2023 Emmy Nominees Laura Zempel, Nat Fuller On Cutting the ‘Beef’ Series Finale

Nat Fuller and Laura Zempel are the Emmy-nominated editors for Netflix’s hit Beef. Nominated for the finale, they give Awards Daily an insight into the challenges of showing the change in perception when the leads are drugged. They also share the surprise of editing talking cravens emerged as a completely unexpected joy.

Awards Daily: How did you both get involved with Beef?

Nat Fuller: I got involved through my agent Laura Brokaw who is also Laura Zempel’s agent. And she brought the project to me. I read the script and was immediately hooked. I knew I wanted to take part.

Laura Zempel: For me the script also came through my agent Laura Brokaw, who also represents Harry Yoon. He and I work together on Euphoria, and he was scheduled to cut the pilot of Beef and he was originally supposed to do the full series. But due to schedules and start dates changing, he ended up only being able to do the pilot so they needed to bring in another editor to finish the series, so they brought me in to do that. It was a great opportunity.

Awards Daily: You are both nominated for the finale, which plays a lot with perspective and time because of the way Danny and Amy are drugged. Did that present any challenges in cutting their conversation?

Laura Zempel: Yeah, it really did. Episode 10 is so different from the rest of the series. You know Amy and Danny spend so little time on screen together in episodes 1 through 8 (they’re a little more together in episode 9). We had the opportunity to really indulge in these conversations between these two and we wanted it to be as interesting as possible. We are coming off the high of 9 (which Nat cut) which is like an action movie. Then we have episode 10, which is just a long conversation for most of the episode. so finding ways to make it engaging and interesting and keep tension and also highlight the fact that they were drugged it definitely presented a lot of editorial challenges. We came up with a lot of different things in the room. The scene where Amy and Danny’s faces are superimposed on top of each other and drift in and out. That was something that came about in the editorial process working with Sonny, our showrunner. It helped add to the feeling of the surreal drugged state that Amy and Danny are both in.

Nat Fuller-=: Definitely I agree with all that. I think we had a lot of fun playing with it too, especially one of my favorite scenes in that episode when they both start to hallucinate and Danny is talking about the beef and the milk and it’s just so hilarious. He is moving forward and moving back. It’s a very fun thing to play around with when you’re looking at that type of material.

Awards Daily: In crafting the finale the tone is also different from a lot of the rest of the show. Not only are they drugged but they are really talking about their issues as characters, and it actually ends on a very hopeful note about life. Was there something you guys had to do in the cutting room to create that mood?

Laura Zempel: I think it was really such a delicate balance so we really kept the ending as patient as possible. In those longer scenes where they are confessing and being vulnerable with each other, just help the audience really sink in to these characters. because, as audience members we have known what’s been going on with them the whole time, and now we’re getting to experience them relate to each other and explain it to each other for the first time and find this common ground. I think that all culminates in the hospital room like you said with Amy and Danny. Nat ended up putting that sequence together and found some surprises that weren’t in the script.

Nat Fuller: Yeah, at the end of the scene when there’s an audio flashback and we go back to the original inciting incident that was something we came up with at the very end of the process of finishing the show. We had some notes about making certain everything was tied up and that was one of the ideas that kicked around and it worked out really well. We actually went out and shot Amy to get her reaction shot before she made her fateful decision to flip off Danny. That was something that came about in post, and we think it worked really well to finish and wrap the show up.

Awards Daily: So you both worked on this episode. What was your process in working together?

Laura Zempel: Well, Matt and I have both been on the series for the full run and we had our own episodes. By the time we got to the finale we had some schedule of things that came up, I had to leave for another show so I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish the finale and I knew that Nat was going to take it over. That was really wonderful to know, so I tried to keep him involved from the beginning. I knew it was going into good hands because he had cut so much of the show already, and knew Sonny and Jake (Schreier) and knew their style and what they were going for. So I felt he could offer me advice in assembling scenes even before Sonny and Jake, our producing director, had seen them. I did the first assembly and then worked with Sonny to get it closer to where he wanted it. It was his first time directing any episode of television ever so I really wanted to make sure that he felt he was in safe hands. In a way I think because it was both of us working on it we were really able to bring both of our talents, skills and points of view. I think that really benefited the episode and really elevated it. I’m so happy with how it ended up.

Nat Fuller: Absolutely! Like Laura mentioned, we had been in the same cutting room for the entirety of the series. We had a lot of discussions about our previous episodes so by the time we got to 10 we were just kind of the next person up. The entire team was very collaborative throughout so Jordan Kim and Harry Yoon and all of our assistant editors, everyone was always on the same page and we had really good communication throughout. When we got to 10 it was just like, let’s finish this thing up, and Sonny and I just really got to the point where we were picking things out, putting things back in and doing some split comps to make things flow a little bit better. As Laura mentioned, the pace of the episode was really important, finding that balance of how much to put in. There were times when we had notes to make it shorter so we took out large chunks and then watched it again and it just didn’t feel right, so we would put it back in. Getting that perfect pacing was a big part of the finishing process for 10.

Awards Daily: You guys have mentioned how you both worked on several different episodes of the show. Was there a particular challenge or particular moment that you guys were proud of in the entire work you guys did of the show?

Nat Fuller: Yeah, a couple scenes I’m really proud of. I definitely have a soft spot for the scene of Danny crying in the church. It is one of my favorite scenes of the series. Steven Yeun was so incredible in that scene and I’ve read some people talking about how it affected them. That’s just one of my favorite scenes.

