05/06/08 - Cineworks Louisiana Office. Email boyd@cineworks.com for more information. Cineworks LA 1517 Edwards Ave. Harahan, LA 70123 504.733.8353 Office - 504.733.8351 Fax _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 03/06/08 - Color by Cineworks Digital Studios, Inc. Summit Entertainment/Mandalay "Never Back Down" - http://www.neverbackdownthemovie.com/ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 12/13/07 - HBO's "Recount" wraps production: "Recount" starring Kevin Spacey along with John Hurt, Laura Dern, Denis Leary, Ed Begley Jr. and Tom Wilkinson recently wrapped production in Jacksonville, Florida. Cineworks Digital Studios, Inc. provided S/16mm developing along with simultaneous High Definition and Standard Definition film to tape transfers and DVD screeners. "Recount" was Directed by Jay Roach, Produced by Michael Hausman, UPM Scott Ferguson and Production Supervisor Gerry Byrne. The Cinematographer was Jim Denault. Cineworks Digital Studios, Inc. congratulates Jim on a job well done. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 11/29/2007 - Cineworks Digital Studios, Inc. congratulates the 61 foreign language films eligible for “The 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards” and is proud to have provided full picture post production via Cineworks DI process for “Angel” & “Maldeamores” from Puerto Rico. Cineworks provided developing and dailies for Yuniol from the Dominican Republic. For more information go to http://www.hfpa.org/news/id/78. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 8/01/2007 - Cineworks installs second HD telecine suite! Cineworks Digital Studios, Inc. has recently installed the Thomson Spirit telecine adding to it's Sony Vialta HD suite. Cineworks was the first to install HD telecine capabilities in Florida in 2004 and has the superior technical know how to rival any L.A. or N.Y facility. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 08/16/2007 - "Burn Notice" wraps: Cineworks supported Fox TV for the pilot and eleven episodes, super 16mm film developing, HD and SD deliverables and uploading three different formats to L.A. each day. Congratulations to Roy Wagner, A.S.C. on his first rate work on the series! _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 06/11/2007 - FSU FILM SCHOOL STUDENT BRINGS HOME THE GOLD For the fourth time in three years, a Student Academy Award has gone to a film written and directed by a graduate student from Florida State University's College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts -- best known as The Film School. At the 34th Annual Student Academy Awards ceremony on June 9 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif., first prize in the Narrative Category went to "Rundown," a dark thriller created by FSU Film School student Patrick Alexander, 29, of Cincinnati. In addition to his gold medal, the emerging filmmaker -- who will earn his Master of Fine Arts degree from FSU in August -- will take home the priceless benefits of having his winning film screened in front of industry bigwigs during Saturday's gala ceremony. The Film School's longstanding winning tradition makes it look easy, but it's not. Each year, the fierce competition for Student Academy Awards draws hundreds of entries from dozens of larger film programs at public and private universities across North America. "Rundown" -- a short film that unfolds in just less than 15 minutes -- tells the harrowing tale of a television news reporter who must cover the story of the hit-and-run crime she committed while driving to her debut as an anchorwoman. Film School Dean Frank Patterson calls "Rundown" an entertaining psychological thriller that works on all fronts. "It's a real nail-biter! Patrick and his team of student filmmakers pulled off a smart film that is both dramatically compelling and stylistically sophisticated," Patterson said. "That such a well-crafted film is the work of students is further evidence that the faculty at The Film School deliver a unique and high-quality film education." Alexander conceived the idea for "Rundown" during a summer break from college in 2005 after visiting his brother, who worked for "ABC News Nightline" at the time. "I watched a live broadcast from both the control room and the studio and was fascinated by the drama and the stark contrast between the two locations," he said. "The control room was alive with tension as people barked commands back and forth under a ticking clock, and the studio was equally dramatic but eerily quiet," Alexander said. "All the attention -- the lights and camera -- was focused on one man: Ted Koppel. I thought that if I could craft a unique story that placed my protagonist in this type of hot seat, I would have a dramatic narrative on my hands." Apparently, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences agreed. "The Student Academy Award is the one honor I dreamed about the most since entering film school," Alexander said. "The world of filmmaking is such a hard business to break into, and this award is definitely looked upon as a legitimate launch pad." His role as "Rundown" director did hit a few bumps in the road, so to speak. "We initially had a difficult time finding a news station that could accommodate our 12-hour shooting days," he said. "When the folks at FOX 49 WTLH in Tallahassee agreed to let us use their facilities, we faced a challenge: They didn't yet have a news set in place, so we had to construct one from scratch, delivering it to the station just in time for the shoot." Alexander met that and other challenges with help from fellow FSU film students Bradley Hawkins (producer), Lucie Rouche (cinematographer) and Daniel Villa de Rey (editor). The high point of making "Rundown" was the hit-and-run scene, Alexander said. "I wanted to keep the photography tight on Alison Gallaher (the lead actor), and I also wanted her reactions to be visceral. We mounted the camera on the car's hood and had Alison drive over a mound of sand bags. The force of the collision was real, and so were her reactions." His fondest Film School memory involved an illustrious former FSU football star. "I served as Burt Reynolds' teaching assistant when he taught at The Film School in the fall of 2006," he said. "We worked closely with one another, and I walked away with a deeper understanding of acting for the camera compared to acting in the theater." Alexander credits "every ounce" of his success to FSU. "I entered the program as a writer, but will graduate with a detailed understanding of every position in the filmmaking process," he said. "This is the best place on the planet to learn the filmmaking craft." FSU's winning tradition continues on the small screen as well. Its latest Student Academy Award comes on the heels of a 2007 College Television Award (Emmy), The Film School's 22nd such honor in 16 years. