KANSAS CITY, MO — Back in August, 2017, the principals of creative company Cutters Studios announced the opening of a satellite studio in Kansas City. The decision resulted in collaborations for numerous brands, including Dairy Queen, Gatorade, Big O Tires, Frigidaire, Kansas City Ballet, S’well Water Bottles, Tropicana and Wendy’s. The successful exploratory test flight was built around editor/partner Matt Walsh, editor Dustin Kaufman and a handful of others. Now, in early 2019, Cutters (www.cutters.com) is announcing the launch of its full-force studio in the city.
Cutters Studios Kansas City (CSKC) will be home to editors Morgan Bradley and Kalen Kirkpatrick. Bradley has been a staff editor for Beast for the past 10 years, working with the company’s West Coast and Chicago operations. Some of her recent commercial credits include work for Audi, Fitbit, Nike, Sephora and Twitter. A KC native, she is excited to be returning to her hometown.
Bradley and Kirkpatrick
"I've long admired Cutters and the creativity and opportunities it fosters,” Bradley explains. “I still can't quite believe the next step in this career adventure is taking me back home, and I couldn't be happier. There's no doubt in my mind that we are at the right place at the right time.”
With his relocation to KC, Kirkpatrick is being promoted to the editor position, following four years as an assistant editor for Cutters in Chicago. A film and TV graduate from SCAD, Kirkpatrick has excelled in honing his craft under the guidance of many acclaimed Cutters editors, while earning awards recognition and contributing to major commercial and feature film projects.
“Excited doesn't begin to describe how I am feeling about the promotion to editor and the move to Kansas City,” Kirkpatrick admits. “I've gotten to learn from the very best in the business, while working with the best clients around. I'm grateful for the opportunity and ready to continue to grow the Cutters Studios presence here in KC!”
CSKC now spans three suites in the Crossroads Arts District’s Austin Walsh Studio. The studio is set up to leverage the full power of Cutters global talent-base, as well as audio post services from Another Country, and design, animation, VFX, color-correction and high-end picture finishing through Flavor. Beyond Chicago, Cutters’ facilities include locations in Detroit, Los Angeles, New York and Tokyo. CSKC is home to Autodesk Lustre and Flame Premium for color correction and finishing.
“Over the past 18 months, we’ve built some phenomenal relationships with the amazing agency talents in Kansas City, and we’ve seen first-hand that the market is a great fit for us,” says Cutters Studios’ managing director Craig Duncan. “We’ve already proven we can contribute to stellar work here. Moving forward with our expanded offerings and two exceptional editors, we are very excited to see what happens next.”