Laura Zempel: Mine is a little more broad, I’m actually really proud of the pilot. Harry Yoon started it, and he did the assembly and worked really closely with Sonny, and I came on to help get it over the finish line. But, working with Harry and Sonny, we ended up restructuring the entire episode. It was originally scripted that it would be Danny’s story. For the first half we would see Danny and the hardware store and we would stay with him through the Hibachi Grill scene, and him finding the receipt. Then we flash back to the moment of the incident, and then we would follow Amy storyline for the next half and then they meet finally at the door. In editorial the biggest challenge of the show was conveying the void that these two characters feel. What is bothering them that they have to take this out on each other that leads to this road rage incident. We found that by intercutting their stories we were actually able to drop parallels between the two characters. So I think that the overall approach that we as a team took on this episode was really exciting. I’m really, really happy at the way the pilot turned out, because we had two versions going for a long time. We asked all the editors to watch both versions, then we talked about it, and I think because everyone was able to collaborate in that way it just came together so well. I’m so proud of what we ended up with.

Awards Daily: Laura, you have already won an Emmy so you have been through this race before. Have you been giving Nat any advice throughout the Emmy season on what to do?

Laura Zempel: No, I haven’t. I am just going to have fun. I am so excited to celebrate. Our category is so stacked, the nominees are so incredible. Honestly, I’m just excited to see Nat again. I love doing these interviews because it’s been a while since we’ve worked together. He is in New York now so I can’t wait to celebrate again in person, and get dressed up and party, and just bask in all the hard work that we did over the course of the show.

Nat Fuller: It was a lot of fun last year because when we were working on Beef–that’s when Laura was up for her Emmy. Being a part of that process and just rooting for her. I remember when I was voting for her and thinking, let’s go get that Emmy. Then when she won we were also excited! Being able to share that again with her now, but together, is really special and really exciting.

Laura Zempel: Nat was the first person I texted after I won. He was the first person I sent a photo of my Emmy to.

Nat Fuller: I was so excited when she won, it was great! Just doing it together now, it is even more special.

Laura Zempel: We really feel like we’re representing the whole show. The whole editorial team. We just feel like we’re ambassadors for everybody’s great work. It is so nice that we get to do this together and represent everybody.

Awards Daily: You mentioned that Sonny was with you through a lot of the editing process. What was the process working with him, and what did he contribute to the editing process?

Laura Zempel: He was great! He was very very involved. The show is very personal to him, it’s based on a real life road rage incident he had. So he is very specific, he has very high standards. They block shot episodes so he was on set while we were doing our assemblies. Then they came into editorial. We were just very editorially focused the whole time. He was in the room with us everyday looking at every take, every line reading, assembling it all together, coming up with music, making playlists. He was super involved in everything—music, the effects, how all the screens interact with the characters, what we are showing, what the design of them is. It was really great working with him on episode 10 as well because it was his first time directing and so we obviously wanted to protect him and make his work shine to its fullest potential. It was great because he really put a lot of trust in us. He wasn’t precious about the script, he wasn’t married to his original ideas. I think it was great that he ended up doing the finale because he had gone through the process of editing with us from episode 1 through 9. Then by the time he got to 10 he knew, like okay, things change, and this is actually what makes it better. He was a wonderful collaborator.

Nat Fuller: He was an incredible collaborator; also Jake Schreier, who was our producer director, and Sonny were a great team. They would have great discussions about what was best for the show. I had the privilege of working with Jake on several of his episodes. So to be able to work with Jake and Sonny together was a great experience. They both had good ideas and I learned quite a bit sitting with them and talking with them, going through what their process is and how they look at the characters and the storytelling. It was a really good experience working with Sonny and Jake.

Awards Daily: I was checking out your IMDb pages. Laura, you have Lessons in Chemistry coming up. Nat, I didn’t see anything, but can you guys tell us anything about your future projects?

Laura Zempel: Lessons in Chemistry is airing on Apple TV + in October is what I just heard this week. I’m very excited for people to see it. Brie Larson plays a chemist in the 1950s, and it’s based on a book. It is also the first period piece I’ve ever worked on so that was very, very exciting. I worked with wonderful editors Matthew Barbato and Geraud Brisson, and it was just a great team of people. I’m so excited to see what people think of this show. I hope book lovers love it. So yeah, I can’t wait!

Nat Fuller: I’m actually out in New York right now taking a bit of a departure and doing something different. I’m working for Rockstar Games doing cinematic editing for video games. It is very interesting. It’s still at its very essence editing, but it is a very unique technology and working a lot with motion capture, with some very talented people. It’s a great team. It’s very exciting to try something a little different, especially in the midst of the strike. It’s very exciting and I’m having a great time. So that will be what I’m working on for a while.

Awards Daily: Final thoughts?

Nat Fuller: I always like to give a nice special shout out to all of our assistants. Ryan Rambach was my assistant and he was incredible as was Josh Stein.

Laura Zempel: Yeah, Josh Stein, Lily Wild, who was paramount in cutting and helping me assemble the finale. Especially with those crows talking. One of my favorite parts of that episode is just how it starts off. The schedule changed a couple of times and at first I wasn’t supposed to cut episode 10, Jordan Kim was. Then our post person called me up and said, ”Are you cool doing episode 10 instead?” So I asked, “What happens?” Because I hadn’t gotten the script yet. He said, “I don’t know. All I know is it starts with two crows talking to each other.” I said, “I want that episode!” It was so cool. They’re cravens, which I guess is a mix of a crow and a raven, and their names were Edgar and Shadow. They are real cravens, they are not VFX. They squawked and talked to each other, and Lily made me a couple of bins and we treated them like real actors. We put locators when they would speak. So putting it together it was, like, I needed this one to squawk twice. Where are their two blue locators? I have never cut animals having a conversation before so that was definitely a fun challenge I wasn’t anticipating for this show when I signed up for it!