In our Get To Know series, we shine a light on one of our very own. A Midwesterner by birth, Jason Dopko is an integral part of the family of talented editors based in our Los Angeles office. From freelance to full time, Jason joined us seven years ago, and has cut projects for the likes of Twitter, Nike, and New Balance. For our series Jason filled us in on his creative background, what brought him to Lost Planet, and his love of music.
Where are you from? What’s your educational and editing background?
I’m originally from the midwest. I grew up in Indiana and lived in Chicago before finally coming to LA. I started editing in school at Purdue University where I made a few shorts films and first got the chance to work on an Avid. I was hooked. I moved to Chicago after graduating from Purdue and began working for commercial post houses. One of the companies I worked for had an LA office so I jumped at the chance to move to LA and start a new life here.
How did you start with Lost Planet? What’s your career been like there thus far?
I freelanced in LA for a while editing commercials and music videos for artists like Common, Jennifer Lopez, and Nelly; one of the companies I worked during this time was Lost planet. I ended up freelancing here the most and eventually I was asked to join the staff. It’s been great working along side editors like Hank Corwin, Saar Klein, and Jay Rabinowitz who have made some of my favorite films.
What are a few of the most notable projects you’ve worked on and why?
Recently I edited a campaign for Air BNB which included a documentary and a few spots. One of the things I’m most excited about is a top secret comedy pilot I edited recently – I will have to leave you in suspense with that one!
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I’ve always been a big music nerd. I was program director at my high school radio station WJEF and in college I worked two jobs one at the local public radio station where I would host a jazz show and one at a local record store. Discovering new and old music has always been an obsession and over the years I’ve accumulated about 3,000 rare records. I’m curious about pretty much everything punk, jazz, avant garde, weird stuff, not so weird stuff, anything really and it’s been fun using that knowledge of music for many of the projects I work on.
