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NOW ACCEPTING FILM SUBMISSIONS!
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 Get your short film screened at the LARGEST networking event for the Entertainment Industry at SHOWBIZ EXPO on Saturday December 4, 2010 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Thousands of Influential ShowBiz Industry Professionals attend this massive event (incuding top producers, directors, production companies, distributors and the like)! Your film (if selected) will be screened at ShowBiz Expo in the Film Festival Screening Room. Attendees will fill out comment cards after each short film and provide you their feedback as well as contact information if they are interested in contacting you.
ShowBiz Expo is a five-star event that brings everyone in Show Business together under one roof. Our attendees range from: Producers, Studio Executives, Directors, Cinematographers, Editors, Musicians, Filmmakers, Performers, Designers, Writers, Stage Managers, or anyone else involved in Film, Stage, Fashion, Live Events, and Concerts.
ShowBiz Expo's FILM FESTIVAL is one of the many exciting networking opportunities available to our attendees (in addition to workshops, seminars, focus groups, networking round tables and more!)Click here to submit your short film. | |
* For Immediate Release *
Modus FX Celebrates Third Anniversary with a Slate of Major Releases
Montreal Facility Delivers Visual Effects for The American and SUPER
Montreal, Que: July 27, 2010... Montreal's Modus FX is celebrating its third anniversary this summer with a full slate of feature film work. Recent projects include Anton Corbijn's The American, Jaco Van Dormael's Mr. Nobody, Richard J. Lewis' Barney's Version and James Gunn's SUPER. In just 36 months, the facility has made a name for itself delivering high-end visual effects for an international clientele who have come to appreciate the company's expertise and artistry.
Modus FX offers clients an expansive 12,000-square-foot studio, which includes production space, a greenscreen stage, conference rooms and all of the amenities necessary to accommodate a growing team of VFX artists. Thanks to a solid business plan, and the extensive experience of founders Marc Bourbonnais and Yanick Wilisky, the company's growth has been steady, allowing it to participate in international projects and earn a place in the landscape of North American visual effects production.
"There is a small group of high-end visual effects companies who participate in large-scale effects-driven films," said Yanick Wilisky, who serves as VP of production and VFX supervisor at Modus. "Our mission was always to be a part of that group, and assist directors in bringing their vision to the silver screen." Work has come from London, Los Angeles and even China, and the facility has developed a reputation for quality of service, on-time delivery, and a unique approach to VFX. Generous Canadian visual-effects tax credits have been an added bonus for clients.
"Working with Modus has been a true pleasure: artistry, fun, good communication and respect for our resources," remarked Ted Hope of This is That Productions, producer on SUPER. "I will always want to work with those who share our ambition for making the greatest films possible - within the limits of what we have!"
Modus Helps Make The American
"The name 'Modus' comes from our unique structure and approach to challenges," explained Wilisky. "We break shots down into their most basic group elements. We then break down our pipeline into small cells. It makes complex shots more manageable and when demanding assignments come up, we always meet deliveries."
This was in evidence recently in the facility's work on The American. "We were a little concerned about a series of shots that featured the bell tower in the Italian town of Castel Del Monte," said Ben Urquhart, VP of postproduction at Focus Features. "The tower had been damaged in the earthquake last year and [director] Anton Corbijn wanted it in its original state. This required digitally removing elaborate wooden scaffolding, and replicating the pre-earthquake state from reference photos. Yanick told us the best thing would be to create a 3D model for it, and it's a good thing we followed his advice. During editing we kept swapping-in more shots of that tower so we made good use of that model."
The American is a good example of the growing use of "invisible" visual effects to provide key narrative elements in live-action movies. "They also created and animated a CG butterfly that is absolutely photo-real," Urquhart added. "There are multiple shots where you see it brilliantly composited onto a fuzzy cashmere sweater. You'd think we had an animal trainer for insects!"
The Modus Pipeline
"We are a full-service visual effects house," said Wilisky. "We can do everything from concepts to modeling, tracking, layout and texturing. We also do high-end compositing, animation, effects and simulations. We even have an in-house R&D team that creates specific tools for specific challenges. If there's something that's never been done before, they'll find solutions to make it happen. Service is just the first part of Modus' mission."
The company relies on Autodesk's Softimage and Maya, The Foundry's Nuke and Side Effects' Houdini for all aspects of animation. "We have Assimilate Scratch as a DI and colour management solution. We currently have 100 rendering machines and 55 workstations for artists on the production floor," explained Wilisky.
With the growth of Modus FX, the company has attracted top artists from as far away as France, Brazil, India and Japan. Wilisky explained that he's never had to go looking for talent. "We're now at 89 people and they're all artists who believed in what we were doing, and wanted to be part of it. Our growth has been quite organic in this respect."
"I can't say enough about how easy it was to work with Modus," commented Urquhart. "They are creative, flexible, and have a can-do attitude. After every complicated request and addition, Yanick would say 'I'm sure we'll be able to take care of it.' And they always did. I was in LA, we had The Cutting Room in London and Modus in Montreal. Remote work with them was fantastic."
