Editors Eric Zumbrunnen and Stephen Berger have returned to the commercials roster at Final Cut. Berger rejoins the company, which maintains shops in Los Angeles, New York and London, after two years at editorial house DAVID-Inc., San Francisco and L.A. Zumbrunnen, a Final Cut partner, is back after taking a hiatus from spots to edit the feature film John Carter, the live-action debut from Pixar director Andrew Stanton.
Zumbrunnen, a spot mainstay with work for such clients as Audi, HP, Xbox, and ESPN, first got his start editing music videos. Early work for The Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, Björk, Fat Boy Slim and Beck developed a collaborative partnership with such directors as Dayton/Faris and Spike Jonze. During that period Zumbrunnen earned two MTV Music Video Awards for Best Editing.
Zumbrunnen successfully transitioned to feature films with Jonze’s Being John Malkovich, which received three Academy Award nominations and earned Zumbrunnen both a BAFTA nomination and an ACE award for Best Edited Feature Film. Zumbrunnen’s subsequent film, Adaptation, also directed by Jonze, received four Academy Award nominations and netted another ACE nomination for editing. Other film credits include the Jonze-helmed Where the Wild Things Are (for which Zumbrunnen and Union Editorial’s James Haygood are credited as cutters).
Stephen Berger
Berger started working with Final Cut in 2005, after a five-year stay with colleague Zumbrunnen at Spot Welders. While there the two combined to cut Spike Jonze’s short I’m Here for Absolut Vodka. Berger also edited the Yellow Pencil Award-wining Grizzly Bear video “Two Weeks” directed by Patrick Daughters.
In 2010, Berger moved to the Bay Area and signed with DAVID where he extended his reach into the San Francisco market. Now at Final Cut, he will edit out of the Southern California facility as well as maintain a satellite bay in San Francisco. Berger’s Bay Area ties are reflected in work for agencies Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, DOJO and Heat.
At DAVID Inc, Berger worked on the Sprint “Epic Movies” campaign, director Filip Engstrom’s 2011 Chevy Volt Super Bowl spot, Sprite’s “Reimagined” featuring LeBron James out of BBH, and EA Battlefield’s “Is It Real?” spot directed by Noam Murro for Wieden+Kennedy. Since returning to Final Cut, Berger has wrapped his first project for the shop, an Activision commercial via 72andSunny.
Gene Hackman Died Of Heart Disease; Hantavirus Claimed His Wife’s Life About One Week Prior
Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, likely unaware that she was dead because he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, authorities revealed Friday. Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said alongside state fire and health officials at a news conference. "Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease," Jarrell said. "He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that's what resulted in his death." Authorities didn't suspect foul play after the bodies of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Investigators found that the last known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to their gated neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. Hackman's pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rhythm Feb. 18, the day he likely died, Jarrell said. Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time when both died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said. "It's quite possible he was not aware she was deceased," Jarrell said. Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, said he believes Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer's disease and unable to deal with his wife's death in the last week of his life. "You are talking about very severe Alzheimer's disease that normal people would be in a nursing home or have a nurse, but she was taking care... Read More