American Cinematographer - July 2011 - 70

Post Focus
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Prime Focus Expands in New York By Iain Stasukevich A high concentration of post facilities is making Manhattan’s West Village look increasingly like the Stateside version of London’s Soho. Technicolor, Deluxe, PostWorks and Mega Playground have offices in the area, and this month Prime Focus will open a new, 13,500-square-foot facility at 345 Hudson St., just a few blocks from its former, smaller home. Anthony Matt, the managing director of operations for Prime Focus, and Mary Martin, the company’s joint managing director, are overseeing the transition and the recruitment of new talent at the facility. “We’ve always been focused on digital services, and cameras such as the Red and the Alexa have helped us become more competitive because we don’t need to deal with the film prints as much anymore,” says Matt. The full-service post facility specializes in the transfer, color correction, conform and mastering of film and high-definition-video content. “In N ew York it’s a real mixed bag, so we go after all the work we can get,” notes Matt. “We’re seeing revenue growth throughout the recession because we’ve never limited ourselves to just being one kind of facility.” Regular clients at Prime Focus New York have included A&E, IFC, The Criterion Collection and HBO. Features that were recently finished at the facility include the independent films Herb & Dorothy, Vidal Sassoon: The Movie, Kumaré and Kinyarwanda. Prior to its expansion, the New York office operated with a staff of 25, including colorists Alex Berman and Eric Alvarado, making it the smallest of Prime Focus’ operations. (It also has facilities in Los Angeles, London, Vancouver and Mumbai.) New York’s expansion is long overdue, says Matt. “You never want to say no to anybody when they want to bring you work,” he says. Under managing director Simon Briggs, Prime Focus N ew York is working on doubling the size of its staff while aggressively pursuing commercial finishing and broadcast work, particularly in the
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realm of reality TV. A larger room for Smoke and Flame work is part of the plan, and the new facility also includes a Dolby 5.1 mixing theater and larger, dedicated online rooms for Final Cut Pro and Avid DS; offline rooms are also available for rental. The New York facility will be connected to Prime Focus’ other facilities through the proprietary Global Digital Pipeline, which will enable the New York team to tap the company’s global network of visualeffects artists. Matt is also keen for the New York office to become more involved with Prime Focus’ 3-D conversion process, known as View-D, which was developed on projects such as Avatar (AC Jan. ’10) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (AC Aug. ’08). Currently, the process is being used by George Lucas for the stereo conversion of Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace. “View-D has been driving a lot of our new hires because it’s been very popular, and we’re ramping up to accommodate the demand,” says Matt. A member of the N ew York Stereoscopic Society, Matt is thrilled “to bring my 3-D passion to post,” he says. “I’ve been shooting stereo slides on film and digital for several years. I’ve always wanted to do more of that kind of work with cinematographers, and now we have the proper facility to do it.” Noting that complete 3-D post services require “a huge technical kit and a stereo DI room,” Matt explains that the New York office “is delaying offering stereoscopic services until we settle in — a lot of the capital upgrades to the facility are just tied to building out the space.” A stereo DI room (outfitted with a Baselight 8 and a Christie 2K projector) is in the works, as are Nuke and Fusion workstations for stereo conversions. “What sets us apart is that we’re able to see the project through the filmmaker’s eyes,” says Matt. “A lot of our workers are filmmakers in their own right. I’ve made documentaries. Our online editor is a visual-effects artist and cinematographer. The guys in the machine room also work on set and do their own productions. Quite a few of us have filmmaking backgrounds, and clients can see that we care about their projects just as much as they do.” ●

American Cinematographer

American Cinematographer - July 2011

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