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.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Reach Divorce Settlement After 8 Years
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have reached a divorce settlement, ending one of the longest and most contentious divorces in Hollywood history but not every legal issue between the two.
Jolie and Pitt signed off on a default declaration filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, saying they have entered into a written agreement on their marital and property rights. The settlement was first reported by People magazine.
"More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr. Pitt," Jolie's attorney, James Simon, said in a statement. "She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr. Pitt, and since that time she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family. This is just one part of a long ongoing process that started eight years ago. Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over."
The filing says they give up the right to any future spousal financial support, but gives no other details. A judge will need to sign off on the agreement. An email late Monday night to Pitt's attorney seeking comment was not immediately answered.
Jolie, 49, and Pitt, 61, were among Hollywood's most prominent pairings for 12 years, two of them as a married couple. The Oscar winners have six children together.
Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, after a private jet flight from Europe during which she said Pitt physically abused her and their children. The FBI and child services officials investigated Pitt's actions on the flight. Two months later, the FBI released a statement saying it would not investigate further, and the U.S. attorney did not bring charges.
A heavily redacted FBI report obtained by The Associated Press in 2022 said that an agent provided a probable cause... Read More