About Modus FX
Co-founded by VFX industry veterans Yanick Wilisky and Marc Bourbonnais, Modus FX offers a full range of digital production services for film, television and new media. Boasting a 12,000 square-foot studio and an international team of artists, Modus FX has quickly become an industry leader, delivering work on high-profile projects for studios and production companies such as Sony Pictures, Focus Features (Universal), Warner Bros. Interactive, TF1, Discovery Channel, Interactive, BBC-1, and The History Channel. Modus FX is based in the Montreal area.
Press Contact:
Eric Philpott
philpott | communications
(905) 773-6651
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* For Immediate Release *
Building a Film with PhaseSpace
Director Kory Martin Juul Creates White Tiger Legend Almost Single-Handedly
San Leandro, CA: July 22, 2010 – Literally a one-man army, acclaimed visual effects artist, director and producer, Kory Martin Juul relied extensively on the PhaseSpace motion capture system for production on his new animated martial arts film, White Tiger Legend. Through creative use of the system, and his own martial arts training, Juul was able to capture 572 shots for the film on a tight schedule using a skeleton crew with only a shoestring budget.
Juul has a wealth of experience with computer graphics and motion capture, having worked as a visual effects artist on long list of blockbuster films including Avatar, Star Trek, Speed Racer, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Spider-Man 3, King Kong, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions.
Juul said that when it came to making his own film, “we needed a motion capture system that produced really clean data, because we didn’t have the budget for hundreds of hours of clean-up. PhaseSpace allowed us to capture data that was so good, we could use it immediately for cutting the film, and then later, with minimal cleaning, use it for final animation.”
White Tiger Legend tells the story of the origin of martial arts through action and insight. As Juul explains, “the film is ultimately about the heart of martial arts and the many different lessons that martial arts teach us.” The story of how he is making the film is equally compelling.
Scheduled for release by early 2012, motion capture on the independent film was completed in two phases. Juul explained that the first pass involved facial motion capture during the voice track recording. Shot at San Francisco-based audio post house The Tone Lab, facial capture was done using a 10-camera configuration in a 7 X 10-foot sound booth while the actors recorded their audio takes. “A typical recording session records only audio, but we were able to collect both the audio and the facial capture at the same time,” said Juul. “That allowed us to get both the expressions on the actor and the lip synch in one pass, instead of the arduous task of matching the data manually. This saves us money and saves the animators a lot of time and trouble.” As Juul points out, an added benefit is that animators also have video references for the actors’ performances – such as eye movements and any other subtle gestures that can be brought back in later in the process.
Joe Sigretto, sound recordist at The Tone Lab, explained that “the PhaseSpace system is amazing because it allows us to do motion capture in such a small space. There’s nothing else out that can do that.”
“Since the data is so clean, we were watching it in real time,” said Juul. “We knew if we needed to do a take again because of an audio pop, a bad marker or the actor just needed to do another take... all that is immediately available to us without any long processing time for computer calculations.”
The PhaseSpace motion capture system uses active visible or infrared LED lights as markers, which flicker at specific frequencies, producing a unique ID for each marker. The result is a system that delivers clean motion-capture data in real time, without the occlusion and marker swap errors of passive systems.
When the audio tracks were edited, the facial motion-capture data was combined with performance captures done on a full 40 x 40 foot volume PhaseSpace motion capture stage with 32 cameras. With the exception of the female roles, Juul, a black belt in a martial art called Bok Fu, delivered all of the performances himself. In total, he shot 20 days of motion capture over the course of a 20-week shooting schedule. The 572 shots in the film include nine major fight scenes and over 30 different characters. For most of the motion-capture sessions, Juul was able to run the system and deliver the performances entirely by himself, listening to an edited audio track playing in the background for timing. “Even though my body was providing the movement for each actor, my performance was propelled by the different voices, which allowed me to move ‘in character’ for each part,” said Juul.
For the fight scenes, Juul would record one character, and then go back in and perform his opponent, often using different martial arts styles. “I could hit record, walk in, do the performance and then go back and review it. With other systems, if you walk in and out of the space you mess the whole thing up and you’ve got to start over. And as the director, I knew exactly what I wanted, so it was kind of fun. The nice thing about the active markers is they all have their own identity so the computer always knows that’s a shoulder, that’s a wrist, that’s your finger. As long as the computer can see your shoulder, it knows what it’s looking at. That’s one of the key advantages of the system. It’s not like you need 100 people in the back room to clean up the data.”
“We’re delighted to see talented young filmmakers, like Kory using our system, or Oliver Hotz at Origami Digital, who used it two years ago with a then unknown director Niels Blomkamp,” said Tracy McSheery, CEO of PhaseSpace. “Empowering artists in this way is what we envisioned when we started this company in 1994.”
Press Contact:
Eric Philpott
philpott | communications
(905) 773-6651
About PhaseSpace Inc.
Founded in 1994, PhaseSpace was the first company to introduce advanced motion-capture technologies at an affordable price point. The PhaseSpace Impulse System makes 3D optical motion capture viable for small companies, universities, facilities and individuals. PhaseSpace utilizes custom optics, Smart Active LED markers with unique digital IDs and synthesized digital signal processor (DSP) technology to deliver real-time motion capture. PhaseSpace sets a new standard for motion capture data quality, which can save literally years of person-hours in clean-up time on large productions or complex research projects. PhaseSpace Inc. is a privately held company based in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.phasespace.com.
