Commercial and feature editor Dan Swietlik has joined forces with London-based editorial house Stitch, opening up an office in Santa Monica. The move will see immediate collaboration on projects between the U.S. and U.K. operations.
Swietlik is part of a Stitch L.A. roster of editors that also consists of David Checel, Marc D’Andre, Frank Effron, Tad Fatum and Jeff Grippe. This ensemble of talent had previously been at editorial house Cut+Run.
Also Cut+Run alumni are editors Andy McGraw, Leo King and Tim Hardy who a year ago opened Stitch in London’s Soho district. The Stitch U.K. editors have gone on to cut campaigns for such clients as BMW, Ford, Johnnie Walker, Heineken, Kit Kat, Motorola, Panasonic, Range Rover, Samsung, VW, Vodafone and Weetabix.
Charged with helping to expand the Stitch brand stateside is executive producer Stacey Altman, a former independent sales rep.
The first project wrapped under the U.S./U.K. Stitch banner is the American launch of the Smart Car directed by Guy Shelmerdine of Smuggler and edited by McGraw for Merkley + Partners, New York.
At Stitch L.A., Effron has also edited a Mercedes-Benz commercial directed by Carl Eric Rinsch of RSA Films, and delivered two spots for Jimmy Dean with director Jeff Low of Biscuit through TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles.
Stitch is in the midst of a Hyundai-funded project with executive producer Tom Dunlap at Scott Free/RSA Films. It’s a non-fiction branded content effort directed by Amir Bar-Lev whose credits include the documentaries The Tillman Story and My Kid Could Paint That, which were nominated for the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize in 2010 and ’07, respectively. The Hyundai project will see a number of disparate elements created (such as interstitials) that will come together in addition to a documentary.
“We currently have three editors working on trailers, behind-the-scenes footage, music video elements and more,” said Swietlik regarding the job. “There is no shoehorned Hyundai product placement in the material. The brand is added in a subtle, organic way. It’s crafted with entertainment in mind.”
The project also underscores Swietlik’s propensity to team on documentary work as evidenced by such feature-length projects as director Michael Moore’s Sicko (edited by Swietlik, Geoffrey Richman and Christopher Seward) and director Davis Guggenheim’s An Inconvenient Truth (edited by Swietlik and Jay Cassidy). Swietlik’s credits also include he and Dayn Williams (of Cut+Run) editing the Rinsch-directed short film The Gift, part of the Philips’ “Parallel Lines” campaign’s series of shorts out of DDB London. The Gift won the Grand Prix in last year’s inaugural Film Craft competition at the Cannes Lions Festival.
Nike’s “So Win” Wins Super Clio
Last night (2/10) in New Orleans, the Kansas City Chiefs faced off against the Philadelphia Eagles in a repeat match up of 2023โs top teams, but this time, the Eagles came out on top. As the Eagles dominated the game from start to finish, it was the commercials that kept the audience entertained, and Nike scored points with the ad industry to win the 2025 Super Clio Award, a special honor given out by the Clio Awards for the most creative commercial to air during the Super Bowl. On advertisingโs biggest night, many brands leaned into familiar tropes like humor, talking animals, and famous faces to win over consumers, but Nikeโs โSo Win,โ by Wieden+Kennedy Portland, stood out for its pitch perfect pacing, script and message of strength. The brand returned to the Super Bowl stage after 27 years and made a bold statement that won over the Super Clio jury.
As the yellow Gatorade was poured in Caesars Superdome, the Clio Awardsโ jury of industry chiefs--brand leaders and creators of celebrated Super Bowl spots from the past and present--huddled to decide which ad scored the most points with consumers. Representatives from Verizon, PepsiCo Foods US, PRETTYBIRD, Highdive Advertising, Mischief, BBDO, VML and more voted and decided that the most creative spot of Super Bowl LIX was from Wieden+Kennedy Portland and would be awarded the coveted Lombardi-Trophy-sized Clio statue.
The Super Clio was introduced in 2015 in collaboration with WPPโs global chief creative officer, Rob Reilly. He and Clio Awards CEO Nicole Purcell recognized a need to highlight the revolutionary work thatโs introduced during the Super Bowl with an honor selected by the people who make ads and understand the nuances of producing a groundbreaking commercial for the big... Read More