Resume

Eliot Popko

[ NYC | eliot@popko.media | +1 312-404-5956 | popko.media | LinkedIn | IMDB ]

Summary

Emmy Award-winning senior video editor with over a decade of experience across branded content, documentaries, and political campaigns. Adept at leading creative teams, optimizing workflows, and delivering high-quality results for broadcast, streaming, and social media platforms. Expert in Adobe Premiere Pro, storytelling, and post-production techniques that are informed by production skills as a documentary producer, cinematographer, and director.

Professional Experience

Freelance Video Editor

Popko Media, LLC | Aug 2018–Dec 2019 & May 2021–Present

  • Edited short-form branded documentaries and promotional films for high-profile clients, delivering compelling narratives and meeting tight deadlines.
  • Collaborated with producers and clients to pitch compelling ideas and deliver outstanding visual content.
  • Managed creative teams and workflows for projects with multi-platform deliverables, including streaming, theatrical, and broadcast formats.
  • Used small-business tools to implement meticulous accounting standards, employee benefit administration, and consistent payroll schedules for owner and contractors.

Senior Video Editor

Hawkfish LLC | Dec 2019–May 2021

  • Delivered impactful narrative content for high-pressure national campaigns, editing over 100 scripted and unscripted videos that engaged millions of viewers.
  • Designed post-production workflows and implemented innovative asset management systems to enhance team efficiency.
  • Collaborated closely with producers and creative directors to shape stories that combined technical precision with emotional resonance.
  • Demonstrated advanced technical skills in Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects, ensuring all projects met broadcast standards and connected with their audience.

Video Producer & Editor

3M Company, Marketing and Communications | Jun 2015–Jul 2018

  • Directed and edited marketing campaigns for corporate and consumer audiences, leveraging storytelling expertise to produce engaging content under budget and ahead of schedule.
  • Led cross-functional teams to produce video content (including a cornerstone project that was 3M's first streaming documentary) showcasing technological advancements.
  • Worked closely with the 3M Design team to develop a company-wide style and branding guide to unify the hundreds of brands and sub-brands within the 3M ecosystem.

Documentary Highlights

Free Puppies! — First Run Features (2022)

Post-Production Director, Editor, Cinematographer

  • Directed and edited an inspiring documentary, ensuring emotional impact and narrative clarity while leading post-production teams to deliver polished content across platforms.
  • Directed post-production workflows, leading contracted teams to ensure final cut met QC standards and achieved its full creative potential.

The Bakken — Indevu Films (2017)

Co-Director, Editor, Cinematographer

  • Created a feature documentary exploring impactful societal themes, earning recognition at major film festivals.
  • Raised $250,000 budget from a combination of grants, investors, and donations.
  • Awards: Duluth Superior Film Festival (Best of Fest), MSP International Film Festival (Best of Fest).

Running on Fumes in North Dakota — NYT Op-Doc (2014)

Co-Director, Editor, Cinematographer

  • Edited a poignant short documentary on energy and societal challenges, garnering over 3.2M views on YouTube and placement on the NYT front page.

Skills

Pre-Production and Production

  • Grant writing, Scripting, Story-pitching, Fundraising, Interviewing
  • Cinematography, lighting setup, sound design, and production planning for a variety of formats and genres

Post-Production

  • Storytelling: 3-act narrative construction, storyboarding, writing paper-cuts, scene-building
  • Workflow optimization: Leveraging emerging AI tools and other software to streamline post-production processes, implementing DAM and MAM asset management systems and cloud footage libraries
  • Implementing collaborative tools, proxy workflows, leading creative teams, quality control
  • Color grading, sound design and mixing, text animation, keying green screen, rotoscoping
  • Multi-platform deliverable expertise including theatrical, broadcast, streaming, social media, 4K, 16x9, 9x16, 1x1, HDR
  • Expert at ingesting and editing with advanced video/audio codecs (ProRes, H.264, DPX, LOG, proxy)

Software

  • Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Slack, Teams, LucidLink, Iconik.io, Frame.io, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, Topaz AI, Izotope, Rev, Backblaze, Plumepack, Photoshop

Awards & Recognition

  • Emmy Award (Midwest Chapter, 2017): Best Editing for Machine Age Lamps — PBS
  • Jerome Foundation Film Production Grant (2015) for The Bakken.
  • New York Times Op-Doc Pitch Competition Winner (2012) for Running on Fumes in North Dakota.

Education

Macalester College
B.A. Media Studies, Film Focus; Minor in Philosophy | 2007–2011

University of Chicago Laboratory High School
H.S. Diploma | 2003–2007

Portfolio & References