Editor Mark Jepsen has joined Cut – MJepsenthe staff of Cutters. An EMMY Award-winner, Jepsen most recently was an Editor/Partner at Machete Edit & Design. Prior to joining that company, he was on staff at Swell.
Jepsen's work has tended toward the comedic and includes notable projects for DiGiorno ("Tippy" via Draft FCB Chicago), Adidas/Footlocker, ("Privileged" via Burrell Chicago), and Kraft Foods/Easy Mac Cups ("Cottage Cheese" via Draft FCB Chicago. His spots range from heavily stylized VFX to dry humor, but the constant is advertising that goes for laughs.

"I've been told I have a knack for finding the funny," said the Illinois native, who graduated from Columbia College Chicago and shortly thereafter cut an ad for local hot spot "Ditka's Restaurant". Featuring local celebs, the :30 was a huge hit, and led to a steady stream of commercial work, which greatly pleased Jepsen. "As a kid, I always loved the commercials more than general programs," he recalled, "so I knew I was on the right track."

That track led Jepsen to return to Columbia College Chicago as an instructor, a position he held concurrently with his editorial career. "When I was in school, I loved that most of my instructors were out there working in the biz, and I wanted to carry that tradition forward," he said.

Jepsen also worked extensively as a senior editor in on air sports promotion, covering numerous championships during a time when Chicago and sports were particularly synonymous, and taking home the 1997 EMMY Award for Editing Excellence (Non-News).

During his succeeding tenures at Swell, Inc. and Machete, Jepsen racked up more good work and garnered additional accolades, including 2003 and 2004 Gold Effys for Taco Bell's "I'm Full" Campaign and a 2007 RAC Award for Hampton Inn's "Bed Head" Campaign.

This year, Jepsen participated in the The Chicago 48 Hour Film Festival. The project, Booked, allowed Jepsen to be involved in every aspect of production and post. With a narrative that explores a day in the life of a husband and wife – he's a jaded, hard-boiled police detective, she's a librarian – Booked won the awards for Best Screenplay, Best Use of Character, and Best Actress, also taking home the Audience Choice Award.

"I've known (Cutters owner) Tim McGuire for many years and when the time came to plot my next move he was the first person I thought of," Jepsen related. "Cutters' outstanding reputation in the marketplace and its management team's understanding of the business make this an extremely exciting step for me."

"I was ecstatic when Mark expressed an interest in joining Cutters," said McGuire. "He's got a wicked sense of comedic timing, and we're very fortunate to have him at the company."

Jepsen's recent work includes the Campaign Against Aggressive Driving via Jensen & Evers, and Easy Mac Cups (St. Arvin Campaign "Sophomore Year" via DRAFT FCB). He joins a Cutters roster comprised of Chris Claeys, Kathryn Hempel, John Dingfield, Ruth Efrati Epstein, Christopher Gotschall, Nadav Kurtz, Joel Marcus, Jessica Simmon, Steve Stein, Peter Tarter, and Fernando Villena.