Editor Leo Scott, who continues to be handled by Speade London for the U.K. and overall European market, has joined Spot Welders for representation in the U.S. Scott has an award-winning pedigree as an editor, dating back to his first Clio for editing in 2008 on the strength of a Thorntons spot directed by Harmony Korine of MJZ. Scott would later reunite with Korine on two feature films and a comedy short.
Recent awards for Scott-cut fare have included a D&AD Gold Pencil for work with Adam Hashemi on VO5, and an APA 50 for Volkswagen Dad, directed by Thirtytwo for DDB. Having established himself in London, Scott has relocated to the West Coast in search of a new challenge and to be in closer proximity to prospective American collaborators.
“I have been considering this move for several years and was waiting for the right time and the right fit,” said Scott. “Spot Welders not only produces high caliber work, but they have a wonderful collective spirit which has made me feel at home straight off the plane.”
Scott’s approach is to go for the heart of the advertising idea, be it through visual storytelling, comedy or emotion. “The exciting thing as an editor is that you are thrown from one challenge to another. It never ceases to surprise me how every single job is unique and requires a unique approach. Obviously the more experience you get, the more you draw from that, but I greatly enjoy the collaborative process in refining an original idea into a film.”
Outside of his career in commercials, Scott has chosen to edit one piece of independent long-form work each year. He is currently finishing off the debut feature of Gia Coppola, of The Directors Bureau, based on James Franco’s book of short stories titled Palo Alto. Other recent projects include a documentary collaboration with Val Kilmer about his one man stage portrayal of Mark Twain.
Additionally, Scott is working on his own long term passion project: a documentary about the peace symbol.
Scott is currently working on a commercial with director Chivo Lubezki of Park Pictures.
Daniel Craig Embraced Openness For Role In Director Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer”
Daniel Craig is sitting in the restaurant of the Carlyle Hotel talking about how easy it can be to close yourself off to new experiences.
"We get older and maybe out of fear, we want to control the way we are in our lives. And I think it's sort of the enemy of art," Craig says. "You have to push against it. Whether you have success or not is irrelevant, but you have to try to push against it."
Craig, relaxed and unshaven, has the look of someone who has freed himself of a too snug tuxedo. Part of the abiding tension of his tenure as James Bond was this evident wrestling with the constraints that came along with it. Any such strains, though, would seem now to be completely out the window.
Since exiting that role, Craig, 56, has seemed eager to push himself in new directions. He performed "Macbeth" on Broadway. His drawling detective Benoit Blanc ("Halle Berry!") stole the show in "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery." And now, Craig gives arguably his most transformative performance as the William S. Burroughs avatar Lee in Luca Guadagnino's tender tale of love and longing in postwar Mexico City, "Queer."
Since the movie's Venice Film Festival premiere, it's been one of the fall's most talked about performances — for its explicit sex scenes, for its vulnerability and for its extremely un-007-ness.
"The role, they say, must have been a challenge or 'You're so brave to do this,'" Craig said in a recent interview alongside Guadagnino. "I kind of go, 'Eh, not really.' It's why I get up in the morning."
In "Queer," which A24 releases Wednesday in theaters, Craig again plays a well-traveled, sharply dressed, cocktail-drinking man. But the similarities with his most famous role stop there. Lee is an American expat living in 1950s... Read More