- Born
- Died
- Jason has been my dear friend and mentor for fourteen years and I can say proudly, and so gratefully that I wouldn't be where I am without him. When I asked him why he prioritised teaching his assistants he said, "If we don't teach the next generation to cut, who will." I think he was genuinely concerned about the quality of editing going downhill, and after seeing my early assemblies I couldn't blame him! This is a legacy that will live on in all the immerging filmmakers he's helped, and the many assistant editors who have and who will become editors, due to his extraordinary patience, knowledge, and generous teaching. I hope they all in turn pay it forward, as Jason took great pride and pleasure in helping others succeed. That is just one of the many gifts he gave to this industry; an industry he lived and breathed and loved. It is clear from all of the messages and phone calls Amanda and I have received over the last few days alone that he was truly loved in return. My dear beautiful funny silly brilliant talented remarkable friend, I love you, rest now. Jo Smyth Director, Editor
"Jason and I spent months together poring over the edits to our stories, hour by hour, minute by minute, frame by frame; hoping to fashion sense from rhythm. But there's no rhythm now to his shocking loss - no sense at all. But one day, when I have the strength next to look, I know that in his work I will see him: his elegance, his wit, his danger and compassion. His meticulous care and his seamless invisibility (the mark, by the way, not only of a fine editor but a wise and selfless man). But mostly I will see his love - for story. For guiding an audience to feel its rhythm so that it mattered as much to them as it did to him. And then perhaps, everything will make sense again." Writer, Director, Producer Hugo Blick
"I met Jason on a show over twenty years ago and immediately clicked. I so loved his rhythms and storytelling decisions and deadpan humour. He was such fun to share a room with for months on end. We worked on two more shows after that and I really wished we'd done more - he was so popular and I followed his work with admiration. It was an honour to share his recent birthday and he will be much much missed by his friends and the industry." Director Joe Ahearne
"Dear Jason. I cannot begin to describe how much I owe you. When I was just 21 years old you took me under your wing. You were then known as the Wunderkind editor. Getting all the best commercials to cut, you drove into work in your XJS and dazzled us young assistants with your film making flair and easy confidence. I felt so lucky that you took me on as your trainee assistant editor. You were the first person to trust me to cut anything. In this case a Cadbury's Finger of Fudge commercial (with that inane jungle). You not only taught me, you inspired me and gave me the confidence to believe in myself. I could not have become the film-maker I am without you. Years later we would work again, this time as the editor of the shows I directed. I could not have hoped for a better talent to help me to craft that first season of Strikeback, or to deal with the crazy personalities of the Crossing Lines team in Prague. Your calm, consistent wisdom and your brilliance in the edit suite was a guiding light in the storm. I will miss you deeply Jason. You have been my mentor, my teacher and my friend." Director Daniel Percival
"My relationship with Jason was far more than a working one. He was a true friend and I shall miss him terribly. He was simply a wonderful talented and kind man. No tempers. No tantrums. No ego. Just brilliant, as his two Emmy nominations verified. My working journey with Jason was spread over some 20 years involving 3 feature films, several 90 minute tv movies and series, and dozens of documentaries. Work took us to South Africa, Hollywood, Germany, Switzerland and several months in Italy where the cutting room was a converted pig slaughter room in a farm house, but surrounded by the beautiful Umbrian hills where we could walk off the occasional editing dramas and solve the problems of the world. I first met Jason when the editor I was working with on a movie felt he couldn't do the action scenes justice, and he recommended a young guy in a cutting room upstairs. That young guy was Jason. After that, we worked together whenever we could, and perhaps the finest example of his skills can be seen in PUNCH, a true story about a boxer which we shot in Switzerland, with Donald Sutherland as his manager. The boxing sequences were simply brilliant and that was all down to Jason's editing skills. I spoke to Jason just before he died, and he told me how he was really looking forward to working on his next project which was to take place in Spain. Alas, not to be. RIP Jason. My thoughts will always be with you." Director Alan Birkenshaw
"You were a true, dear friend and amazing mentor to me. Like many others, I owe my career to you. When I was younger, I always dreamed of working in the television industry and longed to be an editor. You took that dream and turned it into a reality with many, many laughs along the way. You were one of a kind and a creature of habit. Work by 8, lunch at 12, leave at 6, glass of Sauvignon Blanc with ice. Thank you for the wonderful memories. Rest in peace my friend." Editor Lindsey Woodward