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 03/15/2007 - "Caress of the Creature" Qualifies for 2008 Academy Awards Short Competition In January Caress of the Creature, a 2006 Masters thesis film written and directed by Stewart McAlpine, was accepted into the nationally recognized Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The January 21 and 24 screenings of Caress as a part of the "Gallery Shorts" program for the acclaimed rebel festival marked the film's national debut, and garnered the film an Honorable Mention Award in the shorts category. Then, on April 2nd, McAlpine learned that Caress of the Creature won The Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short at the Florida Film Festival, which qualified the FSU short film for a nomination in the shorts competition in the 2008 Academy Awards competition. “I’m not surprised,” remarked Frank Patterson, dean of the Film School. “This is a smart and hilarious film made by a sure-handed director.” Caress of the Creature is an offbeat black and white comedy that parodies the 50"s classic Creature From The Black Lagoon with a contemporary twist. The opening sequence and much of the principle photography was shot in Wakulla Springs Park outside of Tallahassee, the very same location where Black Lagoon was photographed. On break from construction work, a foreman decides to take a swim in the waters of Lake Habagappee where he is tickled by a sea creature in a "tender, yet masculine manner". No one believes him except for Pablo, the crew's feminine immigrant worker boy. When the creature later captures Pablo, the town is more concerned that the creature might be gay than about poor Pablo. The foreman leads a hunting party to search for the creature, leading to a climactic confrontation in the creature's underwater lair where the foreman must face the creature and his own conflicting emotions. Caress also was chosen as a part of the Film School annual screening at the Director's Guild Theatres in Los Angeles. Following the event, talent manager Michael Lasker of Four Sight Entertainment contacted the film’s director, Stewart McAlpine. Four Sight Entertainment manages Film School alumni Greg Jardin (The Problem With Fiber Optics) and Eduardo Rodriguez (award-winning short Daughter and Dimension Films’ Curandero). CARESS OF THE CREATURE Director: Stewart McAlpine Producer: Eric Leong Writer: Stewart McAlpine DP: Chia Yi Lin Editor: Sarah Beth Shapiro Music: Evan Gamble, original score Cast: Owen Provencher, Junior Mendez, Michael Carlucci (as the Creature) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 02/07/2007 - Miami, FL - Sony TV/TNT 6 hour mini series. Cineworks recently provided 4:4:4 RGB format dailies on HDCam SR tape for the Sony Pictures miniseries “The Company,” for production based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The footage was captured on two different formats. The Arri D20 digital camera was used as the primary camera (recorded on HDCam SR), with many high speed sequences captured on 35mm, 3 perf film. All audio was captured separately, keeping the entire production “film style.” Both formats were handled directly by Cineworks in creating digital masters for editorial and finishing. The HDCam SR material was transferred to an HDCam SR submaster in order to isolate the printed takes and sync the production sound track. The film material was processed in Cineworks’ film laboratory, and then transferred to HDCam SR using a Sony Vialta telecine and a DaVinci 2K Plus color corrector. All of the material was transferred in 4:4:4 RGB format to retain the best possible quality through post production, with Flex and ALE files provided to editorial for digitizing and identification purposes. Simultaneously, two different downconversions were also created – one in “anamorphic” 16:9 format for editorial (recorded on DVCam), and one in “letterbox” format for viewing copies. The letterbox downconversion was then used to create DVD’s for viewing, with physical DVD’s sent back to production in Puerto Rico, and an electronic file sent directly to Sony in Los Angeles. That file was then used to create DVD’s, identical to those in Puerto Rico, for various executives and producers on the West Coast. By transferring in Miami, then sending the DVD files electronically, the production executives in Los Angeles were often able to view the previous day’s material as early as 10AM, far earlier than would have been the case if the material had been sent to Los Angeles for synching, processing, and DVD creation. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 09/01/2006 - Miami, FL - Gringo Wedding readies for Bogotá Film Festival Matt Perrin, Cineworks colorist, using Scratch is putting the final touches on the color correction of Gringo Wedding in the Cineworks Digital Theater, projecting a HD image on a 14 ft screen using the NEC 2K projector. A lush, romantic comedy, Gringo Wedding, gives us a fresh look at Columbia’s major city, Bogotá and an honest appraisal on how American and Columbian cultures can clash when love is at stake. In this city of modern office buildings, busy trafficked streets, beautiful homes, sophisticated, chic women and well dressed men; Americans are invited to meet attractive young Columbians with marriage on their minds. This is the ultimate matchmaking service, where our nice Miami based Jewish boy Matt Goldman, effectively played by Justin Lane, will meet attractive Columbian Princess Rebecca Gonzalez, played by Spanish tele-novella star Ana Lucia Dominguez. The match appears to be made in heaven, but someone forgot to check with the parents and who knew that Colombia has its own breed of Jewish princesses. The comedy directed by Tas Salini, was shot in HD by Chuchi Rivero and Mastered in HDSR by Cineworks Post Production Supervisor Bradley Greer in the Avid DS Nitris A challenging aspect to the project was subtitling the picture twice and creating two HD masters, one in Spanish and one in English. An American Premier is slated for November at the Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival. This will be Bradley Greer second visit to the festival circuit. He was at the the Santa Barbara Film festival when Planet Ibsen premiered there. In Bogotá he will assist Director Tas Salini and DP Chuchi Rivero in explaining the Digital Intermediate workflow created by Cineworks for the mastering of HD features. When a distributor signs on the plan is to do a Film-Out and create two negatives, one for the American market and one for the Hispanic. For more information go to www.gringowedding.com. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 07/12/2006 - Miami, FL. Cineworks Completes Package of Chick Flicks. Mike Most, Cineworks chief technologist and colorist, added the final touches on the DaVinci 2K Plus, under the supervision of Director of Photography Barry Stone, CSC, completing the final episode of Dolphin Entertainment Island Heat Summer Trilogy for the Lifetime Network. The final episode “Break In”, shot in Puerto Rico like the other episodes, explores the dynamics of a summer share for two couples and the threat posed by three intruders in search for an elusive something in the summer rental, while the island is being pounded by a hurricane. All three episodes deal with tourists to the island and have a common thread in the persona of handsome Puerto Rican heart throb Carlos Ponce, playing Detective Raddimus, who comes in at various crucial moments to clean up the mess that these very attractive tourists have gotten themselves into. The films are part of Lifetime’s eagerness to widen their viewership to include men in the 18 to 45 demographic. Well, they have nailed it by having attractive women doing “heavy lifting”, leaving the men drooling in the dust. The look of all the films, shot on the Panasonic Varicam, is vegetation lush and interior sophisticated, with great lighting by both Barry Stone, who shot the second and third episodes, and JP Lopez, who was the cinematographer for the first. Three directors were given this choice assignment: Kern Konwiser for “Stranded”, Mike Switzer, “Vanished” and Mike Nankin, “Break In”. All three programs were edited by Nick Link using DVcam down conversions on an Avid Media Composer Adrenaline, and conformed using his Avid sequence from the Varicam 720P camera original tapes directly to 1080/24P by Bradley Greer, Cineworks Post Production supervisor, on the Avid DS Nitris. They were then output to HDCam SR for color correction, and ultimately mastered to HDCam for delivery. Two of the trilogy episodes were color corrected by Mike Most and one by Bradley Greer, all on the DaVinci 2K Plus. Episode two will be premiering on July 16 at 8:00PM and the final episode will air mid August. