Sometimes the story of how a film was made is almost as compelling as the story the film itself tells. That was certainly the case with There is No Evil, this year’s Golden Bear winner at the 70th annual Berlinale, the 2020 Berlin Film Festival. The film, from Iranian director Mohammed Rasoulof, faced serious and unique challenges getting onto the big screen at a film festival. First, there was the fact that Rasoulof is unable to leave Iran.
The cloud-based video supply chain company OwnZones is helping studios and post houses around the world respond rapidly to the growing global consumption of content through its remotely compatible cloud-based platform Connect.
Short-form streaming-video platform Quibi provides premium content specifically designed for consumption on a mobile device. This presented the production of its first scripted show, Dummy, with a unique set of creative and workflow issues. In addition to the standard 16:9 aspect ratio, director of photography Catherine Goldschmidt had to create visuals for a vertically oriented 9:16 presentation.
Yvan Lucas is a veteran digital intermediate colorist with a unique international story. His career spans over 30 years, has involved working in 10 different labs, and has included creative collaborations with a long list of iconic cinematographers such as Robert Richardson, Darius Khondji and Rodrigo Prieto. Lucas credits the work he did with Khondji and director Jean-Pierre Jeunet – especially on the films Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children – for launching his international career and leading him to Los Angeles.
The film and television industry's top priority since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the health of its employees. Companies have moved quickly to find ways to adapt in-house staff to work-from-home scenarios that minimize health risks. But that’s how VFX Legion has worked since 2013.
Even as the COVID-19 pandemic has curtailed production activity in much of Hollywood, Vortechs, an independent supplier of post-production technology, is implementing novel solutions to help its clients stay on track with motion picture and television projects. Vortechs-supplied projects, now working remotely, include the upcoming Warner Bros. features Suicide Squad 2 and In the Heights, directed by John Chu and edited by Myron Kerstein.
The Ymagis Group today announced that the reporting of its full-year 2019 earnings has been delayed until May 28 at which times its board of directors will convene to approve the financial statements. Ymagis Group’s first quarter 2020 revenue will be published at the same time.
Cooke Optics has added to its wide range of motion picture lenses with the introduction of the 300mm S7/i and the new 180mm Anamorphic/i Full Frame Plus lens. In addition, Cooke is announcing a new branch of the S7/i family by introducing three 1:1 macro Full Frame Plus lenses: 60mm, 90mm and 150mm.
Construction has halted on the Academy Museum in Los Angeles in the wake of the global pandemic but its organizers still expect to be able to meet their previously announced opening date of December 14. "We are keenly aware that we're working towards the opening of the Academy Museum during a time of great challenge," said Bill Kramer, director of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
To help sound editors, mixers and other post-production professionals, who suddenly find themselves working from home, Ambidio is making its immersive sound technology, Ambidio Looking Glass, available for free. Sound pros can use it as a monitoring tool for theatrical and television projects requiring immersive sound.
