Editor Greg Letson has joined editorial house MacKenzie Cutler, New York. Previously, Letson was at New York-based Cabana, a division of Video Services Corporation (VSC), Northville, N.J.
At Cabana, his editing credits included: Cobra Golf’s "Gamesmanship," "Kids," "Bingos, Bangles, and Bongos," "Magnets," "Look and Feel" and "Numbers" for Arnold Communications, Boston; Chupa Chips’ "Big Dance" via The Richards Groups, Dallas; and the Catholic Communication Campaign’s "New Roommate" and "Soggy Flakes" for Saatchi & Saatchi, New York. Directed by Joe Pytka, the Catholic Communication Campaign spots were shortlisted at Cannes.
Letson, a native of Honolulu, graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in film in’79, and joined the now defunct Jubin Editorial, New York, in ’80.
However, Letson had always been a musician/composer and in ’83, he left the industry to play keyboards and guitars with experimental composer/musician Glenn Branca. Letson returned to Jubin in ’85.
In ’88, Letson joined the now defunct editorial house Big Picture, which became Big Picture/ Eventime, New York, in ’95 and was renamed Cabana in ’97.
When MacKenzie Cutler editors/partners Ian Mackenzie and Gavin Cutler started looking to hire another editor not long ago, a colleague mentioned Letson’s name. Recalled Cutler, "We hadn’t actually hired an editor since Ian and I went into business together. But recently Mike Douglas and Karen Kelly left (Douglas to pursue non-editorial work, Kelly to make an independent film and return to school). We found ourselves in a position to hire someone, which was a little nerve wracking for me and Ian because we just hadn’t done it before!"
Cutler explained, "I had heard of Greg before but we hadn’t really crossed paths. We saw some of his work and we showed Greg some of our work. We started getting together and talking casually over the course of several afternoons, maybe a month or a month and a half ago."
"Ian, Gavin and I hit it off," Letson recalled. "We all felt that it would be a great fit, there seemed to be some nice possibilities for synergy between us."
Letson’s work encompasses a range of styles, which is one of the reasons he was offered the position, according to Cutler. "We’ve gained a pretty strong reputation as a comedy house, which is great, but we also enjoy a lot of other types of work. So that [variety on the reel] was something we were all struck by. He’s got strong comedy [skills], but he’s also got some slick editing and ‘cutty,’ edit-intensive spots, things that aren’t necessarily so prevalent on the editors’ reels here.
Cutler continued, "We felt we could expose him to some clients he probably hasn’t worked with yet, and he will also bring his own clients with him as well as some different kinds of work and boards that we might not see ourselves."
Letson’s reel emphasizes variety because he prefers working in a multitude of styles: "I enjoy editing all types of film, whether it be comedy or visual storytelling or documentary style or highly stylized work. I go out of my way to try to do different things, because creatively it’s the most interesting way to go."
MacKenzie Cutler’s other editors include Dave Koza, Eric Pomert and Lucas Spaulding. Sunderland Procter is the company’s executive producer.
