Bi-Coastal Company Leads the Way in a Changing VFX Landscape
The Molecule, a leader in the Visual Effects and Post-Production scene, will be observing their 10-year anniversary this year in New York City and Los Angeles. The celebration follows their recent successes in Visual Effects for several high-profile film and TV releases including Run All Night, The Giver, The Butler, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix), The Americans (FX), and Golden Globe-winner The Affair (Showtime).
"It's been an amazing journey to grow as much as we have," says The Molecule CEO Chris Healer. "Ten years ago we had a vision of making an influence in the Visual Effects community, and it's incredible to see that becoming a reality."
The Molecule began in 2005 with three employees. After taking on the Visual Effects for hit shows such as Rescue Me (FX) and Damages (FX), they quickly found a foothold in the booming New York VFX industry. They have since expanded to Los Angeles and now employ over 50 artists, and The Molecule remains a pioneer in the VFX community in the city that gave them their start.
Andrew Bly, Principal and Executive Producer at The Molecule, speaks to the industry's unprecedented growth, "New York went from having a handful of television shows and a few indie features to now having more projects than we could have ever dreamed of. With all the help from our local government, we've had a front row seat to watching the city and state become a desired location for post-production."
Bly also credits the strength of the VFX community in New York as an important part of their success. "It's been vital for the community to unite through organizations such as Post New York Alliance and Visual Effects Society. We have been able to share our talents, and we constantly try to make our community stronger and better-informed."
Luke DiTommaso, Principal and VFX Supervisor, says The Molecule's capacity has increased dramatically. "With our refined pipeline, last year we managed 26 television shows, 7 studio features, 19 indie features, and 16 commercials. Currently on our peak months we're producing 600 Visual Effects shots of varying complexities."
He adds that there is never a dull day. "We handle an enormous volume and variety of shots. Seems like every day we're asked to do something spectacular, or absurd, or gruesome, or impossibly beautiful. I love being asked by the artists, ‘what are we working on today'? The answer usually begins with a chuckle of giddy excitement."
Recent Projects: Money Monster, Run All Night, Rock The Kasbah, Ricky and the Flash, The Runner, The Affair (Showtime), Happyish (Showtime), Nurse Jackie (Showtime), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix), Bloodline (Netflix), Ballers (HBO), The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (HBO), Flesh & Bone (Starz), The Americans (FX), Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll (FX), Royal Pains (USA), Sirens (USA), The Slap (NBC), Elementary (CBS), The Following (Fox), American Crime (ABC). www.themolecule.com
The Room founder Ben Murray assumes new role as VP of Creative Services at Technicolor-PostWorks.
Technicolor-PostWorks New York, the East Coast's most comprehensive independent supplier of post-production services for film and television, announced earlier this year that it had acquired The Room, the high-performance finishing studio that has been hosted on its premises for the past three years.
Under the terms of the agreement, The Room's staff, equipment and dedicated 4K workflow are being integrated into the Technicolor-PostWorks facility at 110 Leroy Street. Additionally, Ben Murray, founder of The Room, assumes a new role as Vice President, Creative Services for Technicolor-PostWorks.
Technicolor-PostWorks COO Rob DeMartin says the objective of the move is to leverage the creative talent, workflow and technology that have made The Room the finishing facility of choice for a growing number of independent filmmakers and other content creators. Under Murray's leadership, The Room has honed a client-centric approach to feature film post-production, combining efficient data and workflow management, state-of-the-art technology, team-based operations and personalized service. Recent projects for The Room include St. Vincent, Her, The Giver, True Detective, Marco Polo, Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown, and Years of Living Dangerously.
Murray is applying a similar approach to the full range of Technicolor-PostWorks' film and television operations. "Ben is our creative and technical lead, focusing on workflow design, training, talent management and recruiting," DeMartin said. "He works with clients in pre-production, oversees project management, collaborates with our engineering team, and assists in overall strategic planning."
"We aim to streamline services for both features and episodic television," Murray said. "We will work to provide increasingly nimble technology and a more responsive level of service across the board."
