Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/100015
BUSINESS OUTLOOK BY CH RI ST I N E BU N I SH 18 DIVERSIFICATION The post production industry faces a number of challenges today, including lower barriers to enter the post business, increased competition on that front and from more clients taking aspects of post in-house, and continuing cash-strapped budgets. But the industry is buoyed by lighter investments in the technical infrastructure and greater investments in talent, the globalization of the business, the maturing of the Web, the arrival of 4K, and more demand for content of all kinds. AXEL ERICSON Founder Digital Arts www.digital-arts.net New York City Digital Arts offers complete end-to-end services for film and TV with a strong focus on new technologies and high-end pipelines, such as 4K finishing, DCP delivery and 7.1 surround mixing. STRENGTHS: ���I have observed the maturing of digital pipelines from acquisition to fully-digital workflows and delivery. It���s no longer the Wild West ��� clients know what the process is like and what to expect from vendors, and we know what to deliver. Yes, there���s always something new coming up, but it still falls in the realm of what clients and vendors already know. ���Another strength is that technology enables us to integrate more of the post process in-house. For example, what used to be considered VFX are now part of the finishing process ��� a client used to have to go to a VFX house for image stabilization without zooming in on a shot, which was really a matte painting [technique]. On a long-form project we can achieve such a technique routinely in post, further enhancing the final product.��� WEAKNESSES: ���The remnants of the recession, and clients who chose lower-end workflows, has meant less business from such clients, and the industr y overall suffers. Some clients are more focused on passing QC than on the quality of the production.��� OPPORTUNITIES: ���There are a number of opportunities in the industry right now. We���re focusing heavily on 4K: We���re already a 4K-ready house with true 4K displays and projectors and a fully-digital pipeline for end-to-end 4K delivery. ���There are also opportunities with the maturing of Web markets. Some now have very stringent delivery requirements and real budgets. I heard about one client who sent content to Apple, which passed broadcast QC but failed Apple���s QC. Also, there is more need for content due to growing distribution models, from Web to mobile. ���Outsourcing can work for and against us. There are opportunities for post houses by creating modular tasks and outsourcing parts of big jobs to other locations or freelancers. These tasks can then be quickly integrated back into the workflow.��� Post���������December���2012��� www.postmagazine.com THREATS: ���Outsourcing can also be a threat if clients see it as an opportunity to take their work internationally. It���s not an immediate threat, but it���s on our radar. ���The efficiency of the Web business model may challenge production budgets and the way things are done in the television world, which has a very top-down infrastructure. We���re caught in the crossfire in some ways as distribution models change and create a lot of flux in the industry. ���More and more production companies are offering their own post production pipelines now. It���s a natural evolution for them; they���ve made a significant investment in post infrastructure. So that���s a threat to existing post houses, although there are still plenty of opportunities out there.��� OUTLOOK FOR 2013 ���4K is on the table now. The feature world is headed in that direction, and it���s time for post houses to move on to 4K. We���re really focused on theatrical 4K.��� This visual album for artist Essie Jane got its DI via Resolve in Digital Arts��� 4K theatre.It was mixed in 5.1 in Pro Tools. ROBIN SHENFIELD Co-Founder/CEO The Mill www.themill.com London, New York, Los Angeles The Mill is a VFX studio creating moving image, design and digital for the advertising, film, TV, games and music industries. Recent projects include Guinness Cloud and the Good Books Havana Heat viral film, and the feature film Snow White and The Huntsman. STRENGTHS: ������Post production��� is not a term we use to describe what we do. We���re an advertising-focused VFX business with a small division for features, special projects and television. I���m not sure we���ve found the right terminology to describe ourselves, apart from as a creative moving image company. This is relevant to ���strengths��� because