PhaseSpace and the PhaseSpace logo are registered trademarks of PhaseSpace. All other company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. =
PRESS RELEASE
* For Immediate Distribution *
MARVIN Coming Home to IBC
Automated Digital Cinematography Workflow System Now Available
Amsterdam: July 20, 2010… MARVIN Technologies will unveil its production-ready MARVIN system during the IBC Exhibition, Sept. 10-14 in Amsterdam. MARVIN provides a simple and reliable workflow for digital cinematography. In one step, MARVIN automates the creation of backups, LTO tape masters, QuickTime proxies for offline editing and DVD dailies. As a result, MARVIN saves filmmakers, camera owners, and rental houses significant time and expense in comparison with current practices of manually copying and wrangling data.
“MARVIN helps filmmakers become vastly more efficient in the pressure of a real-world production environment,” said Adam Welsh, general manager of MARVIN Technologies. “But more importantly, it removes the nagging concern that data will be lost or corrupted. With MARVIN you can stop worrying and get on with the shoot.”
Camera Support
MARVIN supports the RED One camera, the Silicon Imaging SI-2K, ARRI D21/Alexa, Panasonic P2, as well as high-speed cameras such as the Vision Research Phantom and Weisscam HS-2.
The MARVIN Workflow
Settings for a new project are entered at the start of production. MARVIN executes everything from that point on, thus establishing a simple and transparent protocol for each day of shooting. When removable media from the camera is attached to the system, MARVIN automatically creates verified copies of every shot to its own internal RAID5 storage array. MARVIN then generates multiple verified LTO copies of all of the shots from the day, along with DVD dailies and QuickTime files for offline editing.
The director, cinematographer, DIT, or others on the production team can browse through a project and view thumbnails or video. This is useful for continuity, for example.
After offline editorial, a companion application, MARVIN InPost assembles the shots specified in the Edit Decision List for postproduction work and finishing. MARVIN can also be used in the post facility for the same purpose, and for archival asset management.
The MARVIN Hardware
MARVIN features a robust 4U housing with a padded case for transport and added protection. The system includes 6 or 12TB of RAID5 storage and a core i7 processor. Two built-in LTO tape drives and a DVD burner are included. Connection is via multiple CF card slots, e-Sata, Firewire 400/800 or UB, with custom ports (SxS, Fibrechannel) available on request.
MARVIN is controlled via a simple browser GUI running on a laptop computer connected to the system via Ethernet.
Availability
MARVIN Technologies has already shipped the first few commercial units to customers, and is currently ramping up the manufacturing to meet the growing demand.
“The transition from film to digital acquisition has been a wild ride for many filmmakers,” said Welsh. “With MARVIN we now have the production process under control. This is the way filmmaking should be.”
MARVIN at IBC
MARVIN Technologies will be exhibiting at booth A.38 in Hall 13 in the RAI in Amsterdam, Sept. 10-14, 2010. To book an appointment for a demo, IBC visitors should contact Adam Welsh or Russell Branch (russell@marvintech.com, tel +44 (0)7900 692 000)
About MARVIN Technologies
MARVIN Technologies was founded by Dutch filmmaker Maarten Treurniet in order to develop a simplified and reliable data workflow for the digital cinematography. The company’s flagship product, MARVIN, accomplishes this by establishing a clear set of protocols and automating the creation of backups, masters, offline proxies for editorial, and dailies. Based in Amsterdam, MARVIN Technologies is a privately held company with a growing network of international sales offices. For more information, please visit: www.marvintech.com
Press Contact:
Eric Philpott
philpott | communications
(905) 773-6651
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 8, 2010
Who Stole the Electric Car?
Find Out when Film Releases this Week
Award-winning Directors & identical twins James & Robert Dastoli are electrified about their latest film “Who Stole the Electric Car?” which recently had its red carpet premiere at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, CA. This timely & fresh romantic comedy (inspired by the award winning documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?) turns into a cross country road trip in an all electric car. The movie has been selected to screen at multiple film festivals in the U.S. & Europe and on July 1st was released for sale online at Target, Best Buy, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Film Baby, & other stores and is also for rent through NetFlix.
The film rights were acquired last year by Nemours Marketing, Inc. (a 13 year old bi-coastal production & film marketing company: www.NemoursMarketing.com) which has an output deal through Tapeworm Video in Los Angeles. The entire production team was inspired to take on this road trip film over the past two years and had the vision to see electric cars being a big part of the future as Nissan, Chevy, Coda, Wheego and other auto companies roll out electric cars to dealer showrooms this fall. Producer Brett Ryan Bonowicz was so moved by the underlying message of the film, that he leased one of the first MINI E (100% plug-in electric) cars in the country.
While there have been many successful brother co-Directing teams in cinematic history including the Coen brothers, the Farrelly brothers, & even fraternal twins Albert & Allen Hughes, Robert & James Dastoli are the only known identical twins to be directing movies today & at the ripe age of 24 have already helmed over 30 films & scored dozens of awards. The twins are already co-producing another Electric Car film (this one a documentary) with Nemours Marketing which will be released later this fall. This latest film should plug them in to a very bright future.