Murray believes that the operational efficiencies that made The Room successful translate well to the larger facility. "It's an opportunity to extend our agile, client-focused approach," he stated. "As The Room rapidly grew, particularly over the last year, the quality of service was not diluted —in fact, it improved. In taking this next step, with a larger pool of talent, greater physical capacity and much higher bandwidth, our focus will be to elevate the quality of service available for all our clients. I am confident that the formula will continue to scale."
For more information, visit http://www.technicolorpwny.com
Alkemy X, formerly DIVE, has been working on multiple visual effects projects in New York. Alkemy X was the primary visual effects vendor for the incredibly popular first season of HBO's The Leftovers. Alkemy X is about to begin production on the second season of The Leftovers this Spring. The Alkemy X team also contributed visual effects for Cosmos on Fox. Their work was featured on Episodes 5, 8, 9 and 10. Airing on Starz, Alkemy X did all of the visual effects for Power Seasons 1 & 2, contributed VFX work to the series Flesh & Bone, as well as work on Season 2 of Black Sails. Two pilots that Alkemy X worked on recently -- Mr. Robot for USA and Outcast for Cinemax -- were both picked up to series. The team also provided all of the VFX for Public Morals, Season 1, for TNT. In the feature film arena, Alkemy X has collaborated on Emelie, an independent film, as well as The Visit, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Dark Places for Exclusive Media and A24, and American Ultra. Alkemy X's VFX team is led by VFX Supervisors Ed Mendez and Dave Zeevalk, Executive Producer Leah Garner Orsini, and VP Business Development Bob Lowery. www.alkemy-x.com
Goldcrest Post New York is pleased to announce the premieres of MOJAVE, THE SURVIVALIST and FASTBALL at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Bill Monahan's MOJAVE stars Oscar Isaac and Garrett Hedland and will premiere on Saturday, April 16th at the SVA theater on 23rd St. The film was captured by Don Davis in the LA area on the Alexa with Hawk anamorphic lenses. John Allen edited on the Avid at Goldcrest, while the conform was completed on the Quantel by Goldcrest's Michelle Ambruz and Ricardo Madan. John Dowdell color corrected the project, the first feature to be completed in Goldcrest's new DI theater. The sound design and mix were conducted by Eric Hirsch in Goldcrest's new Theater Q.
Jonathan Hock's FASTBALL will premiere in the Documentary Competition category. Andy Kris mixed the film in Theater Q. The project is the first to complete work on Goldcrest's Quantel Rio through all stages of picture finishing from Michelle Ambruz' conform through color correct work by John Dowdell.
And finally, THE SURVIVALIST will premiere in the World Narrative Competition, the first in a series of four films that Goldcrest UK and Goldcrest New York are completing with Wayne Godfrey and Robert Jones THE FYZZ. Filmmaker Stephen Fingleton completed the UK-shot drama with the Goldcrest in-house sound designer Jamie Roden and colorist John Dowdell.
Contact: Gretchen McGowan 212.897.3935 or 917.930.9890. www.goldcrestfilms.com
John "Pliny" Eremic would like to give you a few days of your life back.
His web-based service Endcrawl lets filmmakers easily manage the entire end credits process. And it's been quietly used on hundreds of films to date, including The Adderall Diaries, A Most Violent Year, Mr. Holmes, and Reed Morano's Meadowland.
Pliny, who also works at HBO, started building Endcrawl when he saw an opportunity to close one small but highly dysfunctional gap in the post finishing pipeline. Endcrawl improves on the bad old days:
Unlimited DPX do-overs come in handy: there's always "one more last thing." One Endcrawl customer went to Sundance 2014 after render #44, but just recently made version #118 ahead of a home video release—over a year later.
Title houses and freelance designers are also using Endcrawl as a white-label service. This lets them quickly respond to their clients' whims, while freeing up their talents to focus on the creative main title design. (In other words, Endcrawl has been used on $100m studio features, but we can't tell you which ones.)
Endcrawl is in private beta at: www.endcrawl.com.
