Editor Adam Epstein, one of the key creative talents behind most of Saturday Night Live’s recent parody commercials and shorts, is making a renewed commitment to working with ad agencies and brands, joining P.S. 260, the independent New York-based creative editorial boutique. For SNL, he has contributed to the Justin Bieber Calvin Klein parody ads starring Kate McKinnon, and the series of Lincoln parodies with Jim Carrey channeling Matthew McConaughey.
Epstein explained he’s making the move to P.S. 260 as a way to increase his presence in the advertising community and add more brand content to his portfolio. “They’re really plugged in to the ad scene, particularly in New York,” he said of his new home. “I’m looking to find more balance in the work I’m doing, which is what appealed to me about P.S. 260. I like having a mélange of projects to work on, and I got my start with advertising work. As far as I’m concerned, good work is good work, no matter the format. And it allows me to say ‘mélange’ from time to time.”
Epstein’s deft touch with SNL commercial parodies should come as no surprise. He came up through the ad biz, starting on the West Coast as a producer and editor at Stun Creative before moving to the post house Red Car and then Hybrid Edit working with top directors and creatives.
During his career Epstein has cut commercials and long-form ad content for a range of clients, including Adobe, Google and Hampton Inns, as well as broadcast promos (many of which he also wrote and produced) for networks such as Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, Sundance Channel and BET. Recent projects includes his first feature, a Paramount Pictures comedy that was directed by SNL Film nit director Rhys Thomas titled Staten Island Summer, as well as the IFC show Documentary Now!” which stars former SNL talents Bill Hader and Fred Armisen.
“Adam is a comic genius who works under incredible deadlines,” said P.S. 260 managing partner Zarina Mak. “He’s a well-rounded creative talent with a broad insight into what makes things work from a comedy standpoint.”
Epstein’s connection with SNL grew out of his friendship with director Thomas, a P.S. 260 alum, who invited him to work on a short for the program when Thomas was producing for the show’s Film Unit. Together with DP Alex Buono and producer Justus McLarty, the team has elevated the look and feel of the show’s parody ads, making them at times almost indistinguishable from more traditional broadcast ads in terms of production value and finish.
“We purposely wanted to get away from the fake look that you often see in commercial parodies,” Epstein noted. “Our belief was that the ad parodies should look and feel as professional as something we had a lot of time to work on.”
Maury Loeb, P.S. 260 editor and partner, said of Epstein, “Besides being technically solid and having an amazing understanding of comedy, his great talent as an editor is his ability to establish the perfect overall tone of a piece. Whether it’s creating a pitch-perfect parody or inventing a particular feel for original material, Adam does a masterful job of establishing a brilliant look and feel for everything he does. It’s a testament to his creativity and wonderful sensibility.”
In addition to his work as an editor, Epstein is also a sought-after pundit and thought leader, writing and speaking about editing, comedy and other weighty issues of daily life. He was a guest at this year’s NAB Creative Masters series (courtesy of Adobe), where he sat for a one-on-one Q&A, and in 2014 conducted a two-month, 32-city tour dubbed “The Cutting Edge Post Production Tour,” where he ran full-day seminars on the finer points of post.
