Leo King got involved in editing at a mere 15, when he worked for Tony Lawson, a feature editor who at the time was cutting a film called The Two Deaths for director Nicholas Roeg. “At the time, the editor was still working with sticky tape and splicers, so I was amazed and transfixed at how the film slowly took shape from all the thousands of different pieces of film,” says King. “I look back on this now as a very unique experience for someone my age as most people have never dealt directly with film.”
King, who works via Cut +Run, London, which also has offices in New York and Los Angeles, says his experience with Lawson helped bring together his interest in art and math–he went to the University of Leeds, where he received a bachelor of arts in communication. “Throughout the three years I was there we got the opportunity to make a number of short films,” explains King. “When it came to editing, everyone else would complain about spending days on end in a dark room putting their films together. I, however, couldn’t wait to get stuck in and work on the films, so I became the resident editor for everyone. This helped me realize for certain that I wanted a career in editing.” After graduating university, King asked Lawson for some advice about breaking into editing–Lawson suggested he drop his resume by edit houses that worked on commercials, reasoning that with the high turnover of work, it would be a great place to get experience. “After working for only a short while, I quickly realized how interesting commercials are to work on for an editor,” King states. “Every advert brings different challenges, especially since there is such a huge range of adverts being made. You are also working in an intense, small amount of time, so you have to think about the best way to tell the story and choose every shot very carefully.”
The editor’s ability to craft a story is on display in several recent spots, including Vodafone’s “Hole,” directed by Nicolai Fuglsig of bicoastal/international MJZ, which features a guy playing a golf game that takes him through his office, various city streets, alleyways and finally a rooftop–turns out the game is one played on a mobile phone and the experience is enhanced via Vodafone’s 3G service. King liked working on the effects-intensive ad. “This was fun because the ball didn’t exist in most of the shots, so you had to imagine where it would go,” he relates. “Edits like this are good because they remain fluid. You don’t really lock the cut as it continually changes as you put the effects elements into it. I always like to show the effects in the offline by using the Avid’s capabilities to their full potential. Although this can be time consuming, it really helps give a full picture of the edit before the online.” King also recently worked on another effects-heavy job, a spot for Tic-Tacs that featured “Tic Tac” men, half the size of regular people, running around full size people.
While the editor works with special effects, he also cuts spots with emphasis on storytelling and dialogue, as well as strong visuals. In Peugeot’s “Shame,” directed by Steve Wallington, car owners, and cars, hide in the face of a Peugeot 307, feeling as though they are unworthy to be in such a great car’s presence. “I don’t feel that I can describe my editing in one particular style,” says King. “I think that to be a good editor you have to be flexible to the needs of each particular project. When a job comes in, I look at the rushes and work out how I can approach it. You know you’ve done a good job when you are able to offer up an edit that takes the film to a place the makers weren’t expecting.”
King has been with Cut + Run for four years. After working as a runner at DGW, London, King was upped to assistant editor, working with editor Piers Douglas; when Douglas shifted over to Cut +Run, King followed, and eventually began assisting Steve Gandolfi, owner of the shop, and one the top editors in the U.K. “I would say Steve Gandolfi is my biggest influence and mentor,” say King. “Steve is a world-renowned editor and I have learned so much from him. Not only about editing but his committed work ethic, giving clients the best service possible, even if it means being up until 3 in the morning.”
Currently, the editor is working on a Bisto gravy spot from director Rob Sanders at Amarillo Films, London, for agency McCann Erickson, London, and recently wrapped work on three Radio Times spots for agency Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy, and a NatWest Bank spot from director Theo Delaney of Hotspur & Argyle, London, for M&C Saatchi, New York. King has also completed a couple of short films–Roach and Lurex–the former features a man and a cockroach, who fight a surprising battle to the death, while the latter is about two mannequins falling in love.
Since Cut + Run now has two offices in the U.S., King is hoping to travel stateside to work on projects. “I’ve always enjoyed traveling and combining this with work is a fantastic experience so I would love to come over to America to edit,” says King. “There’s a wide range of high quality work that comes out of the States and I think my U.K. advertising experience and perspective give me the opportunity to bring something new to the mix.”