Propellerhead Media, downtown Buffalo's premiere audio post facility, continues to be Western New York's link to the outside world with ADR, ISDN voice over, and full service audio post for film and video. Recent ADR clients include Poltergeist 2015, My All American, The Newsroom, Tower Heist, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and Spike Lee's Redhook Summer. PHM is owned and operated by Shaun Mullins, a veteran audio engineer, producer, editor, mixer, musician and composer, and is currently upgrading from Pro Tools HD3 to HDX. Mullins has provided original music for hundreds of TV and radio commercials, and numerous PBS documentaries and independent films have been posted in our 5.1/7.1 mixing stage. Contact Shaun at 716 853 0500 or info@propellerheadmedia.com
The Post New York Alliance (PNYA) had a great experience at SXSW this year! The Film component of the festival is still developing-we got in at the perfect time.
The Trade Show attracted 100s of people to the PNYA booth, where we gave away ALL of the swag sent by our company and individual members. We had 100s of conversations about the PNYA, about the NY Post Industry, about the NYS tax incentives, about our educational and internship efforts. We spoke to potential members, potential sponsors, Producers, Distributors, a congressional delegation sent over by the MPAA.
We gave away 100s of PNYA t-shirts, NY LOVE FILMS t-shirts, Made In NY tote bags-in addition to company swag. People were walking around Austin like human billboards for NY State.
Other states and countries represented at the trade show were: Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Illinois, the UK, Australia, Argentina, Korea, Japan and Holland. We were proud to be a presence representing NY-we were the only ones there from the NY film industry. Other NY vendors and tech companies were there, and several NY filmmakers.
The booth was staffed by Yana Lehman and Jennifer Freed from Trevanna, Ben Baker, Audra Coulombe and Chris Hayes from The Molecule. Each of us was able to promote our companies while also promoting the PNYA.
This year more NY Finished films were in SXSW than in Sundance!
We hope you will all consider coming to SXSW next year. We have plans for an even bigger presence than we had this year.
On February 27th, 2015, the New York Section of the Visual Effects Society hosted the inaugural New York VES Awards Celebration at the Green Building in Brooklyn. Part cocktail party, part awards show and part gala networking event, the celebration brought together nearly 150 people to create a memorable evening and marked the first time in history that the VES has held an awards event outside of Los Angeles.
The evening started with some live music by Michael Aranella and his Dreamland Orchestra, an open bar and some delicious catered fare from Poppy's of Brooklyn. A hilarious, special video introduction by Tina Fey kicked off the night's more formal presentation, followed by speeches from Dan Schrecker (former VES NY Section Chair) and Eric Roth (VES Executive Director). PNYA's own Yana Collins Lehman then said a few words and paid tribute to local folks who were nominated - or won - VES Awards at the LA Award show earlier in February, including Jake Braver who took home a VES Award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal / Live Action Feature Motion Picture for his work on BIRDMAN.
The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the first ever VES Empire Award to Randy Balsmeyer, title designer and VFX supervisor, for "his contributions to visual arts and filmed entertainment and long standing dedication to the New York visual effects community". A video compilation of Randy's work showed the crowd some of the title design and VFX work that he has done over the years, including an impressive array of projects he has done with Spike Lee, The Coen Brothers, Martin Scorcese, Jim Jarmusch, Woody Allen, Tina Fey and others. Jay Rabinowitz, long time NYC editor and frequent collaborator with Randy, as well as a good friend, presented the award - a custom designed bronze cast of King Kong atop the Empire State Building. Randy followed with a wonderful, heart-felt speech that touched on his brilliant career and gave everyone in attendance a deeper understanding of Randy's commitment to his work and his city.
Randy Balsmeyer recently created title sequences for the new film, Effie Gray. The movie stars Dakota Fanning as the title character and opened in US theaters on April 3, following a successful run in the UK. Effie Gray was written by Emma Thompson, who also co-stars, and was produced by Sovereign Films with Donald Rosenfeld and Andreas Roald. The titles bring an authentic Victorian flavor to the film. Editorial and post-production were handled by an all New York crew, including many PNYA members.
