Swell’s new editor, Nadia Hennrich, was originally recruited to the U.S. by Detroit’s Blue Highway, after it made a search of European editors and deemed her the ideal candidate. But eight months later, Detroit was not the ideal place for the Hamburg, Germany native.
Telling an editor friend she would like to work in Chicago, he said, “,No, no, go to L.A.’ and when I got there, I found business was very dead,” she said. “I turned around and drove back?to Chicago.”
She had several interviews at post houses and hoped “something would come up.” After returning from spending the holidays in Germany, three companies “seemed interested” in hiring her. “But in the end Michael Topel convinced me to join Swell.”
Hennrich, 31, is pleased with her decision but not nearly as pleased as Topel. He is sure that “her work speaks of unlimited creativity” and her stylish Euroflair will appeal to agencies. She was described as one of the best young editors in the European market.
Her reel is like a map of Europe: McDonald’s, Switzerland; Coca-Cola, Daewoo cars and Pixel Park, Germany; Soccers Champion League, Europe and OVM Oil, Austria, from some of Europe’s best directors.
Hennrich’s plan for a chemical engineering career was forgotten when an editor for a big Hamburg production company broke her arm skiing “and needed someone to push buttons.” Confident of her skills, she applied for an assistant’s job at Sky Editorial, one of Hamburg’s biggest, and was hired, giving her new career a great boost.
Equally at ease with commercials, music videos and independent films, Hennrich edited an animated feature, “Little Polar Bear,” based on the children’s book series before she came to Detroit. She said it had the biggest budget ever for animation in Germany. “It was a theatrical success in Europe,” and has been released on DVD, she added.
Call 312/464-8000 or see www.swellinc.com
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