Media inquiries may contact Bill Hooey @ 323-397-8740 or e-mail wildguyla@earthlink.net. Film reviewers may request free DVD screeners by contacting info@NemoursMarketing.com.
www.WhoStoletheElectricCar.com
Scott duPont
Hollywood, CA
Tel: (310) 855 - 3362
Fax: (360) 656 - 7268
* For Immediate Distribution *
PhaseSpace Joins The Studio at SIGGRAPH 2010
Inviting New Artists to Experience the State of the Art in CG Content Creation
San Francisco, CA: July 14, 2010… PhaseSpace Inc. is inviting SIGGRAPH attendees to step into the shoes of filmmaking luminaries such as James Cameron and Robert Zemeckis, directing actors and guiding the action through a virtual camera using state-of-the-art optical motion-capture technology. This year again, PhaseSpace is joining a ‘who’s who’ of industry players in the SIGGRAPH 2010 Studio during the annual conference, July 25-29 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The Studio will provide students, as well as established artists with a unique opportunity to work on their own projects with the same tools as those used at the world’s leading facilities.
“The Studio provides a wonderful space where conference attendees can work under the guidance of experts using the very latest technologies,” said Gene Cooper, SIGGRAPH 2010 Studio chair. “Best of all, they can take their work with them when they leave, so it’s not just a learning opportunity; it’s a place to get work done.”
Examples of tools available to attendees include large-format, high-color printers from Hewlett Packard, 3D CAD software, such as Rhino, 3D solid printers, motion capture from PhaseSpace, and many others.
“Under normal circumstances, recording just five minutes of motion capture might cost a filmmaker $10,000 or more,” said Tracy McSheery, VP of PhaseSpace. “Here, directors can bring in their scripts and get to work. We provide the actors, computers and software. The director can shoot the sequence for free.”
The benefits of The Studio to filmmakers and content creators extend beyond the material that students can bring home with them. “The creative process is tightly connected to the director and their experience,” explained McSheery. “We want to open up the new generation of artists to the latest technologies and let them discover the capabilities of these tools for themselves.”
One example of this is the use of virtual cameras to explore ideas on CG or live-action sets. “Virtual cameras have been around for a while,” said McSheery, “but people have become much more aware of the possibilities they offer with the success of Avatar where James Cameron made extensive use of virtual cameras throughout preproduction and production. This has opened a lot of eyes to the possibilities – both to work more creatively, and more efficiently.”
At The Studio attendees will be able to work with the advanced new Magic Window virtual camera from PhaseSpace. The Magic Window works wirelessly via an HP Touchsmart laptop to provide the director or cinematographer with real-time images for different camera positions allowing him or her to adjust the camera and actors’ positions right on set. With a second copy of Autodesk Motion Builder running simultaneously on the Touchsmart, the director or cinematographer can view the actors within the virtual set. “For big pictures, this kind of real-time visualization has the potential to save millions of dollars in production costs,” added McSheery
“We’re delighted that PhaseSpace could join The Studio again this year,” said Gene Cooper. “It will be exciting to see what the attendees will create with educational opportunities PhaseSpace has planned for them."
The Studio takes place during SIGGRAPH 2010 at the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 25 - 29. For more information visit http://www.siggraph.org/s2010.
About PhaseSpace Inc.
Founded in 1994, PhaseSpace was the first company to introduce advanced motion-capture technologies at an affordable price point. The PhaseSpace Impulse System makes 3D optical motion capture viable for small companies, universities, facilities and individuals. PhaseSpace utilizes custom optics, Smart Active LED markers with unique digital IDs and synthesized digital signal processor (DSP) technology to deliver real-time motion capture. PhaseSpace sets a new standard for motion capture data quality, which can save literally years of person-hours in clean-up time on large productions or complex research projects. PhaseSpace Inc. is a privately held company based in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.phasespace.com.
PhaseSpace and the PhaseSpace logo are registered trademarks of PhaseSpace. All other company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Media Contact:
Eric Philpott
Philpott Communications
905-773-6651
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Alan Gordon Enterprise will be having an open house this weekend.
Cine Gear 2010
Alan Godon Enterprises is exhibiting at Cine Gear June 4th and 5th this year. We will be with Glidecam Industries in Booth 89. On display will be our exclusive line of ARRI Production Bags and Accessory Pouches, Decimator Down Converters and of course Glidecam Systems: X-22, Gold / X-45, X-45 / X-22 Extra & the HD 4000. We will have more products on display at our nearby facility which is having an "Open House" during Cine Gear both Friday evening (4pm-8pm) and all day Saturday (10am-6pm) complete with a FREE BBQ and a Raffle to win a Glidecam HD2000 system. Our address is 5625 Melrose Ave. Hollywood, CA 90038 T: 323-466-3561 (see map)
Open House during Cine Gear
In addiion to exhibiting at Cine Gear we will be having an "Open House" complete with a FREE BBQ (on Saturday only) and an Equipment Raffle (both Friday and Saturday). The Open House will be held at our facility which is located only a 1/2 block west of Gower on Melrose (see map) from 4pm-8pm on Friday & 10am -6pm on Saturday (free BBQ all day). We will have demos and have on display a variety of equipment & accessories that we offer for rent and purchase. Some of the featured items will be a variety of Jib Arms, Dollies, Fluid Heads, Tripods, Decimator Down Converters, DVTec Extreme Deluxe camera support system for HD-SLR cameras, Zeiss ZE Planar & Distagon lenses, the new CP 2 lenses, Canon EOS HD-SLRs (5d, 7d & 1d) and our own manufactured products most notably the Mark Vb Director's Viewfinder.