The evening continued with some door prizes, a DJ set by GERG and more mingling. Sponsored by a host of local companies, the evening brought together the New York visual effects (and post) community in a way that set a great precedent for future events. Congratulations to Randy Balsmeyer for his award and to the New York Section of the VES for establishing an exciting new tradition here in the city.
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst,
the remarkable and newsmaking six-part series, recently aired
on HBO. It is being released on I-Tunes, Google Play and Amazon on
March 30, 2015. Post production was completed entirely in New York.
Credits included the following:
Produced by Andrew Jarecki, Marc Smerling, Co-Produced by Zac
Stuart-Pontier
Directed by Andrew Jarecki
Post Production Producer- Susan Lazarus
Post Production Coordinator- Jill Ann Christiano
Edited at Post FactoryNY with Ross Laing
, assistant editor
Video Finishing was completed at Technicolor Postworks NY
Visual Effects by The Molecule
Sound Editorial by Coll Anderson
Final Mix was completed at Harbor Picture Company
Most of production and all of post-production were done by New York-based crews, and many PNYA members participated in making this riveting series. The filmmakers send their appreciation and applause to the teams of Carol Jazwinski, Joe Beirne, Jay Rubin, Alex Halpern, Chris Peterson, Andrew Bly, Darrell Smith and Zak Tucker.
Last year I was lucky enough to attend PNYA's "Turnover" series at PostWorks. Host Ben Baker does a great job enticing informational gems out of the speakers, on multiple levels, to make the panels fun and educational for everyone from novices to seasoned technicians. The PNYA events create a friendly atmosphere making it easy to approach and meet other members. While at the "Turnover to VFX" event, Yana Lehman suggested I chat with Ian Blume who was editing Drawing Home and looking for a VFX supervisor which could handle the film's 230 shots. Perfect timing as my studio currently had the bandwidth to take on the project and, coincidentally, the film's producers were also looking to work with our friends at Digital Arts a couple blocks away for finishing and sound. Ian told me more about his project and I made suggestions on efficient visual effects workflows. We exchanged contact info and a couple months later I was invited to bid on all the VFX shots .
Fast forward a couple weeks to the next P.I.G. (Post Intelligence Gathering)., I was chatting in a circle of colleagues and met Isabel Teitler, an assistant editor, who expressed interest to learn more about the VFX process. We had just been awarded the Drawing Home project and were going to need another smart post person to keep track of a couple hundred shots. This was in addition to the 100 or so VFX shots we were executing for the film American Ultra and a few TV series design and VFX projects.
I invited Isabel to come by the studio to see if she was the right fit as a VFX coordinator/editor. Once again, leveraging PNYA connections, I reached out to Ben Baker who had recently worked with Isabel and he had only great things to say about her. Isabel comes from a family of film makers and has a strong understanding of the overall post process, from the technical to the politics, and the need for accurate notes and organization. She was hired and proved to be a great fit for us during the three month project. We even learned tricks of her editing trade which we applied to streamline our VFX process. Isabel has moved on from helping us coordinate VFX and is now working in the sound department for a couple other films and continuing to expand her knowledge and experience, although her goal is to focus on film editing.
Over the past few years, PNYA has been a great opportunity for our studio on so many levels from personal educational to professional connections, finding quality staff and we have even garnered a few friendships along the way!
By: Kristine Pregot, Senior Producer, Business Development
For a few weeks, every year - downtown Austin transmutes itself into
a mecca where film makers, music makers & taste makers all
converge to push the boundaries of art & technology.
The films, programmed by head of SXSW films: Janet Pierson & her team, were exceptional and diverse. There was a dynamic mix of music documentaries, post-modern thrillers, edgy comedies, vintage classics & just down right strange films. Austin does have a knack for keeping it weird.
