Postproduction company Lost Planet has added editor Chuck Willis to its talent roster.
Through his storied career, Willis has been awarded numerous accolades, including a 2023 Clio for the spot “Those Guys,” for Volkswagen, many Cannes Lions, LIAs, ADDYs, AICP Awards, D&AD, an Emmy nomination, as well as a Grammy Award. Three of Willis’ commercial films are in the permanent collection at MoMA. He is well known for his work editing Super Bowl commercials for Go Daddy and Pepsi. For the latter, he cut “Boy In A Bottle,” a lauded Super Sunday spot. Additional advertising collaborations span brands such as Little Caesar’s, Rakuten, Hershey, Citi, Kayak, Lowes, DraftKings, New York Lottery, Dish Network and Foot Locker, among many others.
Willis additionally edited many show openings and commercial parodies for Saturday Night Live. His most popular sketches for SNL are “Woomba,” “Compulsion by Calvin Kleen,” “Colon Blow,” “Change Bank,” “The Helmsley Hotel, and Spook House,” and “Adobe, the little car that’s made out of clay.” Over the course of 15 years at the beloved late-night show, Willis honed his storytelling skills and sharpened his comedic sensibilities through editing and occasional stints directing these parody spots. In his work at SNL, Willis collaborated with comedy notables Phil Hartman, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, Maya Rudolph, Jon Lovitz, and Rachel Dratch.
Prior to joining Lost Planet, Willis was a founder and editor at several editorial houses: Crew Cuts, The Cutting Room NYC, and Gattie & Lopez. Highlights from Willis’s career include teaming up to edit work for directors like Spike Lee, Michael Bay, Melina Matsoukas, Todd Field, Craig Gillespie, Dave Meyers, Bjorn Ruhmann, and The Russo Brothers, to name a few.
“Lost Planet has always had a reputation as a very creative shop, and that’s mostly due to [founder/editor] Hank Corwin,” said Willis. “We both came up in the industry around the same time. I remember he cut an AT&T spot that really turned my head around. I’ll never forget showing it to everyone at my company, saying, ‘This is editing!’ So, naturally, I’m very excited to be on board with Lost Planet.”
Lost Planet’s executive producer Casey Cayko added, “I’ve been a fan of Chuck’s work for a while now; he makes intuitive choices that lead to out-of-the-box cuts and, ultimately, very unforgettable films. He’s naturally funny, extremely talented, and, best of all, he’s a wonderful person. I look forward to seeing what’s next for him as he continues to produce incredible work.”
Harvey Weinstein hit with new sex crime charge in New York
Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.
Details of the new allegations were not immediately available. He was charged with committing a criminal sex act.
The jailed ex-movie mogul has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.
Prosecutors revealed last week that Weinstein had been indicted on additional sex crime charges that weren't part of the case that led to his now-overturned 2020 conviction. But the new indictment was sealed until his arraignment.
Prosecutors have said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults — two in hotels in the Tribeca neighborhood and one at a lower Manhattan residential building. The purported incidents took place from the mid-2000s to 2016, prosecutors said.
But it's not clear whether any of those allegations underlie the new indictment.
While bracing for the new charges, Weinstein also is awaiting retrial after New York state's highest court this spring overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women. The high court, called the Court of Appeals, ordered a new trial, which is tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 12.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the then-trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations that were not part of the case. That judge's term expired in 2022, and he is no longer on the bench.
Prosecutors have said they'll seek to fold the new charges into the retrial, but Weinstein's lawyers say it should be a separate case.
Weinstein, who also was convicted in 2022 in a Los Angeles rape case, remains behind bars while awaiting his New York retrial.
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