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 07/13/06 - Warner Bros. - A "warm" day exterior, the Florida Keys tropical look, a dark evil siren, ominous shrks, and Aquaman himself, all needed to be perfectly color corrected to reflect Warner Bros.' DP, Chris Faloona's vision for their new project, Mercy Reef - with approximately 6 hours to turn the entire job around and get it shipped to L.A. for editing and special effexts. Ralph Perez, Colorist at Cineworks DigitalStudios was up to the task. Chris shot the pilot Mercy Reef in Super 35mm, 3 perf and 4 perf for special effects. Cineworks provided Warner Bros. with dailies along with SD down converts which they ran at the same time on the Sony Vialta. For special effect shots, Chris requeted SR HDcam tapes (which is a higher quality tape than HDcam). Ralph did the color correction on the Da Vinci 2K color corrector using the Telecine Calibration System that allows him to know exactly where the exposure of the DP is - making him better able to realy this to Chris. This offers the DP the added advantage of knowing precisely what is on the negative. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 5/2006 - In 2005, Cineworks’ Post Production Supervisor and Digital Grader, Bradley Greer completed an auto conform and created more than 600 effects from composited stills and motion footage on an Indie documentary, “Cocaine Cowboys” - which had it first screening at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Once Greer completed the auto conform from a rough cut utilizing the Avid DS Nitris, he then masterfully inserted hundreds of “period” still photographs to tell the story with impact and realism. The color correction process performed by Colorist, Matt Perrin followed utilizing Cineworks state-of-the-art Da Vinci Suites. Finally, Cineworks took the Digibeta master and up- converted it to HDCAM using the Teranex Xantus, to ensure full compliance with the festival’s criteria for screening. Cinematographer, Armando Salas, flew in from LA initially for the supervised color correction sessions here at Cineworks having shot all the live footage using Super 16MM, Mini-DV, Super-eight and in some instances 35MM - for integration with existing archival elements. Filmmaker Billy Corben waited patiently for almost one year to secure a proper venue to showcase this rapid-fire documentary chronicling the cocaine wars that plagued Miami during the 70’s and early 80’s. His film covers almost 20 years of Miami’s eclectic history. Its realism resulting in part by the utilization of dramatic images culled from the Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archive, Kesser Image Library as well as hundreds of police photos and videos from the Miami Dade Police archives. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 4/2006 - Coming to a Theater near you! Cineworks Digital Studios provided film processing and Simultaneous High Definition & Standard Definition Dailies for New Line’s “Hoot”… A greedy land developer, corrupt politicians and clueless cops combine to make one mysterious movie plot. Present three middle school teens who take them all on to reveal “Hoot” - a soon to be released, comedy, mystery - adventure by New Line in May, 2006. This amusing family adventure tells the story of three determined children’s journey to save the endangered Florida burrowing owl. “Hoot” was directed by Wil Shriner and stars Logan Lerman, Cody Linley, Brie Larson, Like Wilson and is based on Carl Hiaasen’s Newberry Honor-winning novel “Hoot.” Fall in love at any age! This is the message of Director Susan Seidelman’s new movie “Boynton Beach Club” that beautifully addresses the loves and lives of our Seniors with grace and humor. The original screenplay and idea is credited to the Director’s mother who resides in a Boynton Beach community for “active seniors.” Cineworks was asked to provide their film processing and Standard Definition Dailies. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 03/15/06 - L.A. Industry Veteran Michael D. Most Joins Forces with Miami’s Cineworks Digital Studios, Inc. An imposing 25 year run in the film and video industry in Los Angeles now takes on a new direction as Mike Most heads east to Miami to join an equally imposing group of players at Cineworks Digital Studios, Inc. As Chief Technologist, Mike will undoubtedly be a great addition to Cineworks’ existing Digital Intermediate force and a formidable ally in today’s ever-changing post production matrix. Mike is most recently recognized for his visual effects supervision on acclaimed shows such as “Ally McBeal,” “Veronica Mars,” “Boston Legal,” “Without a Trace,” “Charmed,” Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist,” amongst others. Prior to moving into visual effects, Mike started out in the post facility end of the business in 1978 as a videotape operator; he progressed within a few years to telecine work, primarily the mastering of feature films. Continuing in this capacity, he became associated with the post production department at Lorimar Television. In 1989, he returned to the facility business and the telecine suite - becoming lead colorist for television series at Encore Video. During the next 8 years, he was responsible for transfer and final color correction on various high profile series’, including L.A. Law, Cop Rock, Civil Wars, Byrds of Paradise, and NYPD Blue Dinosaurs and Ellen and numerous other series’ and movies of the week. “We are excited about the direction our industry is taking and Cineworks is proud to be a front runner in the South Florida area and to welcome Mike to our team of industry professionals,” stated Vinny Hogan, President. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 02/05/06 - On February 26, 2006 the American Society of Cinematography (ASC) will honor two of Florida’s most promising young filmmakers – Rodrigo Rocha-Campos of Florida State University and Brian Burgoyne of American Film Institute. Rocha-Campos will be recognized for his short thesis film “The Resurrectionist” which was finished in HD and Digibeta by Cineworks Digital Studios. The jury consisted of some the world’s most talented cinematographers. The purpose of the ASC is to reach out and encourage promising students. Rocha-Campos is a native of Brazil who relocated to the US in 1995; earning a master’s in film production from FSU. Cineworks is proud to have participated and contributed to his being awarded the Jordan Cronenweth Heritage Award for outstanding achievement. