Waldemar Centeno is a Puerto Rican film and TV editor who has edited major productions for Netflix, FOX, Hulu, and many more film companies. When the pandemic hit the world, film productions started to shutdown with no knowledge of when the protocols would be in place to begin again, also affecting the theaters as two of Centeno’s films—Big Time Adolescence and Hooking Up— set to theatrically release on March 13th, 2020, but were instead released on Hulu.
Centeno made the difficult decision to leave Los Angeles and move to Puerto Rico. Despite the career risk of this move, Waldemar returned to Puerto Rico to reconnect with his family and culture. The move allowed him to better engulf himself in the language, learn about the island’s political issues, and connect with other colleagues in the film industry on the island.
Waldemar still wondered whether big companies would be willing to work with him remotely from the island. It wasn’t until January 2021 when he landed the second season of the Netflix series Gentefied where he was able to put his remote work to the test. Creating a whole new workflow and system of communication, Waldemar was able to begin working remotely from Puerto Rico which has continued to this day.
He has been a member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild for a decade and sits on its Latin Steering Committee where he helps organize panels and events to showcase Latinx success in the film industry.
Waldemar is enjoying living in Puerto Rico and does not have a return date for Los
Angeles. He says,
i dont want to leave this island until i feel connected with my culture.
He knows that one day post-production will be less remote and more in person so he is prepared to return to Los Angeles when that day comes. Whether, remote or in person, Centeno plans on working diligently to show the industry that there is a community of Latinx filmmakers that should have the opportunity to tell their stories.
Waldemar wants to create an industry where there is more appreciation for diversity and inclusion, and show the world that there is a Latinx presence that we should all celebrate.
Amazing article It make more known the latinx presence in the industry 👏🏻 to that!
Good read 👍🏼