In order to better handle the volume of work it receives and to foster its young talent, Toronto-based creative editorial house Panic & Bob Editing has created a new offline company, School.
Panic & Bob founder/editor David Hicks heads up School, whose quarters are a few blocks away from Panic & Bob. Rounding out School are former Panic & Bob editor Griff Henderson; editors Steve Manz and Mark Morton, who came over from the now-closed post division of Toronto-based The Partners’ Film Company; and editor Marcus Valentin, who came aboard from Axyz, a Toronto-based effects/finishing house that is affiliated with Panic & Bob. School’s executive producer is Sarah Brooks, who formerly worked at Axyz.
Hicks explained that Panic & Bob was nearly at capacity with six editors: Andy Ames, David Baxter, Michelle Czukar, Brian Williams, Henderson and himself; in addition, the company had several assistants who were ready to be promoted to editor.
Faced with the choice of getting a larger space or opening another company, Panic & Bob chose the latter. Said Hicks, "We think that our clients like the small boutique feel, and that we could better serve clients by opening up another Panic & Bob-type company. School is very much the same as Panic & Bob; we provide the same type of personal service—it’s just a different place and different name."
With the development of School, Panic & Bob was in a position to promote Tanis Darling to editor; Darling formerly assisted Czukar. Additionally, Panic & Bob brought aboard editor Grant Pye, who previously worked at Third Floor Editing, Toronto.
Asked if they would be adding more editors to School anytime soon, Hicks answered, "We have an extra room at this point and, if we were to, it would be one of the assistants at Panic & Bob or School. Right now, we have a few editors that are coming up nicely, so we’ll wait and see what happens in the next year or two."
School projects include a Hicks-edited spot "Velvet Moose" for Molson Canadian, out of Bensimon Byrne D’Arcy, Toronto; it is a follow-up to Molson’s Cannes Bronze Lion-winning "The Rant," which was also cut by Hicks. Another of Hicks’ recent jobs is "Swedish Solutions" for Ikea via Roche MacCauley, Toronto.
Manz-edited jobs are, among others, "Anti-Climax" and "My Deal" for General Motors via MacLaren McCann, Toronto; and "Limp Bizkit" and "IOUUMM" for Molson Dry via BCP Publicis, Montreal. Henderson’s work at School includes "Olympics" for Budweiser via Palmer Jarvis DDB, Toronto; and "Neighborhood of One" for Bell Sympatico via Cossette, Toronto.
Morton’s credits include "Wigwam" and "Strip" for Sears via Ammirati Puris Lintas, Toronto; and "This Is the PC" and "Notebook" for Compaq via Draft Worldwide, New York. Among Valentin’s editorial credits are "Tau" and "Microwave" for Panasonic via Grey Advertising, New York; and Burger King’s "Today" via Ammirati Puris Lintas, Toronto.
