When Guillermo del Toro sets out to create a stop motion animated film, you better believe there is a story to go along with it and that story itself deserves to be watched. Pinocchio was a film over a decade in the making and would go on to garner GDT’s third Academy Award.
Netflix leaned into Guillermo’s right hand producer, Javier Soto, to produce “Handcarved Cinema”, the making-of Pinocchio to live alongside the film on the Netflix platform. Javier in turn entrusted Chris Salters and team at Sawtooth to be his strategic post partner to handle this remade classic. It was a project, massive in scope, that would ultimately entail navigating a 6-month journey to craft a documentary worthy of del Toro’s masterpiece.
Carving Out the Creative Vision
Summing up how a stop-motion movie of this magnitude was crafted demanded more than technical execution – it required a deep understanding of the story’s heart. Soto, whose experience in Hollywood’s behind-the-scenes content world speaks volumes, developed a vision for Sawtooth’s execution that would do more than document – it would captivate.
The documentary needed to weave together multiple narrative threads: del Toro’s artistic vision, the groundbreaking technical achievements (including the world’s first 3D-printed puppet), and the incredible collaborative effort of three global animation teams spanning Portland, London, and Guadalajara. But before diving into storytelling, the technical foundation needed a firm footing.
Systems That Scale
Storage
The sheer scope presented the first challenge: over 30 terabytes of media, including years of behind-the-scenes footage and ongoing production coverage. Dedicated project servers for Pinocchio were spun up and the project would rely on Premiere Pro’s Productions for offline media management and editorial.
Streamlined Projects Workflow
Premiere Pro Productions are essential for large projects and help reduce the latency and headaches caused by bloated project files. They enable multiple Premiere projects to share media assets seamlessly and allow multiple editors in the same project simultaneously.
This systematic approach meant:
- Easily searchable media management for BTS, Interview, and Feature footage
- Superior project organization
- Dramatically reduced save times
- Enhanced stability project stability (reducing pesky crashes)
Mastering the Mountain of Content
The documentary featured 59, 4K and 6K, multi-cam interviews with talent ranging from del Toro himself to Cate Blanchett and Christoph Waltz. Leveraging tools like Adobe speech-to-text transcription and Google Drive’s search capabilities transformed the editing process. Finding perfect soundbites and addressing client feedback became as easy as Google search.
Strategic Organization Drives Efficiency
Don’t overlook the value of good prep work. At the start of editorial, a methodical week-long process of interview logging and organization paid massive dividends across the proceeding months. By breaking content into predefined topics and utilizing timeline stacking techniques, the documentary came together quicker and holes in plots filled faster.
This organizational investment proved especially valuable when Netflix requested 8 additional featurettes for social media and awards promotion. What could have been weeks of additional work was accomplished in days.
Technical Innovation Meets Creative Excellence
Looking at the creative, the documentary demanded more than just sharp cuts. It required refined solutions for complex creative challenges:
- Custom split-screen effects to showcase del Toro’s creature designs
- Advanced compositing to remove distracting elements from 48 separate shots
- AI-powered matting techniques to maintain interview visual consistency
- Streamlined finishing workflows between Fort Worth and LA for final deliveries
Delivering at Scale
The final product stands as more than just a making-of documentary – it’s a testament to what’s possible when systematic workflow design meets creative storytelling. Now prominently featured on Netflix alongside Pinocchio, the documentary enhances the viewer’s appreciation of both the film and the artistry behind it. By bringing together deep technical expertise, proven workflows, and compelling narrative craft, this project demonstrates how a modern post house like Sawtooth can tackle massive scope while maintaining the highest creative standards. The result isn’t just scrollable content – it’s an integral part of how audiences experience and connect with a master filmmaker’s vision.
