Editor JD Smyth, formerly of Rock Paper Scissors, Los Angeles, has joined Final Cut, which has bases of operation in London, New York and Los Angeles. Smyth will work primarily out of the latter office, though he’s available for projects at any of Final Cut’s three venues.
Smyth’s recent credits include spots for HP, DirecTV, Stella Artois and Infiniti, as well as a music video for artist Trey Songz. Smyth also worked on The Check Up, a six-minute Volkswagen film, which was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris of Santa Monica-headquartered Bob Industries for Arnold Worldwide, Boston. The short, which stars Joe Pantoliano and Kevin Connolly, premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival.
The editor is no stranger to longer form fare. He cut, for example, Center As You Enter, a documentary directed by Jennifer Golub, which features a woman teaching the philosophical principles of Aikido to school children. (Golub is executive producer at TBWA/Chiat/Day, San Francisco.) Smyth also edited The Most Special Day of My Life, a documentary from Los Angeles artists The Clayton Brothers.
At Final Cut, Los Angeles–which is headed by editor Eric Zumbrunnen–Smyth will work closely with executive producer Saima Awan. The New York-based Stephanie Apt is Final Cut’s president.
Smyth got his start as a runner at RSA Films, London. He moved up the ranks there, learning about the business and later becoming an in-house editor. Smyth credits several RSA directors with being supportive and positively influencing his career, including Adrian Moat, Jake Scott, Chris Cunningham, Ronnie West, Babak, Laurence Dunmore and Norris Spencer. The latter gave Smyth his first editing gig.
Final Cut was founded in London in 1995, expanded to New York in ’00 and became bicoastal in the U.S. this past April with the opening of an office in Los Angeles.