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 01/16/06 Cuban-American, director, filmmaker and winner of the 2004 HBO-NY Latino Film Short Film contest, Carlos Gutierrez' latest creation, Wet Foot/Dry Foot spotlights the 1994 immigration policy of the same name - and the ensuing plight of Cuban immigrants. This is a dramatic true story of two Cuban rafters, Ivan and Ramiro, and their emotional journey to freedom. "I am extremely happy with the way the transfer turned out and Matt's amazing talent." stated Gutierrez of Cineworks' Colorist Matthew Perrin - "My DP Brian Hubbard was equally as impressed." Cineworks retransferred selected scenes using Gutierrez’ Editorial Decision List to Digibeta. Wet Foot/Dry Foot will premier at Bill Cosford Cinema at University of Miami campus on February 2, 2006 - Editor, Justin Quagliata; Sound mixer, Ryan Ragman, Soundscribe Inc., and Composer, Juan Pablo Mantilla, Soundscribe, Inc. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 01/12/06 Planet Ibsen, winner of IFP Sunlight Production Award and official selection of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival will make its debut on February 2-12, 2006. Cineworks Digital Studios provided full post production services through to Digital Intermediate. Planet Ibsen is a fantasy drama set in the Victorian era and brilliantly captures the emotional and intellectual true life conflict between 19th Century’s August Strindberg and Henrik Ibsen – playwrights and arch-rivals. This groundbreaking storytelling is the pride and creation of Producer and Director, Jonathon Wyche who was stricken by the little-known, but fascinating rivalry between these two intriguing characters. Jonathon commented that "Cineworks is making Planet Ibsen look like the Rolls Royce of the indy films!" _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 12/16/05 - How lucky can you get, to document the growth of Constellation Brands, the largest owner of wineries through out the world, with wineries in California, New York, New Zealand and Australia? That was the challenge that faced Rochester based Crystal Pix and Director/Cinematographer Ray Manard. His response was to shoot what will ultimately be a 12 to 15 min industrial on super 16 and transfer it to HDcam. Their business has grown since the last time Manard shot for Constellation to a 6 billion dollar business with the potential of growing to a 12 billion dollars in the next few years. Matt Perrin, Cineworks, Colorist, had beautiful footage of lush Nappa and Sonoma Valleys to work with, as well as the caves, the making of and the tastings that make a trip to the wineries a memorable occasion. The privately owned co. plans to show the film internally and to potential investors and future prospects for acquisition. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 12/16/05 - Molson Canada and agency Brainstorm, descended on Miami for a three day “night” shoot this week, to do a holiday themed spot that shows how welcome a young man is to any party as long as he’s bringing a six pack of Molson Ale. The 30, which will be completed this weekend in Toronto and start airing next week, is an EFX driven spot no less. Chris Woods, directing out of Avion Productions Canada, brought Editor Joel Shecter of 3rd Floor Editing down to Miami, while special EFX supervisor Ernie Mordak, in Toronto, would await daily shipments to start the EFX process and make all the magic happen. Leo Stagno, Cineworks senior colorist, worked on the Sony Vialta, known for it rock steady transfer, and color corrected the footage on a daily basis on the DaVinci 2K. Editor Shecter would get a set of dailies to work with, while a digibeta and the negative would be sent to Toronto overnight. Each evening during the shoot, Shecter and director Woods would do a rough cut of all footage shot and a rough composite of their selected scenes and post the EDL and rough cut on a secure website for the Toronto EFX team to follow. The Miami group left satisfied and smiling for the airport Friday afternoon. Since the spot will only air in Canada, we won’t get to see the final product till they send us a digibeta. I’m sure it will be great. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 11/23/05 - Cineworks Digital Studios, Inc. Miami & Orlando has recently wrapped on Warner Brothers, "The Reaping", Executive Producers Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis directed by Stephen Hopkins and lensed by Peter Levy ASC/ACS with a stellar cast including Hilary Swank and Anna Sophia Robb, shot in and around Baton Rouge, LA. The production entrusted Cineworks to develop all of their super 35mm original color negative along with delivering HDCAM digital dailies with simultaneous standard definition digital dailies for the editorial department. Cineworks also supplied Warner Brothers Post department in L. A. with Avid files transferred directly to Warner's server. Producers received DVD dailies for quick viewing on laptops or DVD players. Peter Levy, D. P.("The Life & Times Of Peter Sellers") had nothing but praise for Vinny Hogan (President) & "their professional staff". Ralph Perez, Colorist/Grader transferred all dailies utilizing Kodak's TCS (Telecine Control System), the only system on the east coast besides one in a lab in New York. Richard Mirisch, Producer ("The Matrix") applauded the Cineworks team, "impressed with the quality of work and the hand holding of the project by Vinny Hogan", "quality equal to any facility in L. A.". The production team screened HD dailies in a custom built mobile screening room each day after wrap. Vinny Hogan traveled to Louisiana to setup the digital screening room to ensure consistency through the whole process. "We are the only facility in the Southeast that not only offers these state of the art digital services but can deliver at this level, this production could have easily shipped back to one of the two large labs on the west coast , this is what they are programmed to do and Cineworks is changing that", Vinny Hogan, President, Cineworks. