Burns’ background includes senior positions with Reliance MediaWorks and Fotokem. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of Mexico City post house Labodigital. “Reid’s hire represents the whole company philosophy and guiding values: first-rate technical proficiency and deep knowledge of the industry,” said CEO Brian Pope. “Equally if not more important, he is a terrific human being who gets that technology goes hand-in-hand with art and soul – otherwise it’s all just so much mush.”
Launched last fall, Cognition is nearing completion of a multi-million dollar expansion of its creative campus in Hollywood that will include the addition of two 4K digital cinema finishing theaters, a scalable visual effects pipeline, creative office space and an emerging technologies research facility.
Burns said that the flexibility of Cognition’s approach and workflow will appeal to studios and producers seeking more creative and efficient ways to finish all types of projects. “While production occurs all over the globe, many executives prefer to finish their projects close to home,” he said. “Episodic television production is also on the rise in the Los Angeles area. We expect to benefit from both trends by offering top talent, cutting edge technology, efficient operations and competitive rates.”
Burns cited Cognition’s adoption of SGO‘s Mistika platform – the largest installation in North America – as one example of its competitive edge. “We are ready for EDR, planning ahead for HDR and using the ACES workflow on our current feature,” he observed. “We are also thrilled with Mistika’s robust stereo tools and look forward to projects that are a good fit in that arena.”
Burns began his career as a color timer and has nearly 100 films to his credit. He later managed laboratory operations at Deluxe. That was followed by tenures as director of global sales and technology at Consolidated Film Industries, senior vice president at Fotokem and chief operating officer at Reliance MediaWorks. His work at Reliance included oversight of 3D work for such titles as Avatar, Prometheus and Men in Black 3. He also founded the VFX and title post production house The Image Resolution and served as CEO of the VFX/DI and boutique post house Ollin Studio in Mexico City. He joined Labodigital in 2012. Burns is an associate member of the American Society of Cinematographers.
Among Burns’ first tasks will be to add to the facility’s DI staff. New hires are expected to include a senior DI producer, DI colorist and a business development specialist.
