Creative editorial and postproduction boutique Hiatus has added editor Joe Kell to its roster. He had previously been with Friendshop! in New York.

Kell joins at an eventful time for Hiatus which this month marks its third anniversary and in June will see the feature film We Need To Do Something debut at the Tribeca Film Festival. Hiatus founder/editor Shane Patrick Ford cut director Sean King O’Grady’s horror pic which is from the producers of Saw and Bird Box. Additionally the team of Hiatus had the short film Still Home--cut by ford for director Keenan Wetzel--make its world premiere during the Cleveland International Film Festival earlier this month.

Kell gravitated to editing from an early age, and never left its orbit. It’s an art form that speaks to his sensibilities as a storyteller and problem-solver, because creative solutions in the edit cannot only be discovered, they can also be invented. Kell followed this passion for postproduction from Ohio to New York City, where he worked for a decade across a wide spectrum of genres and formats. Now he’s back in the Midwest at his new roost, Detroit-based Hiatus.

“Coming from another boutique editorial shop, I’m used to working in a small, collaborative environment, almost like its own creative agency,” said Kell. “I also love that Hiatus is an editor-owned shop with a high bar for their creative output. Their work has a strong point of view and a unique voice, making it a natural home for my editing style. From my very first conversation with Shane and his team, I knew I’d found something really special.”

Recent collaborations for Kell include a commercial campaign with director Tom Gould on an Australian-based liquor brand Mercury Cider via BBDO/Melbourne. With Gould in his native New Zealand, the agency in Australia, and dailies coming from New York, Kell was able to conduct the offline edit internationally from Detroit with a remote workflow utilizing the Evercast streaming platform. “Of all the experiences I had during the pandemic year, that was a highlight,” said Kell. “I realized that I could host live sessions with creative directors halfway across the world. It was pretty cool.”

Kell also worked on a director’s cut of “Women Who Power America” for Ford with director Amara Untermeyer. “The client launched our cut on their official channel in honor of International Women’s Day,” noted Kell, who brought in two of his frequent collaborators in New York for finishing on the project--Julienne Guffain at Sonic Union and Kath Raisch at Company 3. “My two cornerstone pieces from the last year are a global campaign, and a campaign right here in my own, new backyard,” pointed out Kell.

Hiatus’ Ford said, “Because we had been working for a long time on our remote technology abilities, we were positioned very well for the shift to remote work last year.  When we met Joe Kell, we instantly hit it off. We had similar likes and interests, as well as the same ideas about where we are all going with film, advertising and storytelling. Also, his background in sound editing was very important to us at Hiatus. I’m a musician. Our executive producer Joshua Magee is also. We have a staff composer. Music and sound are already fused into our process; it’s a huge part of what we do. We look forward to watching him grow his talent at Hiatus.”

Recent projects for Hiatus include campaigns for Ford, Bumble, New Balance, Cadillac and Pepsi. Hiatus is currently in the midst of a long-form project for Hummer via GM Marketing, which began in December 2020 and is due to debut in September 2021.