Christjan Jordan, who has cut award-winning work for Amazon (Lucky Generals), GEICO (Martin Agency) and Madden NFL (Heat), among others, has joined bicoastal Union Editorial as partner/editor. Last week, Amazon’s “Alexa Loses Her Voice” was nominated for a primetime commercial Emmy, adding to a list of acclaimed career credits for the editor (often known simply as Christjan) spanning Cannes Lions, AICE, AICP, Clio, D&AD, One Show, and Sports Emmy awards.
Christjan’s latest work, GEICO’s “Longest Goal Celebration Ever,” in which a soccer player celebrates his winning goal by sliding endlessly around the field on his knees, enjoyed extensive play during this year’s World Cup coverage. The spot was helmed by frequent collaborator Wayne McClammy, for whom Christjan cut the Clio-winning #notspecialneeds spot for World Down Syndrome Day out of Publicis NY.
“Alexa Loses Her Voice” for Amazon–featuring cameos from Cardi B, Gordon Ramsay, Rebel Wilson and Anthony Hopkins–was the most talked-about campaign in the week leading up to the 2018 Super Bowl, earning over 1.5 billion media impressions, and then topping USA Today’s Admeter. The spot was viewed more than 43M times.
“I love the craft, creativity and challenge of editing,” Christjan explained. “I like starting from the initial idea and working with every moment that’s been filmed, coming up with the best piece possible.” In addition to #notspecialneeds, powerful spots edited by Christjan include IN-Q’s gun violence PSA, directed by Unjoo Moon.
Union president/managing partner Michael Raimondi said of Christjan, “His dedication to his craft and desire to do great work drew us to him immediately. We knew from the minute we met Christjan that we wanted him as our partner. He shares our vision of the future and we are thrilled to start the next chapter at Union with him as a collaborator.”
After receiving his Bachelors in Communications from Southern Oregon University, Christjan served tenures as an editor at Arcade Editorial, and Cosmo Street Editorial and Rock Paper Scissors, turning out a stream of high-profile work for brands such as LG (directed by Traktor), Hotwire (David Shane), and Apple (Terri Timely). Prior to joining Union, Christjan was with Rock Paper Scissors.
Of the Union partnership, Christjan said, “This is a great place with talented people who share my passion for the craft.”
James Earl Jones, Lauded Actor and Voice of Darth Vader, Dies At 93
James Earl Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen — eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, "The Lion King" and Darth Vader — has died. He was 93.
His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning at home in New York's Hudson Valley region. The cause was not immediately clear.
The pioneering Jones, who was one of the first African American actors in a continuing role on a daytime drama and worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor.
He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious work habit. In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for a Broadway run of "The Gin Game" having already memorized the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.
"The need to storytell has always been with us," he told The Associated Press then. "I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn't get him."
Jones created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in "Field of Dreams," the boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit "The Great White Hope," the writer Alex Haley in "Roots: The Next Generation" and a South African minister in "Cry, the Beloved Country."
He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader ("No, I am your father," commonly misremembered as "Luke, I am your father"), as... Read More