"I was so shocked and saddened to hear of the loss of Jason - it's hard to believe. He was part of my life for nearly 20 years and was a huge reason for the success of the best work I have done. He was the invisible hand behind launching the careers of so many great actors, including Ruth Wilson, Carey Mulligan and Alexander Skarsgaard. We worked together on the BAFTA-winning BBC production Bleak House, where Jason showed his characteristic flair at mining emotional depth combined with fast-paced innovative kinetic editing. Jason went on to cut, with characteristic sensitivity, my first single drama, 'Love Again' about the poet Philip Larkin, and continued with me to edit Ruth Wilson's first screen role in Jane Eyre. He showed a whole other side in his brilliant editing of action scenes when we went on to do the HBO series Generation Kill, for which he deservedly received an Emmy nomination. His calm wisdom and attention to detail was invaluable, long distance, as he offered advice during the shoot, when I'd download on the phone each evening during the intense experience of filming the series in Africa. With his brilliant brave instinctive editing Jason had an ability to read my mind and elevate anything I did. He was so kind, so individual and that winning smile and those Converse hi-tops lifted my heart every time I walked into the room. He not only edited my best films but he was a friend to my children growing up, took me to tea with his mother (where we all spoke French) and edited all my home videos of the twins growing up in his spare time. Jason was a loyal and dear friend and a much-cherished colleague and will be much missed. However, he will live on in so many ways in so many homes through the brilliant work that he did, and continue to provoke the tears and laughter that he could create in an audience better than anyone else I know. Director Susanna White
I was Jason Krasucki's assistant editor at Roger Cherrill Postproduction on Dean Street, in 1985-86. I only saw Jason a few times after that and I just heard about his death. I am deeply saddened. When I began assisting Jason I was nineteen and he was only 26, but he seemed much further ahead in life than any of us. He owned a cool pad in East Finchley, drove a Jag XJS and came to work always carrying a stainless steel camera case. I never really knew what was in it. He understood the craft better than anyone else, and was an authority on everything from from neg cutting to sound mixing. I'm talking about an era when dissolves were marked up on the 35 mm cutting copy with a chinagraph pencil, and you got on the phone with a lab technician at Technicolor if there was a delay with a slash dupe. I don't recall Jason ever being uncertain of anything. Other editors came into our cutting room to sometimes ask him for advice, but never the other way round. After work, we often found ourselves at The Crown and Two or one of the other local pubs, engaged in deep discussions about filmmaking that often ended hours later in an Indian restaurant. It feels like a long time ago now, when cutting rooms were filled with smoke, worn out furniture, trim bins and empty plastic coffee cups. The clattering of a Moviola and the slightly quieter whirring of a Steenbeck. I'll remember Jason's great sense of humour and his calm diligence when operating under pressure and tight ad agency schedules. His patience fixing something that I had probably messed up. But, more than anything else, his confidence in his abilities and his dedication to getting things right the first time, without seeking praise for any of it. Damon Taylor
I first worked alongside Jason in 2000 when we worked together on 'Attachments' for World Productions. There were no egos and we got on very well and went on to work together many times. Jason was at his happiest when chomping on a juicy steak, drinking a glass of good red wine and talking movies. Editor Xavier Russell
I was extremely upset to hear of the sudden and untimely death of Jason. We first met forty years ago when we were both working at Roger Cherrill's, and we have bumped into each other on a regular basis ever since, occasionally meeting for lunch or a drink, sometimes just because we were working down the hall from each other, once or twice even on the same production. Of all the editors I know Jason was one of the best. His commitment to the craft of editing was total. He chose the jobs he worked on very carefully and I don't think he ever took a job just for the money. I remember a few years ago we were talking in general terms about retirement and he said to me: "I suppose I could retire now, but what else would I do?" Whilst I don't think he would ever have found anything to replace his love for editing, I am deeply saddened that he will never have the chance to find out. Goodbye Jason. You will be greatly missed. Editor Paul Endacott- IMDb Mini Biography By: AM Personal Management Ltd
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