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Q4 2019

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15 MPEG FELLOWSHIP & SERVICE AWARD 2019 A Big Move At both Amblin and DreamWorks, Cohen stated, "It never really felt like management to me. I always tried to make it a situation where we were going to work together to solve any problem. It was truly a team effort." DreamWorks was sold to Paramount Pictures late in 2005, and Cohen was named Paramount's Executive Vice President of Post-Production. In 2008, he was promoted to President of Post- Production. Nevertheless, Cohen commented, "I le the collegial atmosphere of DreamWorks to join a corporate entity. It wasn't fun." While fully attuned to the digital revolution in the industry and its immense value to editing and the entire post process, he viewed a major downside to dependence on technology at Paramount and in the entire studio system. "Aer the advent of Avid, we started having executive meetings in the editing room," Cohen said. "How can you make executive judgments on the spot with that kind of display of multiple versions? Filmmaking is a creative endeavor and you have to have respect for the creators leading the way." The post veteran believes this attitude at the major studios supports a reliance on formula in features while taking creative risks in TV storytelling has grown. He concluded, "The creative respect for talent has been minimalized. Except for the names like Ridley Scott and a few others, the creatives at Paramount were totally overruled by the suits when I served there." Another downside to the technological revolution in the industry, Cohen noted, is the heavier workload in post — shortened work schedules, excessive overtime, short turnarounds, and inadequate compensation. "The below-the-line people should be getting a fair percentage from residuals and the new- media streaming," he said. "Putting that towards benefits doesn't really take that much off the overall profits." Having le Paramount in 2010, the post expert looks back with real satisfaction at the high point of his career there: the digital restoration of Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Trilogy (1972, 1974, and 1990). Since then, he has continued to demonstrate his grasp of cutting-edge digital technology by preserving and restoring Amblin and DreamWorks classics. Associate producer Cohen, left, at Seventh Son screening with VFX coordinator Nicole Montemayor, VFX stereo production supervisor Stephanie Winslow, VFX designer John Dykstra, VFX producer Denise Davis, VFX stereoscopic supervisor Marcus Alexander and first assistant editor Matt Willard, 2011. In front of WB Post Production, picture editor Jim Page, left, Cohen, supervising sound editor/sound designer Richard King, post-production supervisor Rob Yamamoto in 2011. Photo by Rob Yamamoto New-media feature Action Figures producer Marc Vanocur, left, with the feature's director Cohen, 2011. Photo by Rob Yamamoto

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