Spots BME, a Chicago-based post boutique, has added editor Alaric Martin.
For the past year, Martin has worked in the Chicago market as a freelance editor, cutting spots for Oldsmobile and Wal-Mart via E. Morris Communications, Chicago; Kraft for Leo Burnett Co., Chicago; and Great Enter-taining.com via A. Eicoff & Partners, Chicago, among others.
Before this, Martin was a staff editor at Southfield, Mich.-based Griot Editorial, a division of Farmington Hills-based parent company Grace & Wild, which he joined August ’96. His credits at Griot included spots for GMC Trucks via McCann-Erickson, Troy, Mich.; Chrysler via FCB Worldwide, Southfield; Ford via J. Walter Thompson, Detroit; Chevrolet via Campbell-Ewald, Warren, Mich.; and Dodge via Don Coleman Advertising, Southfield.
Martin recently heard there was an opportunity at Spots BME. Company owner/editor Bruce Frankel was looking for an editor to replace Marty Bernstein, who departed to open his own Chicago-based shop, Machete Edit & Design (SHOOT, 3/10, p.8).
Said Martin, "I’d been freelancing out of [Chicago-based] Film & Tape Works, which was a nice experience. But I needed to be someplace with an environment where my clients would be comfortable. I wasn’t too interested in big facilities. I wanted to be a little bit closer to clients and figured a boutique would be more my style. Bruce and I had a couple of conversations over the past month or so, and I decided to take a chance and see what happens."
Relating that he had received many recommendations for Martin, Frankel said, "I think he brings a new perspective to our company. He’s a smart guy with a good sense of humor and he’s got a funny reel, which fits in with our style of storytelling. He’s got a good sense of style and is an excellent editor."
Prior to Griot, Martin spent four years as an editor at the now defunct Skyview Film & Video. He got his start at Chicago-based agency Burrell Communications, where he spent three years heading its audio-visual department before moving on to Bravo, the editing division of Genesis Creative Group (both now defunct).
Martin joins a Spots BME creative editorial roster also consisting of Deirdre Heaslip and Frankel. Spots BME also includes audio designer/mixer Bill Reis, assistant editors Dave Dvorak and Traci Weingardt, and production/business manager Paul Pela. The company is repped by Gwendolyn Druyor.
