MUMBAI: With production underway on Sony Pictures Animation‘s ‘Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2‘ and post-production continuing on ‘The Smurfs 2‘, Sony Pictures Digital Productions (SPDP) have announced it is bringing the studio‘s Sound Department and Colorworks, the studio‘s digital intermediate facility, under its umbrella.
SPDP will now offer a host of post-production services to the professional community, including visual effects and computer animation, sound mixing and editorial and digital mastering, color grading, and film restoration.
The announcement was made by Sony Pictures Digital Productions president Bob Osher. Commenting on the announcement, Osher said, "These changes to the production organisation will help us continue to provide our partners with the same world class suite of facilities and services they have come to expect from Sony Pictures Studios over the years, and I am thrilled to welcome the expertise of Colorworks and the studio‘s Sound Department, with their incredible teams of experienced professionals, to Sony Pictures Digital Productions."
These changes come following the announcement that Sony Pictures Studios president Gary Martin will be retiring this year. Martin was responsible for opening the lot‘s Barbara Streisand Scoring Stage and developing Sony Pictures Studios‘ Sound Department into a facility boasting a stable of Oscar winning sound mixers and sound supervisors.
Along with Sony Pictures Technologies president, Chris Cookson, Martin opened the studio‘s digital intermediate facility, which introduced the industry‘s first fully-4K workflow. Osher and Sony Pictures Imageworks executive VP, GM Randy Lake will work closely with the sound department‘s Richard Branca and Tom McCarthy and Colorworks‘ Chris Holt in managing the studio‘s combined post-production operations.
Sony Pictures Colorworks‘ 14,000 square foot facility, housed at Sony Pictures Studio‘s Stage 6, features colourists and technology offering real-time, 4K processing in a full digital workflow for top filmmakers from across the industry. The Sony Pictures Sound Department boasts some of the world‘s most sought-after sound facilities, and top sound editors with a combined six Oscar wins to the their credit, including this year‘s winner for Best Sound Editing, ‘Zero Dark Thirty‘.
Sony Pictures Imageworks is the visual effects unit of Sony Pictures Digital Productions known for live-action visual effects, CG animation, and 3D imagery.