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 11/18/05 - Orlando feature film, "The Way Back Home" was written by and stars Michael Houston King as Spencer Kane, a big city lawyer who returns to his small home town after a personal tragedy to take care of his grandmother who has suffered a stroke. King, who co-produced the film with veteran Florida producer Paul Sirmons, pulled together a great supporting cast, including film and stage legends Julie Harris and Ruby Dee, as well as Danny Nucci (Titanic), Deezer D (ER), Mina Badie (Her Name Is Carla) and Tessie Santiago (Good Morning, Miami). It is the first time that Harris and Dee have ever appeared together. The talent behind the lens was no less impressive. To get the most value on the screen on a 23-day shooting schedule, Sirmons asked friend and mentor Reza Badiyi to direct. Badiyi is recognized by the Director Guild of America as having directed more hours of dramatic television than any other director, including shows like Falcon Crest, Early Edition, Deep Space Nine and others. Director Of Photography, Stephen Campbell lensed the production. Another unique aspect of The Way Back Home was that the film was produced in conjunction with Valencia Community College's Film Production Technology. Indie films have turned to video as a way of keeping the budget down, but Michael King was insistent on getting the classic film look, which only 35mm film could truly guarantee. Initially I had developed a post-production budget geared around a traditional film finish, with cut negative, opticals and lab color-timing. Once we contracted with Miami-based film lab and post facility Cineworks - early HD/DI proponent - our plan changed to using HD as a digital intermediate. At the suggestion of President and partner Vinny Hogan, the production was also changed to Super 35mm instead of regular 35mm. The Super 35mm frame is rectangular and is a closer match to the 16x9 aspect of HD, so you get smaller film grain when the image is transferred to video. By the time we got to a locked cut, another bit of good fortune and timing hit this film in the form of a major upgrade at Cineworks. Hogan had committed to adding DI finishing capabilities - just in time to be used on "The Way Back Home." "We bring our experience and level of expertise to each project, whether big studio release or low budget indie, this is why filmmakers all over the world rely on us, it's one thing to have the gear but an experienced, professional staff is the key to our success." - Vinny Hogan, President _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 09/14/05 - Cineworks wraps up work on “Hoot,” based on the popular Newberry Honor teen novel by Carl Hiaasen, shot in the Fort Lauderdale area. The picture, directed by Wil Shriner (Frasier, Becker) and DP’d by Michael Chapman A.S.C., (Raging Bull) will be a New Line theatrical release. Cineworks was entrusted with developing the super 35mm original negative along with delivering state of the art HD digital dailies delivered to editorial department along with digital dailies for Director/Producers/New Line and Walden Media in Los Angeles. Ralph Perez Colorist/Grader transferred the negative to HD digital via Cineworks Sony Vialta HD telecine utilizing Kodak's TCS system. Vinny Hogan, President, personally screened all dailies prior to delivery, "I was honored to work with such an artist and gentleman as Michael Chapman, A.S.C. when working at this level you have to be always on your game, 24/7." _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 08/16/05 - Shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with a stellar cast including Hilary Swank and Anna Sophia Robb “The Reaping” began its two month filming schedule today. Directed by Stephen Hopkins and DP by Peter Levy ASC/ACS, “The Reaping” tells the story of a small town in Texas that discovers itself in the troughs of the Biblical Ten Plagues. Hilary is a debunker of such myths, till she discovers some evidence to the contrary. The picture, produced by Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis, is shooting 35MM and being transferred to HDCAM as well standard definition dailies along with digital transmission directly to Warner Brothers servers in L. A. to be ultimately distributed to their execs. Cineworks is pushing some pretty high tech buttons to make all this happen. Colorist Rafael Perez is making Hilary look good on his DaVinci 2K Plus. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 07/28/05 - Ft. Lauderdale. “Hoot,” based on the popular Newberry Honor teen novel by Carl Hiaasen, is in its third week of shooting in the Ft. Lauderdale area. They had just wrapped shooting at a local high school when we caught up with them. The picture, directed by Wil Shriner (Frasier, Becker) and DP’d by Michael Chapman A.S.C., (Raging Bull) is shooting 35mm and is being transferred to HDCAM and simultaneously standard definition on our Sony Vialta telecine with DaVinci 2K Plus system by colorist Ralph Perez. Editor Allan Bell, crew and cast see dailies on his Final Cut Pro HD editing system’s big 24 inch screen, but promise to come back to Cineworks and preview a digital rough cut on our big screen before leaving for LA to finish post. “Hoot” tells the story of three middle-schoolers who take on greedy land developers, corrupt politicians, and clueless cops in the mystery adventure. “Hoot” revolves around a Montana boy Logan Lerman, played by Roy Eberhardt, who moves to Florida and unearths a disturbing threat to a local population of endangered owls. Determined to protect his new environment, Logan and his friends fight to prevent the adults from making a big mistake. Packed with surprising plot twists, quirky characters, and offbeat humor, the picture is being produced by Frank Marshall (Seabiscuit, Signs) and Jimmy Buffett, who wrote some of the original music. It also stars Luke Wilson and Neil Flynn. It is scheduled for a 2006 release. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 06/29/05 - FSU first film school in U.S. to take the DI post path. Some students came by car and some came by plane from the Tallahassee, FSU campus. They all met at 11:30 am in the lobby of Miami’s Cineworks Digital Studios where Rexford Metz, ASC Cinematographer, on such films as “On Golden Pond” and their thesis supervisor waited to greet them. The film these students had gathered to color correct was one of six which will be completed as part of the thesis program. “Once Broken” written and directed by Matt Pope started its process at Cineworks, where the original developing and dailies were generated. Cineworks’ owner Vinny Hogan pioneered the first DI process for student filmmakers in collaboration with FSU’s Reb Braddock Director of the MFA Film Program. All six thesis films will be finished in HD for later delivery to 35mm negative via Cineworks Kinetta LCD film out system. Most student filmmakers wonder how they will be able to see their films properly projected in a theater, and since the finishing process of most films has become increasingly difficult, if not impossible, because of special effects, costs and the accessibility to a laboratory, Vinny Hogan and Reb Braddock have devised a program to make their vision come true. Students in Tallahassee understand, LA or New York were the finishing lab destinations, but the cost of traveling to these two cities, while awaiting your finished answer print, has become so prohibitive that a lot of films were not being fully realized and the program felt it was not offering the full film experience it had originally envisioned for its students. The DI process of taking HD or data files back to film has become more and more popular in the last few years, and for these FSU students it is a reasonable and logical alternative to traditional post methods. So how does the program work? When the cut is locked, the rough cut and the EDL are sent to Cineworks and the selected scenes are transferred to HD utilizing Kodak’s TCS (Telecine Calibration System), this system insures that all the dynamic range of the film is captured during the HD scanning process. The selected HD scenes are then conformed in the AVID Nitris, by Bradley Greer, Cineworks’ Post Production Supervisor. In