Win a Glidecam HD2000 System
YES! we are raffling off a new Glidecam HD2000 system. To be eligible for the raffle you must be an attendee at Cine Gear on June 4th or 5th and find us at Booth 89 with Glidecam. Get your pass scanned and in return you will recieve a card to turn into our drop box over at our facility just a 1/2 block west of Gower on Melrose.
PRESS RELEASE
* For Immediate Distribution *
Frame Studio Explores the History of Music
30-Second Spot Breaks New Ground for Montreal Facility
Montreal, QC: June 3, 2010… Montreal-based motion design/VFX facility Frame Studio recently completed “RIFF” – a 30-second spot for a special music exhibit at the Musée de la civilisation de Québec. The piece, produced via ad agency Bleublancrouge, traces the history of musical forms from hip hop through disco, rock & roll, jazz, and blues back to traditional African rhythms. Called “RIFF,” the spot presented an interesting challenge for the boutique facility, which was founded in 2005 and specializes in motion graphics, visual effects, animation and stop-motion for creative multi-platform projects.
“We have worked with Frame Studio for some time now, so we knew we could rely on them to develop the vision for this project,” said Dominique Trudeau, creative director and VP at Montreal’s Bleublancrouge. “The challenge here was that we had an idea, but we really didn’t know what it would look like, so we needed a creative partner who could read our mind!”
“Within a span of 30 seconds, we had to capture centuries of musical tradition in an abstract way,” explained Frame Studio president and creative director Karl Rhainds. “Our starting point was the idea of a long shot of the universe where the viewer is zooming in, closer and closer to the core.”
“We had created ‘mood boards,’ for each of the musical styles,” said Trudeau. “Frame did a lot of research and developed the image ideas further. Then we brought in the music, which provided the inspiration for animating the images. The key for us was that the camera movement would communicate sense of being on a journey.”
“We had to find a way to illustrate each genre of music and represent them in an abstract way,” added Rhainds. “We played around with images as we developed style frames for each. For example, we imagined hip hop as a loudspeaker with a lot of bass, so we created a kind of bouncing speaker cabinet. For disco we designed a light effect that resembled a disco ball. For rock & roll, our motif was the strings of a guitar. We captured jazz with abstract representations of the pistons and valves of a saxophone. The blues are simply conveyed with smoky blue light that illustrates a blues night club, and African music is the heartbeat behind all of it.”
What made the project unique for Frame Studio was the idea of making the visuals respond to the rhythm of the accompanying music soundtrack. “All of the animation movement was generated by the velocity of the music,” Rhainds explained.
Rather than approaching the project with precise storyboards and a series of keyframes, visual effects artist Lucas Schumaker relied on the Espresso tools in Maxon’s Cinema 4D to link the properties of the CG animations directly to the frequencies of various instrument tracks in the audio. Using this suite of under-the-hood tools, Schumaker was able to let the music literally drive the animation.
“Espresso is a node-based system that lets you ‘plug and play’ any part of the software with any other part of the application so you can do things that aren’t programmed into the software itself,” explained Schumaker. “That meant I could take the frequency of the sound samples and plug them into any attribute of the animation I wanted, whether it be the intensity of the light, the color fluctuations or scale positions.”
For Rhainds, “The main challenge when you’re creating an abstract piece like this is making sure that everybody in the creative team is on the same page. This was the first CG project that we’ve done that had no keyframes, so that added a very interesting dimension for all of us. We’re excited about these techniques and we’d like to push this way of working further in future. We like to take on new challenges at Frame Studio and we’re always developing new ways to approach a project.”
“We worked together on each step, with the client, and with Frame,” explained Trudeau. “It’s not just about getting buy-in, it’s about sharing our passion and raising the bar with each step we take together. We’re trying to create great things and it takes great partners whom you can trust to achieve that.”
Karl Rhainds agrees. “We’re grateful, not only for the opportunity to work on a project like this, but for the confidence which Bleublancrouge showed in us,” he said. “It’s trust that allows us to push the work further. It’s a joy for our team to be able to work with a client in this way.”
The RIFF spot is airing on Quebec television for “Riff - Quand l'Afrique fait vibrer les Amériques” at the Musée de la civilisation de Québec in Quebec City. The exhibit runs from June 2, 2010–March 13, 2011.
Media Contact:
Eric Philpott
Philpott Communications
905-773-6651
RIFF Credits:
Creative Director, Bleublancrouge: Dominique Trudeau
Director, Frame Studio: Karl Rhainds
Producer, Frame Studio : Claude Dupuis
Producer, Bleublancrouge : Dominique Dufour
Art Director, Bleublancrouge: Martin Villeneuve
Art Director, Frame Studio: Veronica Veronica
Lead Artist, Frame Studio: Lucas Schumaker
Music Composed by: Matthew Burton
Sound mixed by: audioZ
About Frame Studio
Frame Studio is a Montreal-based motion design/vfx studio known for its drive to push the envelope. Our creative playground includes title openings for feature films and TV shows, commercials, interactive content and visual packaging for events. Our rich palette includes traditional animation, 2D, 3D, illustrations, state-of-the-art VFX, live footage and compositing. For more information visit: www.framestudio.tv. =
PRESS RELEASE
* FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION *
Origami Digital Expands Facility with Move to New Location
Helping Filmmakers Keep Postproduction in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA: May 6, 2010… Visual effects company Origami Digital has completed the move to its new location near the Hawthorne Airport. The 8,000-square-foot building includes an expanded performance-capture stage, a large studio for the artists and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Origami Digital provides a financially viable solution for filmmakers who want to keep their postproduction in the Los Angeles area.
