Award-winning editor David Blackburn has joined Filmcore Editorial. It marks the first time that Blackburn, who previously worked as a freelancer, has had a formal affiliation with an editorial house. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with Director Joseph Kahn, including spots for BMW, HP and Mazda, music videos for Britney Spears, Moby and Blink 182, and the feature film Torque. Blackburn will be based out of Filmcore’s Santa Monica office, but will also be available through the company’s New York, San Francisco and Chicago facilities.
“David has the skills to become a major talent in the commercial industry and we think he will benefit greatly from the support and resources he’ll have access to through Filmcore,” said Filmcore xecutive Producer Jon Ettinger. “We are very impressed with the quality of his craft, especially his talent for storytelling; there is a lot of depth and nuance to his work.”
For his part, Blackburn said that he was hoping to take advantage of Filmcore’s national reach and deep contacts within the advertising industry. “Although I will continue to work closely with Joseph Kahn, I look forward to working with other directors and new advertising agencies,” Blackburn said. “I’ve been tracking Filmcore’s work for some time and have really liked what I’ve seen. It’s crisp and fresh, the images are loaded, it’s well cut and shows restraint and finesse in equal measure.”

Blackburn is British and studied filmmaking at West Surrey College of Art. Upon graduation, he moved to Los Angeles and began his career by editing independent films. He hooked up with Kahn in 2002, a relationship that has produced more than two dozen music videos as well as numerous commercials. Among their first projects together was the Eminem video Without Me, which brought Blackburn an MVPA Award nomination for Best Editing. Two years later, he won the award for Blink 182’s Always. Blackburn’s credits also include work with directors Paul Hunter (Gwen Stefani, Will Smith), Motion Theory (Velvet Revolver) and Todd Kellstein (Bon Jovi).

“I’ve done a lot of work with visual effects and graphics, but storytelling is, for me, key,” Blackburn observed. “First and foremost, I cut for emotion. I believe in substance over style and only make a cut when it has meaning. I like to make sure the structure is solid. I like to set things up and pay them off. Most importantly, I pay attention to the emotional arc of the characters and the story.”

On the commercial side, Blackburn’s work includes the BMW spot Efficient Dynamics out of Beijing agency Interone. It uses crisp editing to compare a car on a highway to an athlete swimming laps. He also cut the Jerry Seinfeld iteration of HP’s “Hands” campaign where the comedian conjures up holographic images of a sports stadium, New York City and a pop-up cookbook.

“I watch dailies many times and am always looking for a grain of truth in the performances,” said Blackburn of his technique. “I start by trying to find the essence of what they are trying to say.”

In addition to forming relationships with additional directors and broadening the scope of his work, Blackburn is interested in exploring new media outlets and new forms of advertising. “I am committed to the execution of bold and original work,” he said.

Filmcore Editorial Santa Monica is located at 1222 6th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401. For more information, call (310) 587-2400.