Commercial and feature editor Dan Swietlik has joined forces with London-based editorial house Stitch, opening up an office in Santa Monica. The move will see immediate collaboration on projects between the U.S. and U.K. operations.
Swietlik is part of a Stitch L.A. roster of editors that also consists of David Checel, Marc D’Andre, Frank Effron, Tad Fatum and Jeff Grippe. This ensemble of talent had previously been at editorial house Cut+Run.
Also Cut+Run alumni are editors Andy McGraw, Leo King and Tim Hardy who a year ago opened Stitch in London’s Soho district. The Stitch U.K. editors have gone on to cut campaigns for such clients as BMW, Ford, Johnnie Walker, Heineken, Kit Kat, Motorola, Panasonic, Range Rover, Samsung, VW, Vodafone and Weetabix.
Charged with helping to expand the Stitch brand stateside is executive producer Stacey Altman, a former independent sales rep.
The first project wrapped under the U.S./U.K. Stitch banner is the American launch of the Smart Car directed by Guy Shelmerdine of Smuggler and edited by McGraw for Merkley + Partners, New York.
At Stitch L.A., Effron has also edited a Mercedes-Benz commercial directed by Carl Eric Rinsch of RSA Films, and delivered two spots for Jimmy Dean with director Jeff Low of Biscuit through TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles.
Stitch is in the midst of a Hyundai-funded project with executive producer Tom Dunlap at Scott Free/RSA Films. It’s a non-fiction branded content effort directed by Amir Bar-Lev whose credits include the documentaries The Tillman Story and My Kid Could Paint That, which were nominated for the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize in 2010 and ’07, respectively. The Hyundai project will see a number of disparate elements created (such as interstitials) that will come together in addition to a documentary.
“We currently have three editors working on trailers, behind-the-scenes footage, music video elements and more,” said Swietlik regarding the job. “There is no shoehorned Hyundai product placement in the material. The brand is added in a subtle, organic way. It’s crafted with entertainment in mind.”
The project also underscores Swietlik’s propensity to team on documentary work as evidenced by such feature-length projects as director Michael Moore’s Sicko (edited by Swietlik, Geoffrey Richman and Christopher Seward) and director Davis Guggenheim’s An Inconvenient Truth (edited by Swietlik and Jay Cassidy). Swietlik’s credits also include he and Dayn Williams (of Cut+Run) editing the Rinsch-directed short film The Gift, part of the Philips’ “Parallel Lines” campaign’s series of shorts out of DDB London. The Gift won the Grand Prix in last year’s inaugural Film Craft competition at the Cannes Lions Festival.
FireAid Concert Features Major Music Stars, Shares Stories Of Loss To Raise Money For L.A. Wildfire Relief
Pop stars, first responders, rock stars and those who've lost everything in the devastating LA-area wildfires came together for FireAid, a massive benefit concert Thursday that combined spectacular performances with moving storytelling from survivors and reminders of the destruction.
In a night full of surprises, a reunion of Nirvana — fronted by St. Vincent, Kim Gordon and Joan Jett in the place of the late Kurt Cobain — tops the list. They launched into "Breed," "School" and "Territorial Pissings" respectively, inspired and unexpected choices.
Drummer Dave Grohl's daughter, Violet, then emerged on stage for "All Apologies."
Closer Lady Gaga, after powering through the Oscar-award winning "Shallow" and "Always Remember Us This Way" from "A Star Is Born," played a new song on the piano. "It's just for tonight, it's just for you," she said of the song she wrote with fiancé businessman Michael Polansky. "Time is a healer."
"All I need is time," she sang in the folk-y pop chorus. "To heal my broken wings and then I'll soar."
Green Day kicked off the massive show by launching into "Last Night on Earth" at the Kia Forum and were soon joined by Billie Eilish for the first surprise of the night. The lyrics are surprisingly astute: "If I lose everything in the fire / I'm sending all my love to you."
After their set, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong hugged actor Billy Crystal, who was there to welcome to the crowd at the Kia Forum.
"Our goal is simple tonight, to spend more money than the Dodgers spent on free agents," he joked. He told the audience U2 offered the first big donation of the night: $1 million dollars.
Crystal said he was wearing the clothes he had on when he evacuated. He lost his home in... Read More