The staff at Molinare were delighted to be informed this morning that Steve Milne and his consortium are to buy the Company, the sale of which is expected to complete next week.
Steve Milne first purchased the Company in 2003 and then sold the majority of his shares in 2008 to Century Communications Ltd before making a complete exit from the Company in September 2010. The Indian company have invested substantially over the last four years, and the company was awarded Best Post Production House at this year’s Broadcast Awards.
(Full story to come upon the completion of the sale)
Next month the most eagerly anticipated film of the year, probably of the decade, reaches cinemas – Ridley Scott’s PROMETHEUS.
Molinare worked with the Prometheus team throughout the entire pre-production process, testing the whole DI pipeline from shooting and digital dailies, through editorial and full DI post production, to the creation and review of 3D stereoscopic and 2D digital and film print deliverables. We were then delighted to host them at our central Soho offices during the film’s edit.
Molinare’s technical team attended the initial test shoot on the Red Epic camera, and set up an offline edit suite with 3D stereoscopic monitoring, testing various resolutions to find the optimum performance for the creative edit and review screenings. We then conformed the edited sequence, testing EXR and DPX workflows, and performed geometric corrections, colour and depth grade in our 3D stereoscopic grading theatre, working with director Ridley Scott and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski to enhance the atmospheric look of the scenes.
To ensure the quality of final delivery, our team then created 3D stereoscopic and 2D digital cinema packages as well as a 2D film print, closely matching the tone and look for all mediums. The whole team reviewed the deliverables closely on our Dolby 3D and Xpand projection theatres, as well as screening the test at a RealD cinema in London’s Leicester Square, and validated the entire workflow and colour management for digital and film.
When the film went into full production, Molinare hosted the offline editorial team in Soho and utilised a high speed private network to Pinewood Studios to transfer dailies directly to the shared edit storage. The offline was carried out at high resolution and the output of the edit suites was fed directly to our main grading theatre to allow full 3D stereoscopic review throughout the offline process.
Televisual’s annual Colourist survey was published in the March edition of the magazine, and Molinare’s grading team featured heavily in the top 10 TV and Film category. The list was based on a number of criteria – Producers were asked to rate their preferred Colourists, points were then awarded for any industry award wins and nominations , and finally votes were cast by UK Colourists themselves for the peers and the productions they particularly admired in 2011.
Our very own Gareth Spensley claimed the Number One spot, having received a great number of votes from his industry peers for his grade on ‘The Hour’ (for which he was also nominated for an RTS Award) and being described by Televisual as now being in the “superleague” since his much-lauded grade on last year’s Oscar-winning ‘The King’s Speech.’
Recent Molinare addition, Asa Shoul, also featured in the list at Number Eight for his work on ‘Strikeback’, ‘Attack the Block’ and ‘Stolen’ last year.
And last but certainly not least, Molinare’s Tim Waller also featured in the list at Number Ten, with Asa Shoul complimenting him on his “consistantly top standard and resourceful grading” on shows including Silent Witness.
Well done to the whole grading team here at Molinare – to feature so heavily in a National survey is praise indeed for their efforts over the past year, and is a real compliment to Molinare’s grading and DI departments. Onwards and upwards for 2012…
Arts Alliance Media (AAM), the London-based digital cinema company, and Molinare have entered into an agreement to partner in offering Arts Alliance Media’s digital cinema services to Molinare’s post-production clients. The move will see producers being offered a seamless end-to-end service from preproduction through to theatrical release.
AAM, which has provided digital cinema content and distribution services to clients throughout Europe since 2006, will work with Molinare to provide services such as DCP (Digital Cinema Package) creation and reversioning for different territories, along with a full QC service in either of its two fully equipped digital cinemas, in London and Paris. The collaboration/combined services offering will also provide AAM clients the chance to benefit from a full managed post production service with Molinare.
Services available will also include distribution to cinemas globally – including the option of satellite transmission direct to cinema servers, or the alternative of distribution on hard drive or USB. AAM will also provide a full security key (KDM) management service to ensure content can only be unlocked by a specified cinema screen at the specified time.
Scott Holmgren, Molinare’s Chief Operating Officer, commented “Being able to offer this final step of digital cinema asset creation and distribution means that we can now offer our customers a totally integrated workflow through to getting their product to cinemas. Arts Alliance Media’s experience in the digital cinema world is unparalleled and we’re delighted to be working with them and looking forward to the new services we’re going to have on offer.”
Victoria Galloway, Content & Distributor Services Director of Arts Alliance Media added “Working as a partner with Molinare means that we can get involved with clients at an earlier stage and help them to plan requirements for their cinema release anywhere in the world, with everything from trailers to the final feature in different versions. We were impressed with the fantastic service Molinare provide to their clients, and the reputation they have for technical excellence, and we’re excited to work with them to bring the efficiencies and quality of digital cinema to more filmmakers.”
Hammer Films have announced that they will be releasing a “definitive” version of Terence Fisher’s 1958 Gothic masterpiece DRACULA, which will have its World Premiere screening on Saturday 18th February at 3pm at the Flicker Club as part of the Vault festival in London.
Recently-discovered footage that was originally cut from the British version has been restored by Molinare’s DI and Restoration team (overseen by John Palmer, Head of Digital Film Services) to the BFI’s 2007 restoration version. The Japanese footage features an extended and particularly gruesome death scene for Dracula, as well as a moment considered too erotic by the censors of the day.
In total, Hammer will be restoring over 30 titles.
