Big Sky Edit Welcomes Editor Dave Madden

Editor Dave Madden is back working under a Big Sky, and his outlook is sunny. To be more specific, he’s joined the roster at New York’s Big Sky Edit, the boutique post production studio founded by editor Chris Franklin. Dave’s addition – which is actually a reunion – was announced by Chris and Big Sky executive producer Sarah Van Tassel. 

Dave joins from a lengthy freelance career, which included frequent stints at Big Sky, starting in 2014. Now a roster editor, he’ll continue to work remotely, pending a safe return to offices in the post-pandemic future. To view his reel, click here. 

“Sarah and I have often talked about growing our talent lineup, and every time we did the same name kept coming up – Dave Madden,” said Chris. “We have a great deal of affection for him, and we’re really excited about having him as part of our team. He’s one in a million.”

A Long Island native who got his start in the dub room at Berwyn Editorial, the independent post studio that was housed within New York agency Euro RSCG (now Havas), Dave quickly graduated to assistant editor. One of the campaigns he helped the agency pitch back then was Dos Equis’ 'The Most Interesting Man in the World', a campaign he’d work on ten years later when he was at Arcade Edit.

From Berwyn, Dave moved to the New York office of Red Car, the legendary editorial house launched by editor Larry Bridges, where he continued assisting while moving up the editorial ranks. He then joined Company X, where he was promoted to a full editor, before going freelance in 2011. 

Dave went on to work with some of the top editorial shops in the city, including Beast and Arcade, and spent a good chunk of time working closely with Chris at Big Sky. After relocating to Western Massachusetts, he also began working for edit houses and agencies in New England, including Hill Holliday and Cronin, as well as with Accomplice Edit and NBC Sports, where he cut work for coverage of such sports as NASCAR, the NFL and the Olympics. 

One of his NFL spots, 'The Return', graces his current reel. It’s a hopeful call to action from the star QB’s Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs and Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans, reminding everyone of the role football plays in American life and setting the stage for the game’s return to TV. Other Dave spots include visual storytelling for Google in 'Make Google Do It', which shows how Google Assistant makes everyday tasks easier, and the heartwarming holiday Lego spot 'Falcon', in which a young dad builds a perfect replica of the Millennium Falcon for his infant son.

“This is an opportunity for me to return to my advertising roots,” Dave noted. “I’ve really enjoyed the sports-related work I’ve been doing lately, as it expanded my skills as an editor, having to work at such a fast pace and often incorporating so much archival footage. But at Big Sky, the quality of the ad work they get is top notch. I’m looking forward to being able to collaborate once again with some of the best agencies and directors in the business.”  

Sarah said that overall growth is what prompted Big Sky to bring Dave on board: “By expanding our roster, we’re hoping to provide additional capabilities for our clients moving ahead,” she notes. “And given our current remote setup, we now have the capability to bring on editors like Dave with flexible working conditions. We're able to collaborate remotely for the foreseeable future, but with the intention to be back in the office at a safer time while maintaining this new versatility in terms of where and how we work.”

Chris describes Dave’s strengths as an editor as being able to ‘get’ the big picture, then translate that insight into a cut that responds to the needs of the project. “Dave listens, which is key,” Chris explained. “He takes in all the information, and understands where the project needs to go. And then he figures out what works best, and that’s a big part of the skill of being an editor. This sounds simple, but it’s not that easy. Yet he does it seamlessly, and I admire that. He knows how to make the clients happy while making the job better.”

No stranger to the Big Sky family, Dave appreciates the company’s unique culture. “It’s small, and so it’s really close-knit,” he remarked. “And it’s also a kind of continuing education – Chris is a master student of film, and that outlook permeates the place. There’s always something interesting playing on the monitors, and our staff meetings were more like creative sessions than anything else. It was a breath of fresh air, one I’d never seen before. At other places, doing the work could start to feel like making the sausage after a while. But at Big Sky, it was always about trying new things. Chris never let it get dull.”