Image of Chris Kursel
Jury

Chris Kursel
Editor
BANDIT Edit

NEW YORK, USA // Chris was born in Milwaukee, WI and experimented with filmmaking and video art at an early age.

After graduating Boston University film school with a concentration in screenwriting, Chris began his editing career at Boston agency Modernista!. It was here that Chris was exposed to people, work and attitudes that would inform his career moving forward. Clients included Cadillac, HUMMER, Product Red, National Parks Foundation and many others vis a vis new business campaigns.

Chris relocated to California, first San Francisco and then Los Angeles, where he started a six year stint at boutique edit shop Lost Planet. Under the tutelage of celebrated feature and commercial editor Hank Corwin, Chris dove deeper into the role of editor-as-filmmaker. Images and sounds became more than merely the building blocks for a motion picture narrative, but the tools with which one could make high art -- even in the most unlikely circumstances. The results were edits full of surprises, some approaching the avant-garde. Agencies such as 72andSunny, Wieden+Kennedy, TBWA/Chiat/Day, Goodby Silverstein and Hill Holiday were frequent collaborators for brands such as Chrysler, Google, Samsung, The New York Times, American Express, Verizon, Twitter and Starbucks.

Beyond commercial work, Chris has edited narrative and documentary films (the most recent being a documentary about deceased champion surfer Andy Irons) and miniseries. He has directed music videos and designed type. He is also a published writer and exhibited visual artist. He currently works for Bandit Editorial in New York.