Crew Cuts
- Open roles
- 0
- Founded
- 1986
- Employees
- 11-50
- Offices
- 0
About Crew Cuts
Crew Cuts was a New York commercial and film post-production studio founded in 1986 by editors Chuck Willis, Clayton Hemmert and Steve Kraftsow. Its work centered on creative editorial, bringing together editing, visual effects, motion graphics, sound and finishing for advertising and entertainment projects. The studio operated for thirty-six years before closing in 2022.
Creative editing was central to its business. Crew Cuts handled offline and online editorial for television commercials, feature films, documentaries, shorts and music videos, with particular experience in comedy cutting and visual storytelling. Its advertising work served national campaigns across consumer brands, telecommunications, financial services and entertainment. Alongside commercial assignments, music videos formed a notable part of its editorial history.
Post-production capabilities
The studio’s broader services covered 2D and 3D animation, motion design, compositing and visual enhancements. Audio capabilities included sound design, commercial mixing, automated dialogue replacement and voiceover recording. Finishing services encompassed high-definition online conform, color correction, color grading and final delivery mastering. Crew Cuts also offered post-production facilities and offline editing suites for rental, supporting projects that needed access to an established editorial environment.
From its beginnings in Manhattan, the company developed a bicoastal presence, with historical branches in Santa Monica and San Francisco serving advertising production beyond New York. Its work connected editors with agency creatives and directors across commercial campaigns, while its combination of editorial and supporting post-production disciplines allowed projects to move through multiple stages of completion.
Crew Cuts ceased commercial operations in 2022, and its corporation was formally dissolved in January 2025. Former partners Jake and Nancy Jacobsen subsequently launched The Post Crew as a separate post-production business, joined by veteran editorial talent. That later venture took over the former Crew Cuts web domain and legacy social accounts. The handover of those digital assets forms part of Crew Cuts’ subsequent history, while its original operating business remains the historical studio founded in 1986.
More about Crew Cuts
Partnership and career development
Sherri Margulies joined the partnership in 1989. Nancy Jacobsen joined as a receptionist in 1999 and became executive producer and partner in 2003. Jake Jacobsen also joined in 1999, initially as a messenger, and became an editor and partner in 2008. These are historical roles at Crew Cuts.
Recognition
The HBO commercial Chimps, edited by Sherri Margulies, won the first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial in 1997. The Beatles’ Free as a Bird, also edited by Margulies, won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form. These awards recognized the productions; they should not be read as individual awards to the studio. Sheens, edited by Chuck Willis, received an Outstanding Commercial Emmy nomination.
Studio environment
The final Manhattan studio occupied former offices of The New Yorker. Architect Peter Wormser renovated the penthouse space, which offered 360-degree views of Midtown.
Collaborative production model
Crew Cuts principals helped establish complementary specialist businesses: Quietman for visual effects and CGI, associated with Johnny Semerad, and Buzz for audio post-production, associated with Mike Marinelli. These collaborations supported a broader post-production workflow while retaining separate studio identities.
Notable credits
8 creditsOffices
Current and former locations of Crew Cuts
- New York, United States
New York offices
Former officeAbout this office
**New York Headquarters** Status: inactive / historical Headquarters Address: 28 West 44th Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10036 Phone: +1 212-302-2828 Closed: 2022 Final operating headquarters; the studio relocated here from East 47th Street in the early 1990s. --- **Office** Status: inactive / historical Former brownstone townhouse premises on East 47th Street, vacated when the studio relocated in the early 1990s. A street number and exact departure year are not supplied.
- San Francisco, California, United States
San Francisco Branch
Former officeHistorical branch established around 1999–2000 by partner and editor Erik Johnson to serve Bay Area advertising agencies.
- Santa Monica, California, United States
Crew Cuts / West
Former officeAbout this office
Historical branch operating in the early-to-mid 2000s under executive producer Christie Cash and editor Ellen Crocker. The report does not establish an exact physical closure year.
Open roles
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