Editors Andrea Folprecht and Lauren Connelly played a role in shaping the show’s unique rhythm and tone while producing the deep personal world of the Netflix comedy “Mo.”
He has been in the series for the series since his debut in 2022, and he has made contact with the project for the first time through director Solvan “Slick” Naim after working with “BMF”. “We’re just a little bit of gel,” she said. “So, when he told me about this comedy for Netflix, I was immediately interested.”
Connelly joined Season 2, taking part in the show through another road-A24’s shareholder meeting eventually led to an interview and then called for the job. “Andrea is very enthusiastic and collaborative,” Connery said. “It’s great to walk into a warm environment and be part of the team right away.”
Their work has been key in browsing the unique balance of humor, heart and social commentary in the series. Season 2 finds Palestinian refugee Mo Najjar stranded in Mexico, returning home with time before his family’s crucial asylum hearing. Without a passport, as a stateless refugee, returning to Houston was just the beginning of his struggle. The joint expertise of Folprecht and Connelly combines comedy and deep emotions, taking an editing approach to weave multiple cultures, languages and tones together to bring Mo’s personal journey to life.
Movie: Tell me about the workflow of this series. You have a creator, a writer, director and star.
Andrea Folprecht: A seasonal production barrier. I made a calendar for myself to keep track of my daily newspapers and how many, just to help my brain figure out when to start. When you only have a few scenes in a few plots, you have nothing to do. You do have to wait until you have enough time to dive into the music or sound effects pass. This makes this a challenge. I have a great AE, Peter McCann, who can help collaborate and strategy to incorporate all finishing into one episode. And, since Mo and Slick are on site, we really get them and we can’t get 110% until the production package.
Movie: Tell me this 110%. How do you work together?
Lauren Connelly: It was a great experience to work with Mo Amer & Solvan “Slick” Naim because they were so collaborative and fun. We were totally out of reach of the show, so we spent a lot of time on Evercast. Each of us has our own room, and Mo will pop up back and forth. Slick first appeared in his episodes on each of us, and then Mo took over as an entertainer.
Folprecht: In Season 1, Slick directed every episode, but in Season 2, MO directed three. Therefore, depending on the plot, Mo is both a director and a producer, processing notes from all directions. He was very particular about details, and it all went back to music and the end, so he was with us a lot.
Cinemontage: What did you find that defines the sound of this show? How is the editorial choice on “MO” different from other projects you work on?
Connery: Honestly, my cutting method remains the same across all projects and genres. Early in my career, editor Peter Teschner gave me great advice: Never be pigeoned. I keep it in mind, looking for projects in all genres and tones. Regardless, it always comes down to characters, emotions and loyalty to the story. The funniest comedy can still move your heart, while the saddest drama can be humorous in their darkest moments. This mindset is really valuable on “MO” because you’re dealing with serious themes in 30 minutes of comedy. Staying open-minded, collaborative and willing to experiment is key to the tone of management.
Folprecht: Yes, I totally agree. Especially “MO”, I know they want to go to a close pace. Both Slick and Mo love dynamic and fast things, so I have shaped the editor from the beginning. I don’t believe in cutting fat, but it’s true for most of the shows I’ve worked on. And then, of course, there is the comedy element. I only keep the necessary conditions for actually landing jokes or pushing the story forward. Sometimes, I leave an extra sense of humor knowing that I will trim it later. Other times, I would receive notes saying, “We need another joke here” or the contrary: “Too many jokes, let’s make a joke.” This is a very common process in comedy.
Movie: Are you getting a lot of coverage, or is this method more structured?
Connery: There must be a lot of reports. With the helm of a standing comic, it wouldn’t be surprised to hear them doing a lot of riffs and script experiments. Slick also likes to try different things, and if something doesn’t work, they rotate – usually won’t cut the camera. So we end up getting long incomes, a lot of resets and a lot of different changes. One scene in the finale is about a minute and a half, but I get hours of footage for it – tandem jokes, round and round readings. That’s extreme, but it gives you an idea!
Cinemontage: Do they give you a lot of inserts and close-ups, or do you tilt twice because comedy is often played in a wider framework?
Connery: For me, I don’t usually cut based on size – I let the lens talk to me. Whether it’s making me laugh or making me laugh sincerely, I built the entire scene in one moment. This becomes the anchor and I build the scene in the surrounding scenes. Most shows have traditional cinema language, but I don’t believe in strict rules. I think it is important to keep your mind open. When watching the daily, I trust my gut and build it from the situation where I feel right.
