89 Greene Editorial, a New York-based editorial and design company, has signed editor Kate James for exclusive U.S. representation. A native of Sydney, Australia, James will continue to live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where she has been based for the past seven years.
For now, James continues to edit in Asia through the Kuala Lumpur-based Asia Pacific Videolab, which also has offices in Singapore. James has worked for Asia Pacific Videolab for about four of the past seven years, between stints as a freelance editor and postproduction consultant.
She has also worked with South African director Keith Rose, who founded Velocity Afrika, a commercial production house with offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. Over a period of a year, she would leave Kuala Lumpur for six- to eight-week stints in South Africa, working on several jobs back to back. Credits include such Keith Rose-directed spots as Investec’s "Chess" and "Racetrack" via Network, Johannesburg; Japan Tobacco’s "Train" and "Butterfly" via Dentsu, Tokyo; and VW Golf’s "Drag-strip" and "Red Carpet" via Ogilvy & Mather Rightford Searle-Tripp & Makin, Cape Town. (Creative director on "Drag-strip" and "Red Carpet" was Bruce Paynter, who has since joined Velocity Afrika as a director.)
Prior to Kuala Lumpur, James spent a year working at the Hong Kong-based offline editing facility Touches, editing spots for Hong Kong and Thailand-based advertising agencies.
She has also been an assistant editor on several Australian dramas. Credits include assistant editor on the 1983 Kennedy Miller miniseries The Dismissal, which was based on the sacking of Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Phillip Noyce, Carl Schultz and George Ogilvie were directors on the six-part series. She was also assistant editor on Fred Schepisi’s A Cry in the Dark (a.k.a. Evil Angels)—the ’88 feature film starring Meryl Streep, based on the true story of Lindy Chamberlain, who claimed that her six-week-old baby was taken by a dingo while on a camping trip in the Australian outback. Additionally, James has worked as an assistant editor on the Australian current affairs program Sunday.
"We are very excited about our association with Kate," commented 89 Greene executive producer Bob Cagliero. "Having her on our roster allows us to be part of the ever-growing arena of work and talent from abroad. Her storytelling ability is of an unusually visual and epic nature. She spent a good amount of time as Keith Rose’s primary editor. That says a lot about the work she’s associated with and what’s on her reel, which is truly something special to watch."
James is the firm’s first foreign-based editor. Interested in working in New York, she visited with many companies, but liked the atmosphere at 89 Greene. Depending on demand for her editing skills, she will consider relocating to the U.S. "As soon as I stepped out of the elevator at 89 Greene, I had a good feeling," she said. "They were very friendly and helpful from the beginning, … and their attitude to work seems to mix well with my own. I liked the variety of work—editor Bruce Ashley had just finished the Santana ‘Smooth’ clip and was starting on a documentary. Other editorial houses I approached wanted me to fit in with their existing formulas. 89 Greene saw the potential of branching out with someone new."
The 89 Greene roster includes creative editors Ashley, Tim Cahill and Jordan Green, in addition to online editor Kevin Jones. The firm is in the process of realigning its sales force.
