Editor Kathryn Hempel was recently appointed senior editor/partner and has overseen the gutting and redesign of the 12,000 square foot Cutters space, from "reception area to logo." The shop has also added eight new Avid NT systems (which Hempel says allow access to the top design tools) and is now working with Avid Unity, which facilitates the sharing of media among talent. Editors John Dingfield and Ruth Epstein recently worked together on a McDonald's package using Unity. Cutters will also implement Avid Review and Approval which facilitates online sharing of works-in-progress. Dingfield also recently edited the new Maytag spots out of Leo Burnett. Hempel edited spots for Ace Hardware and Children's Memorial Hospital, and editor/principal Chris Claeys worked recently on mysimon.com and Kellogg's "Eet 'n Ern" TV/Web effort.

The company also has a new editor, Carlos Lowenstein, who recently made the move from assistant to full-fledged cutter. Hailing from Venezuela, Lowenstein went to NYU Film School, and like many of his colleagues, is a filmmaker as well as a commercial editor. Lowenstein recently edited a campaign for Mongoose bicycles out of Condon & Root as well as editing and directing a project out of Internet agency marchFIRST. Lowenstein's own short film project, One Day and a Night was screened at the Austin Film Festival and he edited another short directed by John Mossman, Jello Lady, also on the festival circuit. Several cutters are similarly active with film projects, something Cutters actively endorses as a means of engaging its staff and encouraging a wide creative scope. Recently promoted editor Christopher Gotschall has been busy with commercial work for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes out of Leo Burnett, Sears out of Y&R and Disneyland Paris as well as having directed and edited a short film which ran at the Austin Gay & Lesbian Film Fest this fall. "We have a long view when we hire assistants," says Hempel. "We try to hire future editors who will increase our creative profile as we evolve." Cutters' Steve Stein was responsible for the spoof spot "Powerlung" recently on Adcritic.com as well as having a project which won Best Short at the Savannah Film Festival.

Cutters editor Tom Pastorelle also recently broadened the typical boundaries of an editor travelling to Europe for Carrier through Euro RSCG Tatham. Pastorelle was on set for the ten-day shoot in Vienna, a location chosen by director Stefan Wurnitzer out of Scream, LA. The spot required numerous unique indoor environments and Pastorelle edited the projects on PAL back home. The editor also shot a DV piece on the making of the spot for presentation use by client Carrier.