Editor Paul Norling has joined the talent roster at creative postproduction shop STITCH. The move reunites him with STITCH editor and partner Dan Swietlik.
A Chicago-area native, Norling studied film at Columbia College and got his start in the industry at a small editing shop before joining Optimus, which was then owned by editor Jimmy Smyth. Assisting Smyth, Norling found he was given more and more leeway to handle jobs on his own. “It’s really where my career started and where I started building a client base.”
A desire to explore feature films prompted Norling’s relocation to Los Angeles, where he landed at Red Car. That’s where he first met Swietlik, who was working there as an editor, and their chemistry was instantaneous. The pair even shared a house together.
Norling said joining Swietlik at STITCH has been a long time coming. “I watched Dan’s career grow after we left Red Car, and while we frequently talked about working together, we were never in sync until now,” he explained.
After leaving Red Car Norling landed at FilmCore, where he eventually became a partner before leaving to co-found Beast Editorial in 2005, which later merged with FilmCore and expanded its footprint nationally. He left Beast in 2017 and launched his own studio, Metro Pictures Editorial, where he’ll continue to handle personal projects, selected spot assignments and non-commercial work.
A parade of award-winning ads have been edited by Norling over the course of his career, including the seminal “Frozen Moments” Brand Jordan ad directed by Jonathan Glazer, in which time seems to stand still as people are glued to their TVs watching Michael Jordan drive to the net. Norling’s work spans genres, categories and techniques, from comedy to action to dramatic narrative, always imbued with a sense of timing, rhythm and style.
Executive producer Mila Davis, who was an agency producer for many years before joining STITCH in 2015, has been a long-time admirer of Norling’s work. “Spots like ‘Frozen Moments’ are the kind of ads I’d wish I’d done when I was producing,” she observed. “Paul has instantly become part of the family here, and he’s already sharing his perspective and experience with our younger editors. He loves what he does, and we’re all feeling that.”
Norling joins a lineup in Santa Monica that also includes editors Adam Svatek, Dan Bootzin, David Checel, Gabriel Britz, Jason Lewis, Leo King, Max Windows, Nicolas Larrouquere, Paul O’Reilly, Phil Currie, Tim Hardy and Weston Cadwell.
