The award-winning
director and editor
was a longtime
member of the film,
advertising and
post-production
communities
As the Chicago film and advertising communities rang in a new year, it was also met with sad news as it was announced on his Facebook page, that president of I-Cubed Productions, Arturo Cubacub had passed away peacefully. He is survived by his wife, Jan Heyn-Cubacub, and daughter Sky Heyn-Cubacub. He was 66.
The very definition of a renaissance man, Cubacub was an award-winning filmmaker and editor, who was involved in pioneering and developing new concepts, methods, approaches, and cutting-edge technology for movie making and inter-media.
Throughout his career, Arturo won numerous international awards and received national recognition for technical and artistic achievement and was considered a pioneer of the poetry video genre.
He was the author of the i^3 Manifesto, the Hyper-Cinema Manifesto, and co-author of the Interstitial Manifesto, a work that was listed as, “in progress.”
Word of Cubacub’s passing came from a Facebook post by his daughter, Sky. “Hello everyone, this post is written by my mom Jan Heyn-Cubacub and me . With deep sadness my dad, Arturo Cubacub peacefully passed away on December 28, 2018 with us at his side.”
Possessing a BFA in Plastic and Graphic Arts and an MFA in Electronic Visualization from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Cubacub began his career as the Artistic Director of the Rasterdans Performance Company in September of 1979. After various teaching stints in the early 1980s, he became the Head of Editing Computer Graphics and Special Effects at The Film & Tape Works in Chicago.
Cubacub then worked his way up as a notable editor with post houses including Post Effects, The Filmworkers Club and Editel. In 1996, he opened i^3 (i-cubed, inc.), where he became known around the city as a talented Editor and Effects Editor.
Tom Duff, President of Optimus, had this to say about Cubacub, “Arturo was a special man and a unique talent. His enigmatic style and smile endeared himself to anyone he worked with, personally and professionally. Talent wise, he was a pioneer for pushing new gear to the limits where others didn’t venture, as being the only one to ever actually edit on a flame.”
Eventually, Cubacub would move into directing, coloring and sound design. He would also go on to win numerous awards for his direction and editing including AICEs and Tellys. A music video, S T R E T C H, was celebrated at the Amsterdam Film Festival, Canadian International Film Festival and Louisville’s International Festival of Film. This was one of the many creative collaborations between Cubacub and long-time associate, Sarah Weis.
S T R E T C H | DIRECTED BY ARTURO CUBACUB
Cubacub was also a published writer, painter, musician and aerobatic pilot. His works can be seen in permanent collections worldwide.
Memorial services will take place on January 20th at the Zhou B Art Center with DfbrL8r,1029 W 35th St, Chicago, IL 60609 from 5:30 PM to 9 PM.
I personally got to work with Arturo back in 2009 on a Radio Shack project that featured my budding actress (at the time) daughter, Maxine. He and Sarah were both a delight to work with.
Arturo will be missed.
Contact Colin Costello at colin@reelchicago.com or follow him on Twitter @colincostello10.