EXCLUSIVE: London-based post-production outfit Molinare has revealed that its long term strategy will be based primarily around attracting productions through the quality of its work, as opposed to being required to make equity investments.
The decision comes at a time when an increasing number of post-production companies are choosing – or being required – to offer equity investment in order to secure work on feature films, partly due to a growing expectation from producers that post houses will be able to provide them with the final piece of equity to complete their financing jigsaw.
Whilst Molinare will continue to invest in features, its head of business Richard Conway [pictured] told Screen that it would “no longer be the primary driving force.”
Molinare is currently working on the post production for Eran Creevy’s hotly anticipated second feature Welcome To The Punch, Jon Wright’s monster movie Grabbers, Dustin Hoffman’s Quartet as well as Julian Temple’s upcoming project This Is London, none of which have involved an equity investment from the company, although it has put some investment into Lionsgate’s forthcoming Keith Lemon feature, Keith Lemon: The Film.
“Our fortunate investment in The King’s Speech was a lightning strike. We must not assume it will ever happen again. That does not mean we are not investing at all, but the financing we can provide is no longer the primary driving force to attract film makers to Molinare, the quality of the post production is,” said Conway, who joined Molinare in late 2008 following its takeover by Century Communications.
“Many in the industry have become uncomfortable with post houses dictating as to what they can and cannot have within the restraints of an investment deal. It’s refreshing to see more and more respected industry figures working with Molinare through choice not necessity,” explained Conway, who points to the company’s multimillion pound two-year refurbishment plan – including a new grading theatre, equipment upgrades, client hospitality and an expanded VFX department – as helping to attract film and TV productions.
As part of a year of change for the company, there have been several high profile appointments, including Asa Shoul, who is joining the company this month as a senior colourist. Shoul’s credits include Kick-Ass and Clash Of The Titans. He is also known for grading high profile TV dramas including HBO’s Generation Kill and StrikeBack: Project Dawn.
John Palmer was appointed as head of digital film services in October, with a remit to develop Molinare’s archive/restoration, whilst Meg Guidon and George Zwier joined the VFX department last year.
Molinare has welcomed top Colourist Asa Shoul to its grading team.
As one of the industry’s most respected and multi-award winning Colourists, Asa brings a wealth of experience and an expansive portfolio to Molinare, having graded over 35 feature films including Layer Cake, The Constant Gardener, Kick-Ass and Clash Of The Titans. He is also known for grading high profile TV dramas including HBO’s Generation Kill and Strike Back: Project Dawn.
Asa began his illustrious career in 1994 when he joined Framestore as a telecine colourist. Whist there, he became one of the pioneers of digital feature grading, helping to develop the Baselight grading system. In 1998 Asa won the International Monitor Award for his grading on Hallmark’s mini-series Merlin, and subsequently won two more of these awards for Hallmark’s Alice in Wonderland and Arabian Nights.
During a recent two year stint at Technicolor, Asa rebuilt their colour science pipeline and has been D.I. consultant on features such as Gulliver’s Travels, John Carter, World War Z, and Gambit.
Scott Holmgren, Molinare’s COO is delighted that Asa will be joining Molinare: “The addition of Asa to our already fantastic team of Colourists, coupled with our state of the art grading theatres, demonstrates to the industry that we have the resources to tackle even the largest studio productions.”
We are delighted to announce that Gareth Spensley, Molinare’s Head of Grading, has been nominated for the RTS Craft & Design Award for his grade on The Hour – Kudos’s glamorous six part drama series which lead viewers behind the scenes of a ground-breaking topical news programme in 1956.
Gareth created the grade to subtly reflect the era without overpowering the emotion of the story. The show was shot digitally on the Arri D21, but the creative brief from the client was to give the pictures a rich filmic look.
The results were fantastic, with Chris Seager (Director of Photography for the series) saying that he was “delighted with the final look – the grade achieved everything we set out to create, and more.”
We are delighted to welcome John Palmer to Molinare as Head of Digital Film Services, who will be leading our talented DI department and developing our Film Restoration capabilities.
John’s brings over 25 years experience of working with Film to Molinare, having been the Scanning and Laser Recording Supervisor on features such as Quantum Of Solace, Never Let Me Go, Paul and many others. John’s care and committment to producing the best quality images, means that he is recognised as one of the industry’s best known and respected Restoration specialists. His Restoration portfolio includes The Manxman and The Ring, both of which formed part of the Hitchcock 9, and Underground 1928.
John has extensive experience of of varied archive materials including Nitrate, YCM 3-strip and 2-strip. In conjunction with the state of the art equipment that Molinare’s DI department contains (including the 6K ARRIScan with Wet Gates, ARRILaser II and Relativity software), John’s arrival will undoubtedly assist Molinare in our intent to become a main contender in the Archive Restoration market.
The Molinare team were invited to attend the premiere of new urban horror movie Demons Never Die on Monday 10th October, on which we provided full picture post production.
The film follows a group of friends who decide to make a suicide pact after one of them kills themselves. But it soon looks like a dangerous murderer may be on the loose as the friends start to die one by one in strange circumstances. The film features a great cast, including Misfits actor Robert Sheehan, and X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos in her first theatrical role.
The stars were out in force at the Leicester Square premiere, including Idris Elba, star of The Wire and Luther, who put his Producer skills behind the film. Also there were pop stars Jessie J and Dionne Bromfield, who lends her vocals to the film’s fantastic soundtrack.
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