SANTA MONICA—Editor Bob Jenkis has joined Mad River Post, Santa Monica. He’s already wrapped his first job under the Mad River banner, a promo for the European Cup Soccer tournament, out of Timmerman & Tan Advertising, Singapore.
The :30, which shows soccer players jumping out of a plane in flight and getting their kicks in a breathtaking aerial game, is sponsored by tobacco company Djarum. Titled "Super Soccer," the commercial was directed by Bob Gordon via Los Angeles-based Form, and is slated to air in several markets, including Indonesia. (Gordon continues to maintain his Flying Tiger Films, which entered into a relationship with Form last year.)
Jenkis’ last formal spot editing roost was Crew Cuts/West, which closed in late 2003. (Mainstay house Crew Cuts remains headquartered in New York.) Under the aegis of executive producer Christie Cash, the core of talent from Crew Cuts/ West remained intact as Jenkis continued to take on some assignments. Recently that contingent, along with talent from Swietlik, Santa Monica, came aboard the newly formed Cut + Run Los Angeles (SHOOT, 5/21, p. 7). But Jenkis opted to join Mad River based on several factors, including his affinity for its president, Krystn Wagenberg, and the opportunity to expand his reach via the company’s offices throughout the country—Santa Monica, San Francisco, New York, Dallas and Detroit.
The latter is of particular interest to Jenkis, who has long drawn work from the Motor City market, with credits that include Chevrolet, Ford, Jeep and Cadillac. Jenkis said he can shuttle to different Mad River shops as projects dictate, and/or tap into the company’s Rosedit remote editing system, which enables him to, for instance, be in the Santa Monica office and work in real time with agency creatives in New York or elsewhere.
"There are many opportunities—new clients and new markets—that open up for me as an editor by virtue of being at Mad River," related Jenkis who prior to Crew Cuts was at the aforementioned Swietlik. During his Swietlik tenure, he cut assorted jobs, including Rollerblade’s "Relay," which earned a Gold Clio for editing, Jeep’s "Frisbee," a Cannes Bronze Lion-winning spot, and Visa’s "Kangaroo Dreams," which garnered an ’01 Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Show honor in the editing category. Jenkis also edited the music video promoting Men in Black, a clip that received an MTV Award in ’97 as best video from a movie.
Jenkis made his foray into the industry as a music video editor in the late ’70s, working with such artists as Styx, ELO, Donna Summer, Fleetwood Mac and Tom Petty. The editor then moved into longer form, working on the Holocaust documentary Genocide for the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The film was honored with a best feature documentary Oscar in ’82. Enjoying a successful run as a freelance editor for independent features and trailers, Jenkis was invited to help set up the in-house editorial department for now defunct Propaganda Films. There, he cut videos for a variety of performers, including Janet Jackson, Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Sting, David Bowie and En Vogue.
In ’90, Jenkis cut for director David Lynch on the cult classic TV series Twin Peaks. Jenkis went on to edit assorted other projects, perhaps most notably Michael Jackson’s HBO concert from Bucharest. Via Propaganda, the freelance editor also diversified into commercials, landing his first Gold Clio for cutting Start Card’s "Grandfather." He later formally joined Swietlik. His spot clientele over the years includes Nike, Coca-Cola, Toyota, Nissan, Gatorade, Heineken, Panasonic, Boeing, Polaroid, Sprite and Mitsubishi. The Mitsubishi project for Deutsch LA promoted the Endeavor SUV and was among the last jobs Jenkis edited at Crew Cuts/West.
