PRODUCTION GRISELDA
Griselda, the hit Netflix series inspired by the life of cocaine kingpin Griselda Blanco, blends seventies glamour and gruesome gang warfare. Cinematographer Armando Salas, ASC tells Nicola Foley about creating the show’s drop-dead-gorgeous look
chain, ruthlessly taking out rivals and accumulating money, power and an army of ‘Marielitos’ (Cuban refugees) to do her brutal bidding on the streets. At the height of her reign, Blanco was the kingpin in one of the most profitable and notorious drug cartels in history. A central figure in the flow of cocaine between Columbia and US cities, ‘The Godmother’ loomed large in the Miami drug wars of the seventies and eighties, amassing a vast empire and turning over tens of millions of dollars a month. It’s a story that showrunner Eric Newman – who’d already immersed himself in the grisly world of cocaine trafficking on Narcos – couldn’t resist. Joined by fellow Narcos alumni Andrés Baiz, who directs all six episodes, and co-creator Doug Miro, Sofia Vergara steps into the position of executive producer as well as leading the cast with a powerhouse performance. Lensing duties were given to cinematographer Armando Salas, ASC ( Ozark , The Terminal List ), who had first set foot in Griselda Blanco’s universe on an earlier project. “I don’t know if Andi [Baiz] was aware at the time or not, but I had shot Cocaine Cowboys 20 years earlier, so I already knew of the story,” shares Salas.
IMAGES Netflix
I n the opening scenes of Griselda , its glamorous antihero – a fictionalised version of real-life drug lord Griselda Blanco – is struggling. A bullet wound in her side, a murdered husband in her wake, and nothing to her name except three kids and a kilo of cocaine, she arrives in Miami determined to start anew. From there, she begins her ascent to the top of the city’s drug
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