“We’ve always had a full-service approach to our work, and in the new space we can offer the whole range of our services more efficiently,” said Oliver Hotz, founder of Origami Digital and visual effects supervisor at the facility. “We have invested a great deal in the development of our mo-cap pipeline and now we have a dedicated 50' x 50' mo-cap volume so we can really put the system to work.”
“We looked at a number of great buildings, but we decided on this location because it gave us the freedom to lay out the facility exactly the way we wanted it,” said Matt Rubin, producer at Origami Digital. “Our goal is to combine artistry with cutting-edge technology, and we’ve built this place from the ground up to accomplish that.”
Past projects completed at Origami Digital have included The Aviator and the short films created for Microsoft’s Halo 3 game release by director Neill Blomkamp.
“Oliver and his team are brilliant creators who work well under the high pressures of filmmaking, and complete world-class work in record time,” said Blomkamp, who also worked with Origami Digital on several Nike and Gatorade commercials. “ We had extremely tight deadlines for the Halo shorts and every time, without fail, Origami was able to work within our framework and deliver brilliant work that, in normal situations, would have taken twice as long.”
The visual effects pipeline at Origami Digital is based on a suite of in-house tools for project tracking and asset management, which enable the facility to handle large projects with a minimum of internal bureaucracy and overhead. Not only do artists have access to all of the assets for their shots, but they can easily evaluate their work in the context of the edit. There is less back-and-forth and the artists can work more independently. In fact, Rubin explained that, thanks to their project management system, he and Hotz can manage all of the artists directly, rather than working through department heads and supervisors.
“Our flat hierarchy allows us to complete a lot of work in a short time,” explained Rubin. “The primary benefit for our clients is the freedom it gives them to explore creative ideas. We can offer this because of our fast turnaround. This allows for a highly collaborative relationship with the client.”
The collaborative approach was very much in evidence recently with Guy Moshe, the director of Bunraku – a CG-heavy film slated for release later this year. “Guy spent a lot of time here as we refined the look of the film with him and tried out ideas for different shots,” said Hotz. “Interacting with the client like this is one of the most satisfying aspects of our work for me personally.”
Leveraging Origami’s LOCO Technology
LOCO, a technology developed at Origami, serves as a development platform for a number of the facility’s in-house tools. This includes Origami’s proprietary motion capture system – LOCO MoCap.
LOCO MoCap uses PhaseSpace cameras and an active optical system, which offers a number of key advantages over other approaches. Each marker in LOCO MoCap has a unique ID, which enables artists to quickly repair any occlusion errors. “The accuracy of the system is within a tenth of a millimeter, which means it is virtually noiseless,” explained Hotz. “As long as we can see the marker, there’s no clean up required and no need to smooth the data. That allows us to work faster.”
Another advantage of the active optical system is that it can work outdoors in daylight using the infrared spectrum. This makes LOCO MoCap much more flexible and portable. “A couple of years ago, when Neill Blomkamp was in New Zealand working on the original Halo movie project, he asked us to bring it over to do the pre-viz,” recalled Hotz. “We were able to do the motion capture right there with him on location.”
LOCO DVR is another system developed on the LOCO platform. LOCO DVR records the video assist feeds from all of the cameras on set – along with any notes from the VFX supervisor – giving artists access to the camera video tap later during postproduction. LOCO DVR can also be used to stream live from the video assist feed over the Internet, enabling two production units to coordinate their work, or allowing the director and cinematographer to remotely check on the progress of the B-camera unit.
“Origami is always pushing the boundaries of visual effects and creating solutions with an awesome end result,” added Blomkamp. “I have no hesitation in recommending Oliver Hotz and the team at Origami to anyone, and I look forward to working with them again in the future.”
About Origami Digital LLC
Founded in 2004 by Oliver Hotz, Origami Digital, LLC is a visual effects facility which offers clients a collaborative environment for bringing their projects to life. Utilizing an extensive set of in-house tools, based on the company’s proprietary LOCO technology, Origami Digital offers advanced motion-capture capabilities and exceptionally fast turnarounds, providing clients with the time and space to explore their creative ideas. Origami digital has completed work on The Aviator, the Halo 3 shorts, Bunraku, as well as Lexus, Nissan and Dyson commercials and numerous other projects. Origami Digital LLC is a privately held company based in Los Angeles, California. For more information, visit www.origamidigital.com.
