The e-mentoring program of Access:VFX, the industry-led non-profit coalition of leading visual effects, animation and games studios, has to date connected more than 1000 mentors and mentees across the globe. The Prospela run platform features members from Framestore, Blue Zoo and DNEG, among others, and has helped talented up-and-coming creatives from varying backgrounds and ages.
This week, the organizers of the Languages & the Media Conference, which will be held in Berlin September 20-22, 2021, are hosting a virtual roundtable in order to offer the motion picture community an opportunity to catch up on what has been happening in the world of content localization and accessibility this year. This virtual event takes place on December 15 and will be free of charge for all registered delegates of the 2021 conference.
FujiFilm North America Corporation is pleased to announce the availability of a Zeiss eXtended Data firmware update for the Fujinon Premista Series lenses. The 28-100mm T2.9 and the 80-250mm T2.9-3.5 can now be updated at any Fujifilm Optical Devices Service Center.
Joshua A. Friedman started his decades-long career in the motion picture business as a production assistant on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, working his way into the Director’s Guild as an assistant director on Person of Interest. Along the way he wrote the book Getting It Done: The Ultimate Production Assistant Guide. Friedman jumped into the producing world with the movie Warning Shot, allowing him to span productions both above and below the line. Friedman's insider experience led him to create Crew Me Up, a mobile labor platform bridging the gap between people and productions. I recently spoke via email with Friedman about the app and what he sees as its mission: To reinvent the way filmmakers connect, create and collaborate.
Last month, ten founding companies and 50 forming companies announced the formation of the Entertainment Globalization Association to create a closer connection to the creative community to better facilitate the retelling of their stories for global audiences. Globalization is defined as dubbing, subtitling, and audio description services, which allow content to be consumed in languages other than the original version. The EGA’s ten founding companies are Audiomaster Candiani, Deluxe, Hiventy, Iyuno Media Group, Keywords Studios, Plint, SDI Media, Visual Data Media Services, VSI, and Zoo Digital. The additional 50 companies represent high caliber service providers from all around the world. Chris Fetner was named managing director of the association
The Hollywood Professional Association has announced the 2021 class of HPA Young Entertainment Professionals. The YEP program was developed by HPA Women in Post and is overseen by the YEP steering committee, led by co-chairs Kari Grubin and Loren Nielsen.
Fugitive Dreams, based on the play by Caridad Svich, is an allegorical road movie touching on themes of homelessness, mental health and addiction, as two lost souls embark across a dreamscape America. Their darkly strange journey confronts them with their traumatic pasts, and bonds them in compassion and love. For cinematographer Peter Simonite, ASC, CSC lensing the film meant needing a vintage look — but a look that was also consistent between lenses.
The Flight Attendant, the Max original series from WarnerMedia Entertainment for the new HBO Max streaming service in the U.S., tells the story of how an entire life can change in one night. Flight attendant Cassandra “Cassie” Bowden (Kaley Cuoco, The Big Bang Theory) wakes up in the wrong hotel, in the wrong bed, with a dead man — and no idea what happened.
The Colorist Mixer, previously held in conjunction with NAB Show in the spring and IBC in the fall, will occur this year on December 12 as an exclusively online event. Organized by the Colorist Society International and the International Colorist Academy, the event will include keynote speakers, technical demonstrations, networking opportunities, giveaways and other events carrying on around the clock and around the globe.
Rising Sun Pictures has won the 2020 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award for Best Visual Effects or Animation for its work on the Chinese World War II epic The Eight Hundred. The Adelaide-based studio helped to recreate the 1937 Battle of Shanghai, where a small Chinese army mounted a determined defense against a larger invading army. Directed by Guan Hu and produced by Haining Seventh Image Movie & Media Co Ltd, The Eight Hundred is among the most successful Chinese movies ever made, and the highest grossing film globally for 2020, having earned $446 million (RMB 3.02 billion) in total box office.