There was just too much to choose from, but the all day scheduling made it easier to pack a lot more screenings in with the midnighters collection. These were the selected features that played after 10pm. The thiller / horror /after-dark features placed in the perfect time slot for those late night owls. (And the Alamo Theatres were the perfect hosts – where you can order munchies & beer – perfect combination for those late night screenings. )
A few of my narrative favorites, included - Uncle John an innovative approach to storytelling combining a thriller with a romantic comedy, twisted together with an artful approach. The Automatic Hate was a beautifully crafted, haunting story about a family with (just a few) issues to work out. The Overnight, a comedy about a very California dinner party, with some interesting twists and bumps throughout the night.
SXSW really shines when film & music meet. The music documentaries were exceptional. Made in Japan's Tomi Fujiyama brought the crowd to their feet when she entered for the Q&A, after the film. I was able to chat with her after the screening and she is a real gem. I also was able to catch up with ‘Unlocking the Truth' with the debut of their new documentary Breaking a Monster. It was a look inside the inner workings of the music industry as the band grows on the road to stardom. This was very dear to my heart, as I have been a friend with the band ever since I saw them play at the Apollo Theatre, on amateur night over 3 years ago.
If I had to choose, I would say the music videos were my personal favorite! This is a true art form with a pure imaginative collaboration between artist and director. It is a medium where high art meets music and the results were breath taking. They were all exceptional.
All I can say is thanks again, SXSW & Austin - You've outdone yourself again. Thanks for keeping it fresh & undeniably innovative. I will see you next year!
Dann Fink & Bruce Winant (Loopers Unlimited, ADR Loop Group Coordinators) - were involved in three films at SXSW - Love & Mercy, Quitters and The Final Girls. Current NYC features include: Triple Nine, The Light Between Oceans, Freeheld, Equals, Miles Ahead, Fan Girl, Underdogs, Staten Island Summer, Untitled Lee Morgan, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon II, Coming Through the Rye. Current NY Television: Show Me a Hero (HBO), HAPPYish (Showtime), Public Morals (TNT), The Knick - Season 2 (Cinemax), Blue Bloods (CBS), South of Hell (WE Tv), The Slap (NBC), Casanova (Amazon).
Contact: Dann Fink, dannfink@gmail.com.
The Tribeca Film Festival will screen the following films which completed some or all of post production in NY. Congratulations to all of the filmmakers and our PNYA members who worked on these amazing projects!!
The Adderall Diaries, Anesthesia, Bad Hurt, The Birth of Sake, Cartel Land, Emelie, Fastball, Gored, Havana Motor Club, Indian Point, In Transit, Jackrabbit, Live from New York, Man Up, Men Go To Battle, Misery Loves Company, Mojave, Roseanne for President! , Sleeping with Other People, The Survivalist, Tumbledown , Uncertain, The Wannabe, When I Live My Life Over Again
Partners Jason Harris and Peter Pamela Rose (ADR Loop Group Coordinators) are honored to have provided the Loop Group on the following NY Television Series and Films: FX's The Americans, Showtime's The Affair, USA's Sirens, Amazon's Mozart In the Jungle, FX's Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll, New Regency's True Story, and Warner Brothers' Run All Night. Other active projects include: 12 Monkeys for the SyFy Channel and the feature film "Trumbo," starring Bryan Cranston and Helen Mirren.
Contact:
Jason Harris, jason@theloopingdivision.com,
917-405-5101
Peter Pamela Rose, peter@theloopingdivision.com,
917-721-3395
PNYA Member Tyler H. Walk edited long-time Michael Moore collaborator Eric Weinrib's feature documentary, Roseanne for President! The film will have its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April.
The film follows 80's and 90's television star Roseanne Barr's 2012 presidential run. While the backbone of the film revolves around the campaign, the film dives deeply into her controversial career and personal struggles to reveal a warts-and-all portrait of a comedic icon.
The film will premiere on April 18 at the Tribeca Film Festival. For more information, visit tribecafilm.com/filmguide/roseanne-for-president-2015
For more information on the NY State Tax Incentive Program or to sign up for the NY Loves Film newsletter, please visit www.nylovesfilm.com.
Congratulations to our PNYA members who worked on the following films that screened at the South by Southwest Film Festival!
