Longtime Beast editor Morgan Bradley is all packed up and ready for the next chapter in her career. On Saturday, she boards a plane for her new job at Beast Editorial in San Francisco.
The Kansas City native who came to Chicago for college and has been in commercial editorial for a decade, says she woke up one morning and decided that the time had come to make the move to San Francisco, a city in which she’s worked for Beast clients and is excited to now be a part of.
“I’m leaving Chicago loving it and I think that’s the way to go,” Bradley says. “San Francisco had been on my radar for a while. I phoned Jon (Ettinger, Beast’s San Francisco executive producer) and he said, ‘come on over.’ I’ve edited several commercials for their clients, so I won’t be a stranger.”
Bradley could be working right away when she arrives. “We’re bidding three jobs for her. She has a following here,” says Bay Area native Ettinger, who’s worked for Beast for 19 years.
Bradley started as an intern at The Whitehouse in 2004, after graduating from Lake Forest College. She was an assistant editor in 2006 and became an editor in 2012. Last year she won an Emmy for a spot she edited for Downtown Partners’ “100 Club.”
“Morgan’s moving here is mostly motivated by our clients wanting to work with her,” says Ettinger. “She will be a big part of our Beast team.”
The San Francisco Beast office is an anomaly among the company’s offices in six other cities. Ettinger claims Beast is the biggest post operation in the market, with a staff of 23, including seven editors, now including Bradley.
“We build our own infrastructure, a big post entity, offering everything needed on the post side — editing, Flames, color correction, motion graphics — to complete a project,” he says.
“The reason Morgan fits in is that she’s a really fine editor, great in a room with clients and she’s taken the time to find out if this marketplace is ready for her. We had her out here on various jobs. She checks off in every box.”
Chicago office EP Peter Hullinger says while staff is sorry to see her leave, “We’re happy that she’s staying with the Beast family and wish her much success there.”
Calling her “irreplaceable,” Hullinger says they won’t be hiring her successor. “But if we find the right fit we’ll make a move.”
Beast Chicago has a staff of 30, of whom four are editors, and includes Method and Company 3 employees.