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Media Contact:
Eric Philpott
Philpott Communications
905-773-6651
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Bill Hooey Public Relations
(323) 397-8740
Hollywood, CA
Specializing In Publicity For Film Premieres
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Press Release
Eric Forsberg’s “Mega Piranha” chews itself into 2.2 Million Homes And The Hollywood Sharks Take Notice
For immediate release:
Date: 05/02/10
Chicago native Eric Forsberg has made quite a splash with his movie “Mega Piranha” which hit the big time on Syfy on April 10th, drawing the cable channel’s largest audience of 2010. Forsberg’s film is a campy, fun, action packed creature feature starring 80’s Pop sensation Tiffany, B-movie action hero Paul Logan, and 70s TV icon Barry Williams (aka Greg Brady of the Brady Bunch). “Hail the power of Mega Piranha! Saturday night is fun again” says the online magazine, Monsters and Critics. The Huffington writes “Mega Piranha is the most entertaining and enjoyable live-action movie I've seen this year.” Eric Forsberg’s Mega Piranha has set the new trend for Syfy’s Saturday night lineup – with the word from the top being ‘give us more just like it’.
Forsberg’s is consider one of the masters of the “Mockbuster”, films that have similar titles to big budget Hollywood movies and are released near the same time. The phenomenon was begun The Asylum, a production company for which Eric Forsberg has written and/or directed nine movies including the 2006 hit, Snakes on a Train.
The roots of Eric Forsberg’s fun filled action productions like Mega Piranha go back to his work writing and directing for the Chicago stage, where he helmed his own adaptations of The Ramayana and Beaowulf, as well as musicals like Knat Scatt Private Eye starring Steve Carell, and improv comedy revues at the Second City training center where he directed Stephen Colbert. In 1997 Eric moved to Los Angeles, taking every film job he could get, from PA up, until in 2004 he got a break, writing and directing a low budget science fiction movie. Eight movies a roller coaster ride of ups and downs later, Mega Piranha, which drew and unprecedented 2.2 million viewers, has put Eric Forsberg on the Hollywood map. Mega Piranha shows again on Syfy on May 30th, at 9pm EST.
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For media interviews with Eric, contact Bill Hooey (323) 397-8740
billhooey@earthlink.net
Bill Hooey Public Relations
(323) 397-8740
Hollywood, CA
Specializing In Publicity For Film Premieres
===================================================================
PRESS RELEASE
Holland Electronics, Ventura CA, has announced a new line of one-piece Series 1.0/2.3 RF connectors for high density digital router applications. The new line of connectors have been sized to fit Belden 1855,1694A, 179DT and 1505A. The one piece design eliminates lost parts, reduces craft sensitivity problems and cuts prep/installation time to under 1 minute. To learn more about these new connectors, please visit us online at www.hollandelectronics.com <http://www.hollandelectronics.com> or call 800-628-4511.
Press Release
For immediate release:
Date: 01/12/10
Here is an interesting topic you might want to do a story about... It is a field of opportunity that most show biz hopefuls don't have a clue about.
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If you are an actor, singer, model etc. living in Los Angeles, here is some important information for you to be aware of and can benefit from greatly.
Whether you are interested in becoming a “STAR” or at the very least becoming well known enough within the industry that you work regularly, your talent is important but there are many highly talented people, who are out there trying to get their foot in the door, they are struggling to pay the bills each month and they will never rise above their situation because they don’t know how to get the media to notice them and write about them so the general public comes to know them.
So far, I have done publicity for 19 Red Carpet Film Premieres during the past four years. I've noticed that many creative types are unaware of how to best utilize the red carpet and the related opportunities. First of all, you need to know how to get invited to red carpet events. Once you are at a red carpet event, you should know there is much more involved than simply walking past the cameras and waving. With the proper knowledge, you will know how to best utilize the publicity and networking opportunities related to it, which can be a huge boost to an anyone’s career. It is all about mindset and strategy.
The media coverage (usually including reporters, photographers and video crews) provides a tremendous opportunity for actors/models/singers who walk the red carpet. If one knows what to do and say one could end up being seen by millions of people and come to the attention of top industry VIPs, those people who have the power to hire you and write big checks.
The small percentage of people in our industry who receive lots of press coverage understand the strategy and they know the "secrets" of (1) how to find out about red carpet events that are coming up, (2) how to get invited (3) having the media notice them. If you aren’t at a position in the industry where you can afford four thousands dollars a month for publicist, (the average monthly fee), you should attend our "Red Carpet Seminar". It will open up your mind to ways that you can generate publicity for yourself and the benefits that can bring you.
Even if you weren’t born with “the hustle gene”, you’ll learn how to turn on your personal radar so you can grab an opportunity before it slips away. You’ve probably have heard it said that in show biz “timing” is everything but just as important is perception, how others see you. Perception is most times much more important than reality. By being seen at red carpet events on a regular basis, this can go a long way to help create a perception about you that will cause producers and directors to become interested in hiring you. I know this may sound unfair but it is how to game is played in our industry. If you want to get ahead in show biz, it is important that you learn as much as possible about how to get ahead, how to get noticed.
An added bonus… once you’ve attended our seminar, your e-mail address will be placed on a special list and you will be notified about up coming red carpet events that I am involved with.
If what I’ve stated so far makes sense to you, I encourage you attend our Red Carpet Seminar. This will be an intense, information-packed two-hour event. I’m not trying to make you falsely believe that after listening to me for two hours, your career is going to magically jump forward ten steps and the big money will start flowing in. On the other hand, if you don’t know the proper behavior for red carpet events and when you’re dealing with the media, it could hold you back forever. Are you willing to invest two hours of your time and acquire some new knowledge that applied properly will give you a tremendous edge in getting to the next level of your career? The more you know about how the industry really works, the better your chances of getting to where you want to be.
