Editor Bill Marmor has joined Santa Monica-based TrailHead. The move puts a punctuation mark on the shop’s earlier announced declaration that it was changing from hybrid production/post company to full-fledged editorial house (SHOOT, 11/26/99, p. 1).
TrailHead recently phased out its production operation. Three directors have departed the company in recent months: Barry Young, who joined Cognito Films, Santa Monica (SHOOT, 11/26/99, p. 1); Marty Weiss, who’s currently freelancing as he decides on a permanent roost; and Joe Schaak, who is mulling over whether to make an affiliation with another major market house or to go national via his Minneapolis-based production company, Twist.
Marmor comes over from Crew Cuts West, the Santa Monica shop of the editorial company that also encompasses Crew Cuts Film & Tape, New York, and Crew Cuts/San Francisco. He has been cutting at TrailHead since the first of the year, but formally joined the company’s staff in late January.
Alluding to the decision by the year-and-a-half-old TrailHead to focus on the editing business, Marmor said, "I joined because it’s an opportunity to be on the ground floor of a creative editorial company, to help in its development and mold the operation to an extent. I had pretty much hit the ceiling at Crew Cuts."
Under the TrailHead banner, Marmor has edited spots for Carl’s Jr. and regional BMW, both for Mendelsohn|Zien, Los Angeles, as well as a NAPA Auto Parts spot via WestWayne, Atlanta. The latter aired during the Super Bowl telecast and was directed by John Mastromonaco of Bravo Zulu, Santa Monica. Mastromonaco also helmed the aforementioned Carl’s Jr. ad—which gained regional airplay on Super Sunday—while Peter Darley Miller of Stiefel & Company, Santa Monica, directed the BMW fare. At press time, Marmor was about to embark on another Mastromonaco-directed project, this one for A.C. Delco from Campbell-Ewald Advertising, Warren, Mich.
Marmor had been with Crew Cuts West since its opening in early ’97, and has gained recognition at such awards competitions as the Clios and the New York Festivals. Prior to Crew Cuts, he had a long tenure at Red Car, Hollywood. He started at Red Car as an assistant in ’89, and made the transition to editor a little over a year later. Among his credits there was Gatorade’s "The Wall," starring Michael Jordan and directed by Rupert Wainwright of now defunct Pavlov Productions for Foote, Cone & Belding, Chicago. Wainwright has recently joined Windmill Lane Productions, Venice (SHOOT "Street Talk," 2/4, p. 30).
Marmor joins resident TrailHead editor Patrick Fraser, giving the company two staff cutters. Executive producer Melati Pohan said that TrailHead plans to add two more editors, but will wait to find "the right fit creatively and in terms of personality." At press time, Fraser was in the midst of editing and designing a spot for Mattel via its in-house ad agency.
Assistant editors to Marmor and Fraser, respectively, are Anna McClelland and Ben Hopkins. Staff producer is the recently hired Scott Friske, who formerly served as a post supervisor at bicoastal production house Bedford Falls. TrailHead and Bedford Falls are part of the Stoney Road family of companies owned by commercial veteran Michael Romersa. Other Stoney Road shops include bicoastal production companies Reactor Films and M-80, as well as Santa Monica-headquartered MPH and Message.
Repping TrailHead to ad agencies is staffer Delores Hively, while Pohan and Friske are marketing the company to directors.
