Husband, father and award-winning editor Eric Zumbrunnen passed away at his Pacific Palisades home on Aug. 1, surrounded by family and friends, following a hard-fought battle with cancer.
Eric was born in Oregon and spent his childhood primarily in the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii and Carlsbad, California, before moving to Los Angeles to attend USC and graduate with a degree in broadcast journalism.
He moved to Pacific Palisades with his wife and young family in 2001, and enjoyed the local hiking, July 4th festivities, the Sunday farmers market and breakfast at Village restaurants.
Known to many as “EZ,” Eric was appreciated for his intelligence, kindness and dry wit as much as his editorial talent, and left a memorable imprint both professionally and personally. A proficient guitarist, he brought his affinity for music to his early work editing music videos, including classics such as Weezer’s “Buddy Holly” and FatBoy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice,” as well as Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight,” Beck’s “Where It’s At” and Bjork’s “It’s Oh So Quiet.”
His career expanded into commercials for clients such as Nike, Xbox and Apple, and then feature films as he continued his close collaborative relationships with a few directors, perhaps most notably Spike Jonze.
The pair’s harmonious, highly successful partnership spanned two decades and included the Oscar-nominated films “Her,” “Adaptation” and “Being John Malkovich,” which earned Eric an ACE Award for Best Edited Feature Film, as well as “Where The Wild Things Are,” the acclaimed film adaptation of the classic children’s book.
In 2014, Eric co-founded Exile, a post-production company with offices in Santa Monica and New York. He was recently awarded a Bronze Lion for Editing at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for his work on the innovative Kenzo World fragrance ad “My Mutant Brain.” Eric was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this year based on his body of work.
He is survived by his wife Suzanne, children Henry and Greta, and a loving extended family. Arrangements are being made for a fellowship in his name.
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