Introducing: The Make the Cut Judges

To be the best, you have to be judged by the best. That’s why we’ve enlisted the help of a star-studded panel of judges for our Make the Cut video editing contest. Not up-to-speed on Make the Cut? Read here about the groundbreaking contest with Imagine Dragons to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Adobe Premiere Pro.

If you’ve entered the contest, chances are you’re patiently awaiting the final results. In the meantime, learn a little bit more about the judges who will be making the final call.

IMAGINE DRAGONS, the band, are originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, and are the chart-topping rock artists and winners of two American Music Awards for Favourite Alternative Artist, a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance, five Billboard Music Awards, and a World Music Award.

Consisting of lead vocalist Dan Reynolds, lead guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee, and drummer Daniel Platzman, the band first gained exposure in 2012 with the releases of their debut studio album “Night Visions.” They were ranked at the top for Billboard’s 2013 “Year in Rock” and were named “Breakthrough Band of 2013”.

MATT EASTIN is not only the creative genius behind Imagine Dragons’ “Believer” video, he also directed and edited the band’s hit videos for “Roots” (2015) and “On Top of the World” (2013). Eastin is an accomplished editor working in music videos, films and TV and has brought music to life through video for popular artists including Mindy Gledhill, Joshua James and Neon Trees.****

BILLY FOX has lent his editing talents to a number of projects from television dramas and mini-series to feature films. Fox was co-producer and editor on the award-winning HBO mini-series Band of Brothers, co-produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.

Fox’s feature credits include Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan, _Straight Outta Compton _and the 2011 remake of Footloose.

Fox is the recipient of 15 major awards and numerous nominations, including seven Emmys Award wins, two BDA Awards, The Monitor Award, The Peabody Award, The Golden Laurel and Humanitas Awards. He is currently editing Granite Mountain with director Joseph Kosinski.

KIRK BAXTER is a two-time Oscar-winning editor with film credits including Gone Girl, House of Cards, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Baxter has worked with award-winning director David Fincher and editor Angus Wall – another one of our luminary judges for Make the Cut – on several occasions.

For his and Wall’s work on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, they were nominated for the Academy Award for Film Editing, the BAFTA Award for Best Editing, and the American Cinema Editors Eddie Award. For their collaboration on The Social Network, Baxter and Wall won an Oscar and a BAFTA in 2011. The following year, they won their second Oscar for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

VINNIE HOBBS is an award-winning music video and film editor who has worked with artists including Kendrick Lamar, Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj, Big Sean, Drake, Kanye West and Skrillex.

For his work with some of the industry’s biggest stars, Hobbs was nominated for the MTV Video Music Award for Best Editing, and MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year for Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright.” He received the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video for Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda.”

ANN LEWNES is Adobe’s Chief Marketing Officer. Her creativity and passion for design and media shine through in her leadership of Adobe’s award-winning campaigns and industry-leading events, making Adobe one of the world’s most innovative, fastest-growing technology brands. She is a relentless champion of enabling creative expression among youth through communities such as Project 1324 and partnerships with organisations like Sundance to ignite filmmaking among next-gen creators. Ann is personally an avid supporter of independent films and was most recently an associate producer of Five Nights in Maine, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015.

Ad Age named her to The Creativity 50, a list honouring the most creative people of the year in 2015 and Business Insider named her one of the most innovative CMOs in the world in 2016. Ann serves on the boards of Mattel, the Ad Council and the Adobe Foundation.

ANGUS WALL is a Two-time Academy Award winning editor with credits including The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network, and_ Fight Club._

Wall and fellow film editor Kirk Baxter – another one of our illustrious contest judges – won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for the 2010 film, The Social Network. The following year, they also received another Academy Award for their work in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Outside of film, Wall’s title design work on the HBO television series Carnivàle and Game of Thrones both received Emmy Awards in 2004 and 2011.

Accolades aside, our judges’ passion for creativity is enough to inspire fresh and seasoned filmmakers alike. We hope learning about these industry pros will inspire you to get out and keep creating, while they pore over the thousands of Make the Cut entries.