Skip Macdonald

Skip Macdonald is an American film and television editor known for his work on Breaking Bad (2008–2013), its spin-off series Better Call Saul (2015–2022), and the 2019 film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. He also edited several episodes of the TV series Fargo. In 2014, at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Drama Series for the Breaking Bad series finale episode Felina.

Career Skip Macdonald began his career as an assistant sound editor in the 1980s. During this time, he worked on Heaven's Gate (1980), Things Are Tough All Over, and the Carl Reiner-directed Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) and The Man with Two Brains (1983). After completing Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers in 1984, Macdonald made his second collaboration with filmmaker Michael Cimino, after Heaven's Gate, with Year of the Dragon in 1985.

Macdonald's first project serving as an assistant film editor was in 1988's television film Little Girl Lost. In the following years, he assisted with the editing of Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991), the Perry Mason film The Case of the Killer Kiss (1993), White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf and Nell (1994), Kansas and In Pursuit of Honor (1995), and Primal Fear (1996). In 1997, Macdonald had his "" after becoming an editor for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Macdonald has collaborated with Vince Gilligan (pictured) three times.

In 2008, Macdonald began editing the Vince Gilligan-created series Breaking Bad, a show that received universal acclaim and earned Macdonald (following three other nominations) the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series in 2014 for his work on the series finale. That same year, he worked on the drama series Fargo and earned three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited Series or Movie. Macdonald made his second collaboration with Gilligan on the Breaking Bad spin-off series Better Call Saul, which earned him two more Emmy Award nominations. In 2019, he made his third collaboration with Gilligan on the Netflix film El Camino, a sequel to Breaking Bad centered on the character of Jesse Pinkman.

Filmography Film Year Title Director Credited as 1980 Heaven's Gate Michael Cimino Assistant sound editor 1982 Things Are Tough All Over Thomas K. Avildsen Assistant sound editor Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid Carl Reiner Assistant sound editor 1983 The Man with Two Brains Carl Reiner Assistant sound editor 1984 Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers Tommy Chong Assistant sound editor 1985 Year of the Dragon Michael Cimino Assistant sound editor 1991 Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man Simon Wincer Assistant film editor 1994 White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf Ken Olin Assistant editor Nell Michael Apted Lightworks assistant editor 1996 Primal Fear Gregory Hoblit Assistant film editor A Very Brady Sequel Arlene Sanford Assistant film editor 2006 Drake & Josh Go Hollywood Steve Hoefer Assistant editor 2007 Super Sweet 16: The Movie Neema Barnette Editor 2011 Low Fidelity Devon Gummersall Editor 2013 Over/Under Bronwen Hughes Editor 2019 El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie Vince Gilligan Editor

Television Year Title Notes 1988 Little Girl Lost Assistant film editor; television film Police Story: Cop Killer Assistant film editor; television film 1993 Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss Assistant editor; television film 1995 Kansas Associate editor; television film In Pursuit of Honor Co-editor; television film 1997–1999 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Also assistant editor 2000 2gether: The Series 2001 The Chronicle 1 episode 2001–2002 Special Unit 2 2 episodes 2003 Hunter: Back in Force Television film 2005–2007 Las Vegas Also assistant editor 2006 Weeds Episode: "Crush Girl Love Panic" 2007 Big Shots 2 episodes 2008–2013 Breaking Bad 2011 Glory Daze 1 episode Hell on Wheels Episode: "Hell on Wheels" 2013 Low Winter Sun 4 episodes 2014–2015 Fargo 2015–2022 Better Call Saul 2016 American Gothic 1 episode 2017 A Series of Unfortunate Events 4 episodes 2018 Here and Now 3 episodes 2019 Chambers 3 episodes 2021 Foundation 2 episodes 2025 Pluribus

Accolades + Award Year Category Work Result Eddie Awards 2012 Best Edited Drama Series for Commercial Television "Face Off" (Breaking Bad) 2013 Best Edited Drama Series for Commercial Television "Dead Freight" (Breaking Bad) 2014 Best Edited Drama Series for Commercial Television "Felina" (Breaking Bad) "Buried" (Breaking Bad) "Ozymandias" (Breaking Bad) 2016 Best Edited Drama Series for Commercial Television "Uno" (Better Call Saul) "Did You Do This? No, You Did It!" (Fargo) 2017 Best Edited Drama Series for Commercial Television "Fifi" (Better Call Saul) "Klick" (Better Call Saul) 2018 Best Edited Drama Series for Commercial Television "Chicanery" (Better Call Saul) "Witness" (Better Call Saul) 2019 Best Edited Drama Series for Commercial Television "Something Stupid" (Better Call Saul) Primetime Emmy Awards 2010 Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series "No Más" (Breaking Bad) 2012 Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series "Face Off" (Breaking Bad) 2013 Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series "Dead Freight" (Breaking Bad) 2014 Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series "Felina" (Breaking Bad) Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited Series or Movie "The Crocodile's Dilemma (Fargo) 2016 Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited Series or Movie "Did You Do This? No, You Did It!" (Fargo) "Waiting for Dutch" (Fargo) 2017 Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series "Chicanery" (Better Call Saul) "Witness" (Better Call Saul) 2020 Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited Series or Movie El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie Peabody Awards2022EntertainmentBetter Call Saul