Come join us for the next seminar on Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 2:00 PM, at The Complex Theatres located at 6472 Santa Monica Blvd, in Hollywood, CA. We’ll have a great time. Tickets are thirty dollars in advance or forty dollars at the door.
To the best of our knowledge, there is no other seminar like this. You may purchase tickets by clicking HERE. (Or by clipping and pasting the link into your browser) https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=s-xclick&hosted_button_id=10807454 Complete information is online HERE. (http://www.HollywoodSuccess.com/red_carpet_seminar.htm)
I hope to see you there. It’s really simple to reserve online, but if you run into any glitches, just call (323) 462-2777 for assistance. You might want to forward this e-mail to a few your friends who might benefit from the info they will learn at the seminar. May all your dreams come true in 2010,
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Bill Hooey
For Immediate Release
ShowBiz Expo® Los Angeles Returns and Expands to a Two-Day Event in a Larger Hall, April 24-25, 2010 at the Los Angeles Convention Center
(Los Angeles, CA – January 12, 2010) ShowBiz Expo Los Angeles, a five-star event that brings everyone in show business together under one roof, returns Saturday and Sunday, April 24 & 25 to the Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S. Figueroa Street, West Hall B, Los Angeles. Whether you are a producer, studio executive, director, musician, filmmaker, performer, designer, writer, stage manager, or anyone else involved in film, stage, fashion, live events, and concerts this event is for you. The Expo includes a wide range of networking opportunities including the exhibit hall, workshops/seminars, Designers’ Showcase, focus groups, roundtable discussions, Film Festival, headshot displays for casting, live auditions for performers, movie reel showcase, original music showcase, and much more.
The ShowBiz Expo Los Angeles Conference offers a series of informative workshops and panels. Topics include what ShowBiz Expo can do for you, the art of cinematography, everything you need to know about the RED camera, the power of lighting for film, TV & HD, how to add 21st century soundtracks to your film, video, theatrical or online production, how to get distribution for your project, the progress women are making in new and traditional Hollywood, how to enter and win at film festivals, the success of spiritual projects in Hollywood, cashing in on new opportunities in Latino entertainment, the life of a young performer how to change the world with a film or theatre production, inside the reality show world, social media 101, ecoproduction, making the most of your audition and more. For a complete conference schedule and registration, visit www.theshowbizexpo.com/a_industrypanels.html.
ShowBiz Expo Los Angeles features a free Keynote Panel each day. Saturday’s Keynote, “Can You Talk Your Way to an Oscar™? Meet the Stars Behind the Voices” will explore the exploding voiceover field. Animation, announcing, voiceovers and dubbing -- from video games to features films -- will be discussed by the people behind the voices. On Sunday, “No/Low Budget Film Production” will explore the secrets for producing a film for little or no money. Admission to the Keynotes is free to Expo attendees who register online at showbizexpo.com/register.
Throughout the day, the ShowBiz Expo Los Angeles Film Festival will screen short films from emerging filmmakers. Admission is free to registered Expo attendees.
A wide variety of entertainment companies ranging from production companies and facilities, lighting and sound rental, to camera companies, marketing companies, insurance, accounting and financial services, film commissions, trade publications, unions, guilds, associations, career websites, graphic designers and more can be found on the ShowBiz Expo Los Angeles exhibit floor.
Producer Zachary Lezberg recently acquired the ShowBiz Expo name and trademark. For the past two years, Lezberg has been producing successful twice-annual Film, Stage and ShowBiz Expo events in New York City. October 2009 marked his first one-day ShowBiz Expo Los Angeles, which was attended by over 6,000 industry professionals. ShowBiz Expo New York is set for March 28 at the Hilton New York City.
ShowBiz Expo Los Angeles show hours are 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. daily. For free advance online ShowBiz Expo Los Angeles exhibit floor registration, conference registration or information on exhibiting at ShowBiz Expo Los Angeles, visit www.showbizexpo.com.
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PR Contact: Mary Anderson-Harris, aharrism@pacbell.net, 818.731.3971
December 3, 2009 For Immediate Release:  We are so excited to share with you that Pro8mm president Phil Vigeant has just finished writing a book called The Power of Super 8 Film. This will be the essential guide for shooting Super 8 film for new media. The book is in its' final edit and will soon be available for pre-sale. We anticipate a release date of March 1, 2009, and a possible book signing at South by Southwest Film Festival.  We are currently doing a full on search for great Pro8mm product, location, production and editing stills ( 300 dpi) that represent all the fantastic stuff you, our clients have done to contribute to the state of the Super 8 medium. Please email your photos to
Rhonda@pro8mm.com for consideration to be on the cover of the book . We would also be honored if you would write a short testimonial about why you love to shoot on super 8 film and why Pro8mm is your small format vendor of choice. Full press details on the book, workshops and events coming soon. The book will be available soon on our website or www.thepowerofsuper8film.com
 
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Pro8mm
2805 West Magnolia Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91505
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818-848-5522
www.pro8mm.com
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