Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/28735
Evolving Post Studios Boogie provided 175 VFX shots for the yet-to-be released The Howling Reborn. The studio employed Autodesk’s Smoke on the Mac and Maya, as well as The Foundry’s Nuke and Adobe’s After Effects. Something that has been helping Boogie with this way of working is a system called Talk Management, a project management framework designed to track production time and workflow. Its framework allows any company to develop and resell modules to increase ROI after investing in R&D. “As an example, here at Boogie we use Talk to collaborate under a unified environment with clients and vendors.We're currently beta testing a bidding module where agen- cies can request a bid, provide info with a quick turnover, we review it and provide them with a price,” explains Martel.“Clients are happy to be involved in this process be- cause it’s more precise at the end.” Talk Management is what Boogie used after their Sidlee meeting — the agency wanted a quick, first draft of what the budget might be for the project they discussed. “The key thing, and it’s part of Benoit Martel: Flat fees can hurt a studio, so Boogie is educating clients to the benefits of hourly rates for VFX and post. the Talk Management system, is we are able to track the time our artists spend on one project or specific task,” says Dostie. “The client can view this on his iPhone… from anywhere.They can see how the project is advancing and how much time is left for se- quences all the while keeping track of the overall expenses on the project. It’s a bit like the expense reports you get when you are shooting on location for a month and your accounting team gives you daily reports of how much you’ve spent and if you are close to going into over budget.That is what we are bringing to post production, although VFX is no longer post, it’s a parallel production.” RING OF FIRE Ring of Fire considers itself a boutique, with 20 full-time employees, many of whom have been with owners John Myers and Jerry Spivack since they opened their doors 15 years ago. It’s those same employees that Myers says are a main reason the studio is still succeeding.“One of the biggest reasons we are still here and viable is our loyal crew who have made a lot of sacrifices on our be- half over the years.” Executive producer Myers and creative di- rector/composite artist Spivack both do on- set supervision in addition to supplying visual effects, animation and compositing services for TV shows, feature films and commercials. While the industry has evolved since 1996, the core principle of how Santa Mon- ica’s Ring of Fire (www.ringoffire.com) ap- proaches its work hasn’t changed. For them it’s about building relationships with clients and in a sense “over-delivering” what the