures.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2408161/>Image source: Gravitas Ventures.
What were some specific post-production challenges you faced that were unique to your project? How did you go about solving them?The greatest challenge I had to face was moving my office from Chile to Amsterdam for 2 months to work on the edit.
There I changed my office twice with different computers, the first wasn't a Mac, which is what I usually work with, and so it made me feel slightly insecure being unable to solve problems with the operating system. But once I could open Premiere Pro, I felt at ease as it was the same as working on my usual Mac.
Afterwards we moved to another office with an iMac, similar to what I work with. And once the peak files were generated, I could finally work fluidly.
At last, it was only a case of stress by the change. The program worked perfectly - it was like working from my own office.
What Adobe tools did you use on this project and why did you originally choose them? Why were they the best choice for this project?I edited the whole movie with Premiere Pro. One of the tools I find very useful are the markers, I used them very often to make comments and mark segments.
I had more than 300 hours of material, 72 days of shooting, which I ordered by day, using the markers with comments. I made a Word document with the same points of the markers underlining the details of all the situations, so that I could find quickly what I was looking for.
What do you like about Premiere Pro, and/or any of the other tools you used?I picked Premiere Pro for its versatility in all the formats. I also like its playfulness and the flexibility of its timeline. It makes me feel very natural - I don't have to deal with anything technical so that I can dedicate myself to the creative process.
I think and feel that it's a program that allows me the liberty to choose how I work and how I organize my material.
What's your hidden gem/favorite workflow hack in Adobe Creative Cloud?I do have many things that help me with my work, but if I had to choose, they would be the available stock material that Adobe provides (typography, music and texture), especially in my advertising work as it is always a very time demanding job.
Also, it is very helpful that you can change from one computer to another, and I don't have to worry ab
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
24/07/2026
Sohonet's partners at BIND Studio have published a great case study on the V...
24/07/2026
Angela Gomez brings over 14 years of experience in broadcast communications and audio engineering, specialising in live outside broadcasts, live sports and larg...
24/07/2026
Between the maturation of IP and remote production workflows, collegiate sports production is advancing rapidly. For an Ivy League institution like Harvard, kee...
24/07/2026
iWedia, a global provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announces the launch of Teatro Factory, a new operator-facing software factory o...
24/07/2026
Yospace, the trusted leader in Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), stitched 11.57 billion one-to-one addressable advertisements into live video streams during the 2026 ...
24/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/07/2026
Current DASDEC software enables customers to comply with the FCC's new 15-character password mandate without requiring updates
LYNDONVILLE, N.Y. July 23,...
24/07/2026
At the IBC2026 Show, SDVI will give European media organizations their first hands-on look at the next-generation Rally media supply chain management platform f...
24/07/2026
Sonnet Technologies at IBC2026
Brie Clayton July 23, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image: Sonnet Twin25G T5 Thunderbolt 5 Adapter
At this year's IBC Sho...
24/07/2026
Musora Enhances Online Music Lessons with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton July 23, 2026
0 Comments
Director of Production Josh Holliday details workflo...
24/07/2026
Interview with Production 360. Original article published here
The theme of thi...
24/07/2026
Article courtesy of postPerspective
Read the article
While Toy Story 5 maintai...
24/07/2026
Kerry and Mayo fans Up For The Match as excitement builds in Croke Park on the e...
23/07/2026
Staines-upon-Thames, UK, 23rd, JULY, 2026 - Yospace, the trusted leader in Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), stitched 11.57 billion one-to-one addressable advertisem...
23/07/2026
This Spring 2026 graduate from Honolulu found a home at SoonerVision as a live-production star and is ready to enter the industry as a replay op on Prime Video&...
23/07/2026
As the AUSL postseason begins tonight, listening in to players during games enhances fan engagement for the young organization
Ballplayers chatting with announ...
23/07/2026
Snap Inc. and the Esports Foundation have announced Snap's activations at the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris, running July 6 through August 23. For the fir...
23/07/2026
Sony has announced the FX5, a full-frame Cinema Line camera built around a newly developed fully stacked Exmor RS CMOS image sensor and BIONZ XR2 image processi...
23/07/2026
TNDV (a division of Live Media Group) provided technical production support for the Pickleball Slam 4 live broadcast from Seminole Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, ...
23/07/2026
LTN has announced it has completed satellite-to-IP migrations for more than 3,00...
23/07/2026
Daktronics has announced the winners of the 2026 DakClassroom Student Showcase, a national competition recognizing student work in media production, storytellin...
23/07/2026
The French Tennis Federation (FFT) and beIN Media Group have announced a five-ye...
23/07/2026
Clear-Com provided the communications infrastructure for the Fryderyk Awards Gal...
23/07/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is, on paper, an unparalleled financial success. Total t...
23/07/2026
Standing inside HQ3 at MediaCity Studios during the FIFA World Cup 2026, it quic...
23/07/2026
Having attracted upwards of 17 billion views throughout the tourney, the broadca...
23/07/2026
Quickly creates reverse reverb effects
Low End Candy have recently released a new plug-in that offers a quick and simple way to create reverse reverb effect...
23/07/2026
New engines, resonators, effects & more
Expressive E's versatile soft synth has just been treated to an update that greatly expands its sonic range. Noi...
23/07/2026
SGL Carbon has further expanded its photovoltaic capacity at its Ort im Innkreis site in Austria. With the commissioning of new PV carports, the sites solar sys...
23/07/2026
NITV launches new By Mob For Mob series in partnership with NRMA Insurance
23 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has launched ...
23/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents new software for three-phase power analysis on MXO seri...
23/07/2026
In our latest blog, Laura Rognoni explores how the launch of Play Snooker reflects a wider shift in sports economics - from monetising peak broadcast audiences ...
23/07/2026
Download Now!
To receive a short case study showcasing Vivid Broadcast's audio setup, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* First Name ...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Witbe brings its AI-native testing and monitoring infrastructure to Amsterdam: demonstrations on real devices, a peer-reviewed technical paper in the conference...
23/07/2026
Quickplay, Caretta Research, Evergent, and Yospace have announced that the renowned IBC Pride Happy Hour will once again bring the vibe and fun back to IBC on F...
23/07/2026
At IBC2026, Interra Systems will present this year's focus: operational AI at scale for QC, monitoring, and captioning workflows. The industry has moved pas...
23/07/2026
Illusionfx is finally coming!
Alex Perea July 23, 2026
0 Comments
The new website is now live to mark the occasion.
Since the last update, feedback h...
23/07/2026
Evergent (5.A86) will showcase its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform for streaming services, sports leagues, pay-TV operators at IBC2026 (RAI Amsterdam, 11...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...