this particular case, some scenes had to be affected and had to be shipped in data form to the F/X house that completed the shots and returned them to be inserted in the final assembly. On this particular morning the students were gathered to supervise the color correction of the conformed and completed film. They had come in with stills that had been printed and sent to Matt Perrin, Cineworks’ Colorist, to establish a look. The cinematographer Tristan Higgs was responsible for the color correction and the director chimed in with his approval while the Assistant DP / Editor, Michael Wagner was there to support the group. Matthew Ireland Beans, the producer and Nina Juliano the production designer, were unable to attend the session because of prior commitments. Rex had a little smile on his face as the session progressed and he reminded his students to refresh their eyes every so often so as not to be locked into the look, which invariably happens, when you are looking at a monitor for eight hours, the allotted time for the project. Upon completing the color correction, the credits will be added to HD color corrected master. The students will return to FSU to complete their sound work with a down convert of their finished film. In some cases the film will remain as an HD master and be shown electronically in theaters but in some rare instances if the film gets picked up in festivals they may need to go back to film. Then the mixed audio and the HD master will be recorded back out to film utilizing Cineworks new LCD film recorder or via the Arrilaser recorder with Cineworks partner DuArt Laboratories in New York City. . Cineworks will supervise the answer print and invite the group for a final look- see of their project in their new 35mm screening room. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 06/24/05 - Colorist John Palmisano has joined the staff of Cineworks Digital Studios Inc. Miami, joining Colorists Leonardo Stagno, Matt Perrin and Raphael Perez. John was most recently at Manhattan Transfer/Miami. An 18 year veteran, John got his start in New York City’s TVC Video which was merged into Manhattan Transfer, now Riot!. He spent some time in Colorado working for the Denver based Telemation Productions, then moving down to San Paolo where he consulted and trained colorists for a Kodak venture in Brazil. After a short stint in Puerto Rico, he finally moved to Miami in 1996, and started working for Post Edge in their Hollywood and then their South Beach post facility. In 2002 Post Edge joined forces with BVI and emerged as Manhattan Transfer/Miami. John, who is both comfortable with commercial creative's as well as feature clients, boast a spot reel with Mc Donald’s, the Truth Anti Smoking Campaign, American Express, Pampers, Volkswagen, as well as many other national and regional spots. He did work on “Bad Boys 2”, “Any Given Sunday”, as well as doing work for the Discovery Channel, Univision, Telemundo and MTV. Vinny Hogan, President of Cineworks, praised John’s work as well as his attitude with clients and his reputation in the industry, “We were pleased to welcome John to Cineworks and doubly pleased to find some one of such talent in both the commercial as well as the feature world in our back yard. John’s client skills and temperament fit well into the team we have assembled and he will be crucial in the continued growth of our telecine department.” Cineworks has grown in the past five years and with the growth of the local feature film industry as well as the continued commercial work, John is a good fit. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 06/01/05 - Cineworks is proud to introduce its proprietary Digital Intermediate system. After weeks of testing with various digital tape sources and developing the appropriate Look Up Tables that allows the media to be recorded back to film to approximate the look of the video it came from, Vinny Hogan signed off on the process. Cineworks is now offering clients the ability to take film or video originated material and bring them back to film for theatrical projection. The recommended originating source should be digibeta or HD, although the system works with beta or DVCAM as well. At present we are offering visuals in the letterbox as well as anamorphic formats with stereo audio. A reel of commercials as well as clips from features both film as well as video originated, is available for viewing in our screening room. Cineworks is presently working on three feature films, one originating on 35mm and the others on super 16MM., and one documentary originating in video sources from VHS,3/4, MiniDV, and 16MM and mastered on HD. That promises to be a real test for the system. An introductory price for spots of a $1000/ 30 seconds is presently available. If interested call Mark Polyocan for information. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 05/05/05 - Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico and New York are the backdrops for “Yellow”, a three perf. 35mm feature being developed and transferred at Cineworks by our new Colorist Stan Giddens. “Yellow” is the story of Amarilys, played by pop singer/ actress Roselyn Sanchez, whose father’s suicide triggers a downward spiral of guilt that forces her to run away from her family and beloved island for New York and a path to self discovery. Directed by Mexican director Alfredo De Villa and shot by Claudio Chea, “Yellow”, with a budget of $3.2 million, is part of the Film Commission of Puerto Rico new incentive program promoting the development of the island’s film industry. Produced by Steven Brown and Miss Sanchez, the film moves from the barrios of Puerto Rico to the strip joints of New York and finally to the legitimate stage in Amarilys’ hunger to become a famous dancer.The film also stars D.B. Sweeney, Sully Diaz, Manny Perez, Jaime Tirelli and a cameo appearance by Bill Duke who was in Miami recently heading theAmerican Black Film Festival. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 03/25/05 - “Cocaine Cowboys” Starts Post Production Fishing at Cineworks. The documentary “Cocaine Cowboys” directed by Billy Corben and produced by Alfred Spellman and Billy Corben, enters it final phase of post finishing at Cineworks. The project has been in the works for two years and deals with the cocaine trade of the ’70 and ’80 which had, for better or worse, and indelible impact on the growth of modern-day Miami. The documentary combines interviews with some of the eras top law enforcers, traffickers, suppliers, dealers and even killers and a barrage of archival news footage as well as still photographs of the period. Cineworks will be responsible for the auto conform from a rough cut, insertion of several hundred period still photos, color correction and opening credits as well as the final credits all under the supervision of Bradley Greer, Cineworks post producer. Stay tuned for more. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 02/14/05 - “Once There Was a Country: Revisiting Haiti” was completed at Cineworks just a few days before it screened at the Miami International Film Festival. Post Production Supervisor Bradley Greer, conformed the project in our Avid DS Nitris from an EDL provided by co- producer/ editor Rhonda Mitrani and upon completion of the auto- conform, did the tape to tape with the DaVinci 2K Plus with Toolbox, as well as completing the lower thirds, opening and closing credits. The 55 min. film, shot in Beta SP and finished in letterbox Digibeta, is a personal journey by writer/ director Kimberly Green exploring the pioneering healthcare programs in that impoverished state. The film, a labor of love, aims to dispel the myths surrounding this misunderstood country and provide viewers with a surprisingly positive point of view. For more information go to their web site: www.oncetherewasacountry.com _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 02/07/05 - Cineworks adds a Super bowl spot to its credits. Matt Aselton, directing through Epoch Films, got the approval to shoot a tongue in cheek spot for the NFL just two weeks before its air date on Superbowl XXXIX. Fortunately he had the facilities at Cineworks to make sure his spot aired. To take advantage of the limited time schedule, Cut + Run Editor Chuck Willis was on the set getting a camera feed into his Avid Express equipped laptop allowing him to edit as the crew was shooting. The spot, shot on location in Miami and the Keys, shows several football superstars like Curtis Martin, Dante Cullpepper and Ben Roethlisberger commiserating with Joe Montana, singing the song “Tomorrow” from the musical “Annie”. Aurelien Leturgie did the dailies on the three day shoot and Demetri Kitsopoulos color corrected the final :60 from the EDL generated by Chuck Willis. The spot recently polled among the 10 most liked spots of the month in Adage magazine. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 02/04/05 - Cineworks sponsors the Miami International Film Festival. You're in the airport, and you're watching the guards scrutinize something going through the x-ray machine. One guard motions to another guard to share what he sees; they are overwhelmed by the content of something. The surprise is that it 's film cans on route to the Miami Film Festival .This clever spot created by DRM/Miami is what you see at the beginning of all the films being show at the Miami film festival, and airing on the local networks in Spanish as well as English to promote the festival in our metropolitan area. Directed by Marcello Paez and produced by America Film works, the spots were developed by Cineworks and transferred by colorist Demetri Kitsopoulos and edited by Hernan Menendez of Circolo editorial, a new editorial co. working out of Manhattan Transfer. This is the fifth year that Cineworks has sponsored the festival and it has grown incrementally over the years to be one of he most sought after festivals in the world._____________________________________________________________________________________________ 02/01/05 - January just flew by at Cineworks with our lab developing lots of footage for LA, Chicago as well as New York companies flying down here to get away from that bitter cold and snow that hit the north east this winter. Ficalora production, following up on a successful December shoot with another project for Publix Hispanic, and beauty and fashion director Anita Madeira shot a spot for Chicago agency for age resistant beauty cream Avena. Anonymous Content's director David Kellogg, used the Hollywood dog track on one of the two projects for Bud Light, both contenders for this year's super bowl. Chicago Story's Toby Phillips had two projects, both shot up in Orlando, Advanta and I Wireless. H.S.I. was on the basketball court doing a spot with the Shaque for 24 hr fitness, which went to Film Core/ San Francisco for editorial, and World Wide Productions went international shooting two spots with Believe Media's director Anders Halberg for a Swedish clothing line. Academy Award winning director Barbara Koppel, whose famed 1976 documentary Harlan County was shown at a retrospective at this years Sundance film Festival, came down to Ft. Lauderdale for her company Non Fiction Films to shoot two Orkin spots. Mia Films director Massimo Martinotti was busy in Central America doing a Burger King spot for COD, Creative on Demand. We also hosted Park Pictures Ramaa Mosley shooting a package for Chinett, the party paper good giant, with DP Jim Fealy and Aero Productions I'm sure had a ball shooting Gillette in the Bahamas. Spanish director Angel Gracia of RSA was shooting locally for a Texas agency for Churches Chicken while September productions loved the Miami sun and its locations with director Dan Driscol shooting for Marshall's men's and women's fashions, the dailies being sent to Panache in Boston for editorial. And then there were the Hispanic agencies that kept us busy with Venison shot by Pigeon Productions and Home Depot helmed by America Film Productions, both spots going up to Wild Child in New York for finishing. Had enough? I thought so. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 01/04/05 - Jon Fauer, ASC, and daughter Marlena visited Cineworks to transfer with colorist Leo Stagno. Jon had just shot 3000 ft. of super 35 MM film in the bays of Miami while testing the new Arri 235, Arri’s newest and smallest camera. They filmed Jon’s daughter, in an Opti, a tub-sized sailboat about 8 ft. long, which has achieved international popularity among young sailors between the ages of 8 to 15. The last week of December brought over 300 Opti enthusiasts to Miami from all over the world for the Orange Bowl Regatta, the second largest sailing event in the world. Jon’s written a feature that he hopes to be directing this summer that revolves around the Opti racing phenomenon that his daughter is so fond of. The film, that colorist Leo Stagno transferred to HD, was the product of Jon’s putting the Arri 235 through its’ paces in all kinds of water related set ups while his daughter and friends sailed in their Optis against the beautiful Miami skyline from sunrise to sunset. After the transfer Jon complimented Leo on his work and turned to Vinny and said, “I don’t think I ever want to see standard def again. It just blew me away.” About his experience of working at Cineworks he added, “What I enjoy most, besides the friendliness, is how much I learn from them every time I have a job there. They understand the process and have the tools and the people to provide great looking film.” _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 01/04/05 - “Tom Dowd and The language of Music” was just nominated for a Grammy in the long form video category. The film which was posted completely at Cineworks Digital Studios, has been released by Palm pictures and is riding a wave of success since it was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2003 and later at the at the Toronto Film Festival. It was commercially released in August of 2004. A bit of irony appearing in the movie “Ray” playing presently and being touted as an Oscar nominee on many levels, Tom is mentioned since he collaborated on many of Ray Charles’ classic recordings. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 11/19/04 - The Kodak Cinematography Workshop stopped off at Cineworks again this year with world renowned cinematographer Bart Durkin and an international group of industry professionals interested in making the leap to director of photography. This year’s project was not unusual for Cineworks but a first for the group: to shoot a music video. A 15 year old singer, Cassidy and her band were enlisted to be the performer. California based Director Matt Lewis created a script and the class went off to shoot the video. Each participant shot in the neighborhood of 1500 feet of Kodak Vision, Vision 2 and 5245 stock which was then transferred to digibeta by Cineworks colorist Demetri. The footage will be quickly edited by Tim Donahue to a rough cut, so that it can be shown to the talent at a wrap party at the close of the workshop. Total turnaround 5 days. Speed is good. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 11/18/04 - Forgive Our Trespasses “ started shooting in Orlando this week .The 35 MM film takes its title from "And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Matthew 6: Based on an original script by Michael Houston Harris who plays the lead, the film also stars Julie Harris, Ruby Dee and Danny Nucci. Ralph Clemente's film program at Valencia Community College is providing equipment, services and student crew to the production. In return, the students gain valuable hands-on experience and working relationships with top industry professionals. "Forgive Us Our Trespasses" is the spiritual journey of a man who returns home from New York City to the small town he grew up in and the grandmother who raised him. As he struggles with a personal tragedy, his grandmother's love and the friendships of those in the town help him rebuild his life. Directed by Reza Badiyi who boasts an endless list of Hollywood TV series credits such as “She Spies ,Buffy the Vampire Slayer, La Femme Nikita Baywatch, In the Heat Of the Night, the film is being DP'd by Stephen Campbell and edited by Oliver Peters. The film is reuniting editor Peters with producer Paul Sirmons who last worked together on “The First Of May”, directed by Sirmons which also starred Julie Harris. Cineworks’ colorist Rafael Perez is doing the dailies. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 11/10/04 - Cineworks starts developing and dailies on 35MM feature “Five Fingers” starring Laurence Fishburn, in an HSI/Element Films/Principal Entertainment Co-production which shot for two weeks in Holland and is now is completing its shooting schedule in New Orleans. In writer director Laurence Malkin’s thriller, Fishburne is a terrorist who abducts costars Ryan Phillippe, who is involved in starting an internationally funded food charity in Morocco. Laurence Malkin’s previous film was “Soul Assassin” (2001) shot in the Netherlands. Cineworks’ Rafael Perez is doing the color correction _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 11/10/04 - Snowbird Films, The Boynton Beach Bereavement Club, a romantic comedy about life, loss, and love after 50, starring Mash’s Sally Kellerman, Rags to Riches' Joseph Bologna, and Heaven Can Wait's Dyan Cannon, and directed by Susan Seidelman of “Desperately Seeking Susan” fame started shooting in Palm Beach County and the Boynton Beach area this week. The super 16MM film, DP’d by Eric Moynier, will follow the route of so many films today by finishing as a Digital Intermediate. Cineworks is doing the developing as well as the digital dailies on this project and working closely with cinematographer Eric Moynier using Kodak’s new KLM (KODAK LOOK MANAGEMENT) which allows digital images to be shared between the cinematographer and our colorist Raphael Perez to nail the look of each scene in the transfer. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 11/10/04 - Nelson Cabrera of HKM brought Demetri Kitsopoulos his two spot Ohio Anti-Smoking Campaign for Northlich Advertising in Cincinnati Ohio. Shot in 35MM, one PSA “Quit Line” offers the viewers an 800 number for the smoker to call if he feels the urge to start smoking, while “Smoke Ring” discovers kids in a diner who proudly wear a rubber bracelet, much like the Lance Armstrong cancer support bracelets, if they’ve stopped smoking. The spots, part of the national “Truth” campaign, will be finished by Red Echo Post in Cincinnati. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 10/30/04 - Tool of North America director Sean Ehringer was in Aventura working for Creative on Demand doing what he does best, a comedy spot for their client Volkswagen. Matt Perrin did the color correction supervised by Director of Photography Mark Laliberte Else. The spot shows the comedic advantages of having the Touareg SUV's new adjustable mirror system in a busy parking lot. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 10/19/04 - Heat fever is hitting Miami and it looks like Cineworks is the official lab of the Heat. In one day, Cineworks processed and color corrected footage for two big projects promoting the Heat and its recently acquired star player Shaquille O’Neil. The Southern Brand collective with “el jefe”, Christian Romero, brought footage shot by Eduardo Abon of the Heat looking mean and tough and roaming downtown Miami like colossus, very much like the Rolling Stones in their famous video. Working with colorist Leo Stagno, Eduardo will affect these images and you’ll see them on the big arena jumbotron. Can’t wait to see that. By the way the games are a sell out, so good luck. Forti Lane and cameraman/director Kevin Lane also shot dramatic footage of the Heat to be used in their TV promos and game clips. Working with colorist Matt Perrin, Kevin made the Heat look like rock stars by creating a dark, smoke filled environment, spotlighting the players with beams of light. In another sequence, Kevin turned the images into muted black and white, while the Heat logo retains its brilliant red color. Go Heat! _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 10/18/04 - Paris Hilton walked off the set of “PledgeThis” and Miami will never be the same. The National Lampoon franchise turned their cameras off after two grueling months that saw the production, directed by William Heins and lensed by Fortunato Procopio, get hit with four homemade hurricanes. But the cast, that included scene stealer Jeffrey Arend and Sara Carter, survived it all. Cineworks and colorist Rafael Perez, who is sworn to secrecy about the antics he color corrected on a daily basis, were complimented by Fortunato who closed his final email to Rafael with, “you guys are the greatest.” Thank you, we think you’re great too. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 9/15/04 - Color by Cineworks. "Last Flight Out" a World Wide Pictures movie airs. Produced by Stan Barrett, Directed by Jerry Jameson, and Director of Photography Fernando Arquelles. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 9/14/04 - Cineworks is a proud sponsor of FilmFlorida. Please visit us in New York at the Puck Building for the IFP MARKET/Filmaker Conference and Expo, from September 21 to the 24, we're at the FilmFlorida booth. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 8/07/04 - Teranex now at Cineworks. Offering Xantus - the industry standard for SD & HD format conversion. Xantus is a DTV format conversion application enabling easy conversion of over 50 video formats all on a single Teranex video computer. Please call for pricing and scheduling. See Teranex site. http://www.teranex.com _____________________________________________________________________________________________