Folprecht: Absolute. Overall, they shot a lot of singles-we didn’t rely too much on two shots in this show. We often cut the reaction, not the insert, because a lot of comedy lives in someone’s reaction. I totally agree with Lauren’s size – it’s about this moment and the most interesting moment.
Movie: Tell me a scene that really challenges you, which shows how you build a show.
FOLPRECHT: One of my toughest scenes is in episode 203, “Yes Chef, No Chef”, which is a home modification party. In that scene, Nick’s mother leads prayers in a fanatical Nigerian style. She likes to praise God dramatically while broadcasting small dissatisfaction and strolls. Meanwhile, Mo walked into the kitchen and met his ex-girlfriend, Maria, with her new boyfriend, Maria – the man he just met outside. This was the first time he saw them, and Hameed came over and eggs again. So, a lot happened immediately. During my first pass, I focused mainly on Mo, Maria and Hameed, with the mom’s voice running below. But when I looked back, something was missing. Haven’t sang yet. I realized I needed more Nick’s mom than just her voice, but real shots and comedy. Even if it makes editing more challenging – I have to uncover what I do and weave her into her presence, which adds to the overall energy of humor, chaos and the present.
Connelly: One scene that ends up being much more difficult than it seems is the zoom scene in Episode 202 “Fishing”. All characters are in the zoom call and we never leave the screen – we are completely inside the computer. When I got the shot, I realized they shot each actor separately on different days and none of their lines had the same chance. So I should have put all four on the screen at once, but they are completely out of sync for the line. When someone messes up, they just stop in a series and remake their lines, making stitching together even trickier. I immediately texted Slick and said, “Hey, can I do a view of the speaker?” He was like, “Yes, of course!” So I piled all the shots in different layers, color-coded everything, basically having to put them together instantly. I had to figure out the best place to cut and when to switch the speaker view while adjusting the small box on the top to hide the transition. That was difficult.
Movie: When did you decide on emojis? That’s great.
Connery: I’m glad you asked! Actually, it started with my unprecedented joke. Everyone else gets these little reaction emojis when everyone else is signaling with their hands, but my gesture never works. I kept trying to trigger them – do all these big gestures – but nothing happened. It turns out that my laptop is too old! One day, my excellent assistant editor Andrew Elliott said, “Ha! The emoji should come to Mot when Mo was obscured and do all the big gestures during deportation.” I went, “Great. We’re doing that!” So we brought the idea to internal VFX artist Eric Binmoeller and started playing. At first, it was simple, but we kept lifting it – where are the fireworks? What about that? This is a very interesting organic discovery and a great example of how collaboration still evolves even when working remotely.
Folprecht: What Lauren does in the finale, Episode 208 “The Call from God” is also technically incredible. I even learned from watching her work.
Connery: About a week before the filming, we learned that there were a lot more conversations in Arabic than originally planned, and one of the main challenges was that I couldn’t speak Arabic. Due to arrangements and budget constraints, Netflix cannot provide a subtitle daily report, so we need to come up with other solutions.
I started looking for an assistant editor, Zaineb Abdul-Nabi, who spoke Arabic last minute to join us and translated through ScriptSync. She did a great job! The process is like this: Andrew Elliott will script the script first. He color-coded the Arabic part and passed the script to Zaineb, which matches the Arabic lines on the screen with English translations in Scriptsync. She also transcribed and organized as many improvisation and scripting experiments as possible, which was difficult – there were a lot of overlapping conversations, which was very important for Mo.
I’ll first watch all the footage of the scene and write down the records I like – language, photography, performance – and then with Scriptsync I’ll compare each script marker to the lens. I essentially say that my translation is self-taught. I then put the scene in a trash for Zaineb to review. If I cut a line, or the actor put on something I probably didn’t grab, she would look and leave a mark. The scene I was worried about was a disaster, but when I handed it over to Zaineb for inspection, she didn’t leave a note.
I said, “Wait a minute, look again – there must be something.” But she said, “No, it works. Joke the land.” I think I almost fell off the chair. It does prove that communication exceeds language. You can tell too much from natural pauses, body language, and expressions, even if there is no translation. Mo sent me a text after watching the cuts. He was very satisfied with it and said he was always looking for errors in Arabic, but nothing. That really matters to me. It’s a very personal plot and I don’t want him to watch it for the first time being ruined by mistakes in the language. As an editor, it is an honor to tell stories to make a living. Storytelling connects people together – it helps us empathize with others from different communities and cultures. It was an incredible experience working with MO and helping tell his story.
