Frequent collaborator with Judd Apatow secures spot editing roost
Final Cut has hired editor Paul Zucker who’s most notably acknowledged for his work cutting HBO’s hit show Girls, executive produced by Judd Apatow and Lena Dunham. Zucker recently co-edited the upcoming Apatow-directed Trainwreck, starring Amy Schumer. In addition to the first three seasons of Girls, Zucker also worked on Apatow’s This is 40 and edited the pilot of HBO’s critically acclaimed Silicon Valley, created by Mike Judge.
Prior to his recent comedy-centric work, Zucker edited for some of cinema’s most innovative auteurs, from Michel Gondry to Harmony Korine. Beginning his career as an assistant editor in New York City and quickly rising through the ranks, Zucker served as associate editor in 2001 for director Gus Van Sant on the feature Gerry which starred Matt Damon. Zucker continued his career with an extended stint as an additional editor on the Gondry-directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, winner of a BAFTA award for best editing (won by editor Valdís Óskarsdóttir). Zucker and Óskarsdóttir then served as editors on Korine’s Mister Lonely, which made a splash at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.
With a plethora of other feature, documentary and music video credits under his belt, Zucker has also found time to straddle the fine art world, editing projects for noted artists such as Sarah Morris, Rashid Johnson and Luis Gispert.
The move to Final Cut is a new and chapter for Zucker. “I’ve edited everything from music video, gallery, and experimental work to features, television and documentary. I’m excited to bring my storytelling craft from these other formats to my advertising work,” he said.
Stephanie Apt, president of Final Cut, added, “We have had great success bringing feature editors to advertising, as well as seeing editors from our commercial roster cross over to features, all making for a very stimulating environment at Final Cut. Knowing Paul’s breadth of work and passion and creativity, I am confident that we will be introducing an editor that clients will really enjoy collaborating with on a variety of work.”
Final Cut is a creative editorial and post company collaborating on commercials, feature films and music videos with offices in London, New York and Los Angeles.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More