Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/237968
OUTLOOK EDITING done short films for Sundance and the Venice Film Festival, and a new documentary feature. Every time I work on something new I find a new perspective and new tools." THREATS: "Budgets are shrinking but that means we have to adapt the way we work and shape our relationships with clients to give everyone more security and freedom to bring to the table all their talents and sensibilities." OUTLOOK FOR 2014: "There's a group of younger and very talented directors coming up, which is very welcome. At the same time, the more established directors are getting a chance to do more experimental work. I recently cut a visual arts project with director Marco Brambilla and a campaign for Jaguar that was very daring. His eye is incredibly free and artistic, though he's also a very known talent." JOSH SEniOR President Senior Post Brooklyn, new York www.senior-post.com Senior Post is a digital post house focused on documentary-style branded content and Web series. The company offers editing, finishing, color correction and sound mixing services, as well as production. Recent clients include Vice, Vevo, Complex, Canon, Universal Music Group, Disney and Ralph Lauren. STREnGTHS: "Low barriers to entry and the influx of young talent are big strengths. A lot of kids who have access to editing software don't need the same educational trajectory to get to the point where they have their hands on things — and they're also the target audience for a lot of the content we make. That's new and huge for me and the industry as a whole." WEAKnESSES: "With the influx of some nice Website templates that look very professional, differentiating the skill sets of companies has become a bit muddy. The Internet makes it so easy to present Senior Post often works on branded content. 30 oneself that we're sometimes competing against companies that aren't of the same caliber and aren't capable of delivering the same content that we are. Unfortunately, we get into the discussion of price and justifying our value faster than in the past. "On the client side there are also more co-creators for a single Post • December 2013 www.postmagazine.com piece of content, all with vested interests and contradictory feedback. We see a lot more approvers and stakeholders in online video content and the lack of someone in a post supervisor role. It can be hard to reconcile all their objectives." OPPORTUniTiES: "The consumption of online video through mobile delivery. We offer optimization of online video for mobile consumption because we wouldn't recommend the same delivery for desktop display as for a mobile phone. You have to make iterations of the content specific for the intended consumption device. We've been doing a lot of research in this field and will roll out some best practices early next year. Mobile video is the new frontier, with a lot of interesting ways to tell stories." THREATS: "There are threats from the old guard — the larger establishment production companies and post houses who are fighting to preserve their place in the forced tiering of categories and all the costs they've taken on. There are leaner ways of doing things that fit the speed at which the industry is developing and address the need and insistence on hardware acquisition. "4K might also be called a threat. The Internet is barely fast enough to play back 1080 video well, but you get clients who think 4K is so cool. In a cinema environment I wouldn't argue about it, but if you have 4K assets and you're delivering 1080 video, it doesn't make sense to me. All the added cost and complexities seem over the top and unnecessary." OUTLOOK FOR 2014: "It will be the year of mobile video. We're thrilled with the success of Netflix and Amazon, and see amazing, compelling stories coming from surprising places. The storytelling industry is really going to step it up. It's a great time to be creating video!" TAYLOR HOU Founder/Head of Product First Cut Pro Austin, TX www.firstcutpro.com First Cut Pro is the developer of professional video collaboration software built to streamline the video post production and editing process by focusing on three vital aspects of the feedback and approval process: collection of feedback, organization of video notes, and integration into the current post production environment. The company's public launch was in April, and users exceed 2,000, including new media companies such as Craftsy.com. STREnGTHS: "This is a relatively flexible industry, often without fixed employee costs due to the hiring of contractors and freelancers, so companies are not limited to who or what they can offer. Post houses can spin out their resources with all the options available. From the other side, editors gain flexibility by working harder, faster and interfacing with others on projects. Coming from software development, that's a huge plus." WEAKnESSES: "There are so many new entrants to the business; college students are doing work almost as good as people who have been around a long time. It's also hard to be competitive when people all over the world are competing against you. Being local used to be a key differentiator due to travel and time restraints, but products like ours allow people to interface with clients and teams around the world to regain that communication edge."