By Scott Lehane
PostWorks is opening a new Los Angeles-based postproduction operation designed from the ground up for a data-centric workflow.
The new venture, PostWorks Los Angeles, will provide high-end digital imaging services to theatrical, broadcast, and studio library mastering customers. The company also announced that Mike Doggett, who is an equity partner in PostWorks, is taking the helm as president of PostWorks Los Angeles, as well as Orbit West, the West Coast operation of off-line rental and support company Orbit Digital.
In August, PostWorks launched the first phase of its Los Angeles plan in the Tribeca West complex, near the corner of Olympic and Bundy in West Los Angeles, initially offering broadcast finishing services and the talents of staff senior colorist Pankaj Bajpai, whose credits include Rome, Carnivale and Sex and the City.
The facility is already providing finishing services for The Unit, which is produced by 20th Century Fox Television for CBS, and In Treatment, which is produced by HBO.
Future expansion at Tribeca West will include theatrical DI color correction plus additional broadcast finishing environments. As part of the West Los Angeles expansion, Orbit Digital will offer on-site editorial suites and offline systems.
Early next year, PostWorks L.A. will unveil a major new facility in Santa Clarita – offering film scanning and recording, color correction, digital conforming and digital restoration, all backed by a massive data backbone. Proprietary developments related to storage technology, virtual session management and advanced workflow will allow projects to move seamlessly between the West L.A. and Santa Clarita locations.
“PostWorks has afforded us a clean slate to design a nimble operation without restrictive ties to any legacy technology or outdated workflows,” Doggett says. “Our team has had the opportunity to truly rethink the post business, designing a distributed topology that better addresses the real-world needs of the industry, and leverages new technology during this time of rapid transition from tape and film-based workflows to a data-centric model.”
Doggett, who was most recently president of U.S. postproduction for Technicolor’s Content Services business unit, will lead a management group comprised mostly of former Technicolor executives, including such veterans as Al Cleland, senior VP and general manager; Marco Bario, senior VP; Greg Ciaccio, VP, technical operations; and Jennifer Tellefsen, VP, broadcast services.
Written by Scott Lehane
