PostWorks, New York, the east coast's most comprehensive full-
service film and High Definition post facility, has announced its
merger with Orbit Digital , an international provider of mobile post production equipment and
services to the feature film and television industries. The
announcement was made by PostWorks' CEO David Rosen and PostWorks'
COO Rob DeMartin, and by Orbit Digital's Managing Partner Alastair
Binks, who has been appointed to the role of President for
PostWorks, effective immediately.
For Orbit Digital, which becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of
PostWorks, New York, the company's principals and staff members
will continue to operate Orbit's existing facilities in Los Angeles,
London and New York, while all existing PostWorks facilities will
also remain in their present locations. Along with Alastair Binks,
all of Orbit's key partners including Pete Conlin, Jonathan Hoffman,
Eric Zeller, Chad Andrews and David Felts, will join the management
team of PostWorks. Each company will continue to focus on
developing their existing businesses while benefiting from the
merger's combined resources.
"Through this merger," explained David Rosen, "Orbit's clients will
have direct access to the full range of PostWorks' offerings,
including film processing, telecine and 2K DI finishing, while
PostWorks' clients will have the opportunity to work with Orbit for
a complete range of location-based post solutions, supported by the
hallmark standards of service which first attracted us to Orbit,
and which have earned the respect of Hollywood's elite studios and
filmmakers."
"We are widely known for embracing the latest technologies and
continually striving to innovate state-of-the-art workflows for the
benefit of our clients," explained Rob DeMartin, who is a co-owner
of PostWorks, along with David Rosen. "With our addition of The
Lab last year, our investments into DI technologies and the full
extent of our services addressing every aspect of post production,
we are now looking forward to joining the success of Orbit and all
the people behind it. Looking ahead, we envision providing the
most complete and sophisticated post-production solutions for the
world's top filmmakers, beginning on their respective sets and
wrapping-up with final master delivery."
Alastair Binks expressed these thoughts on PostWorks: "Orbit has had
the opportunity to partner with a number of companies in the past to
help provide a comprehensive package of services for our clients.
More than any other company, Postworks has impressed us with the
speed and flexibility they've shown in embracing and investing in
new technology, workflow ideas and the services required to help
clients benefit from technology. As an independent company, it was
refreshing to find a company that embraces the same entrepreneurial
spirit and culture that Orbit was founded on."
Binks also commented on specific trends that make the union of Orbit
with PostWorks especially practical. "We continue to see new
opportunities for mobile services in both production and editorial
locations that will enable a seamless transition back to the
facility environment. The ability to manage data from capture to
final delivery in a series of locations is an exciting opportunity
that our clients have already identified as a critical path for the
future of filmmaking."
A prominent global post-production consulting and equipment rental
company, Orbit Digital serves both the feature film and broadcast
industries from offices in Los Angeles and New York, including its
Midtown NY facility, which offers a new HD color grading theater and
also serves as the home for Orbit's Emmy Award-winning broadcast
editorial division founded with Senior Editor, Derek Ambrosi.
Orbit's accomplishments include pioneering the workflow and
providing the equipment for the first on-site HD digital preview
suite - created for Michael Mann and his crew on the film
"Collateral." Earlier this year, the company played a similar role
in enabling the first on-location shared HD editorial for another
major feature film. The project involved three HD editorial systems
on a shared HD Storage network with conform, projection and preview
services available at the same location. Orbit currently has
several films using the same technology and workflow in the field.
As a provider of leading-edge mobile editorial, color grading,
conform and VFX compositing services, Orbit's high-level project
work includes "The Da Vinci Code," "The Chronicles of Narnia: The
Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe," "Inside Man," "The Lady in the
Water," "Matchpoint," "The Departed," "The Devil Wears Prada,"
"Spiderman 2," "Spiderman 3" and Barry Sonnenfeld's "RV" - as well
as television projects for CBS, HBO, NBC, The Sci-Fi Channel, USA,
Viacom and many others. Over the past two years, the company has
managed projects and provided services for clients in Brisbane,
Bucharest, London, Montreal, Prague, Rio de Janeiro, Toronto,
Vancouver, Venice, Vienna and Winnipeg.
PostWorks has provided services for numerous network television
series, including "The Wire," "The Sopranos," "30 Rock," "The
Knights of Prosperity," "The Black Donnellys" and "The Bedford
Diaries." Earlier this year, the company handled film processing
and dailies telecine for seven network television pilots. Those
network assignments, most of which came from Los Angeles-based
production companies, represent the company's highest level of
involvement in network television pilots since it was founded 11
years ago.
PostWorks' DI capabilities include 2K and 4:4:4 end-to-end solutions,
including film scanning, color grading in a 30-seat theater
environment, visual effects compositing, film recording and sound
services. DI clients include Jonathan Demme's "Neil Young: Heart of
Gold," Tom DiCillo's "Delirious," Michel Gondry's "Block Party,"
Ryan Fleck's "Half Nelson," Phil Morrison's "Junebug," Griffin
Dunne's "Fierce People," Spike Lee's contribution to UNICEF's "All
the Invisible Children," the 2004 Academy Award-nominated films
"Asylum," "Capturing the Friedmans," "My Architect" and Oscar winner
"The Fog of War," as well as IFC Films' 2003 Sundance Grand Jury
Prize nominee "A Decade Under the Influence" and numerous theatrical
spots, trailers and international broadcast campaigns. PostWorks'
team also made major contributions to 2006 Oscar winner "The Moon
and the Son," 2005 Oscar winner "Born Into Brothels," 2005 Oscar
nominee "Tupac: Resurrection," 2005 Sundance Film Festival American
Documentary Grand Jury Prize-winner "Why We Fight," 2005 Sundance
American Documentary Audience Award-winner "Murderball" and 2003
Oscar winner "Bowling for Columbine," among many other high-profile
film, television and short-form projects.
PHOTO CAPTION: Orbit Digital pioneered the workflow and
provided the equipment for the first on-site
HD digital preview suite – created for Michael Mann
and his crew on the feature film “Collateral.”
Image courtesy of DreamWorks, LLC;
All Rights Reserved.
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