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July/August 2011 • V. 26 |No. 4
Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
FR EE W SU W W BS .M AR A CR IP KE T TI EM O NS AG .C O M
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Searching for
Locations for Episodic TV VFX in TV Bringing The Walking Dead to Life Soundstages Coast to Coast Special Section Music & Sound Guide Permit 211 Bolingbrook, IL
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Markee2.0
Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
July/August 2011 Volume 26, Number 4
contents w w w. m a r k e e m a g . c o m
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features 8
VFX in Episodic TV –
KNB EFX Group and Stargate Studios Bring The Walking Dead to Life By Christine Bunish
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14 Locations, Locations, Locations By Christine Bunish
21 Music & Sound Guide 30 Soundstages Coast to Coast By Christine Bunish
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Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
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Markee2.0
Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
Markee 2.0 is a results-driven magazine that has been published since December 1985. A nationwide survey of film and video industry professionals revealed that Markee 2.0 is at the top of their must-read list.
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Editorially, Markee 2.0 offers a wide range of content tailored for its diverse readership. Features span film and video production and postproduction topics to include must-read interviews with leaders in the creative community, the latest equipment and technology news, perspectives on innovative independent filmmaking, and in-the-trenches reports on shooters, editors, animators and audio pros – plus regularly-scheduled specialty supplements. Markee 2.0’s seasoned writers know the industry inside-out. That’s what makes Markee 2.0 compelling, informative and timely reading.
www.markeemag.com
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columns & departments 4
Editor’s Note
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Making TV – Disintegrating Into Civil War
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The History Channel’s trailer for its two-hour production of Gettysburg aims for a raw, visceral depiction of war By Michael Fickes
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Making Commercials – Testing, Testing Launch’s 3D-animated test commercials visualize the action, refine the story and provide production insights By Michael Fickes
36 Marketplace
[On The Cover] The Glades’ stars Matt Passmore and Keile Sanchez venture into the wild on location in South Florida. Photo: Gene Page/Courtesy of FOX Television Studios
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July/August 2011
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from the editor
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Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
| by Christine Bunish
www.markeemag.com
Zombies – and Others – On Location
LIONHEART PUBLISHING, INC. 506 Roswell Street, Suite 220, Marietta, GA 30060 Tel: 770.431.0867 Fax: 770.432.6969 E-mail: lpi@lionhrtpub.com www.markeemag.com Publisher
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Managing Editor
Fans of AMC’s The Walking Dead, which debuted last year, are eagerly awaiting a new season of zombie encounters when the series returns this fall. These aren’t your father’s – or grandfather’s – zombies, thanks to amazing make up effects by KNB EFX Group, which manage to capture once-human beings turned horrific, and digital VFX by Stargate Studios depicting a frightening postapocalyptic Atlanta. These companies are using both traditional techniques and leading software solutions to achieve big-screen results for smaller screens at home. The Walking Dead has lensed its two seasons on location in Atlanta, taking advantage of venues urban, suburban and rural to show an America overrun by zombies. Our locations feature documents how The Glades and HBO’s Hung take advantage of an array of locales in South Florida and Michigan, respectively, for their series and how HBO’s Mildred Pierce found 1930s Hollywood in New York. Not all production happens on location, of course, so Soundstages Coast to Coast showcases a dozen places to shoot features, TV and spots. Check out our handy Music & Sound Guide to find where to obtain stock music and sound effects libraries plus original music and sound design to meet any need – you’ll want to clip and save it. And don’t miss Making TV’s look at a dramatic TV trailer and Making Commercials’ report on 21st century test commercials.
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Highlights Coming In
September/October 2011
• Original Music for TV, Film and Spots • What’s Hot in Lighting
Copyright © 2011 by Lionheart Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. The copyright owner, however, does consent to a single copy of an article being made for personal use. Otherwise, except under circumstances within “fair use” as defined by copyright law, no part of this publication may be reproduced, displayed or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, Lionheart Publishing, Inc. Send e-mail permission requests to editor@markeemag.com.
• Specialty Shooters • Spotlight: The West Coast
IN EVERY ISSUE: Making TV • Making Commercials • Inside View 4
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Disclaimer – The statements and opinions in the articles of this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Lionheart Publishing, Inc. or the editorial staff of Markee 2.0 or any sponsoring organization. The appearance of advertisements in this magazine is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised.
Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
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making TV
METAphrenie | By Michael Fickes
Disintegrating Into Civil War The History Channel’s trailer for its two-hour production of Gettysburg aims for a raw, visceral depiction of war. What’s it like to go to war? The History Channel’s two-hour movie, Gettysburg, tries to make you understand. Roundly panned by critics for inaccuracies, the production, executive-produced by Ridley Scott and Tony Scott and directed by Andrew Simon, nevertheless sought a contemporary retelling of the story, with the admirable goal of replacing the romanticism of war with a sense of what it was like to fear and fight for your life in a desperate three-day battle. The :60 trailer for Gettysburg, created by Dubai-based METAphrenie (pronounced META-frenie; www.meta phrenie.com), also aimed to recreate the terrifying, visceral and intensely personal experience of war. It begins with The History Channel logo against black. It disintegrates into earthen debris blown away by the wind. Shallow gasps follow, with a close-up showing a young soldier lying on furrowed ground, eyes wide open and vacant. His death rattle breaks the screen apart into more earthen debris, and, again, wind blows the debris away. Scenes from the movie follow, knit together into attacks and counter attacks, explosions of dirt and soldiers fighting and dying.
Trailer as Mini Movie METAphrenie’s assignment called for creating a logo for the movie title, :60 and :30 trailers and the opening credits. “We started with the logo because Simon had just begun shooting and not much footage had come in,” says Andrea Dionisio, managing director and creative director of METAphrenie. “We took our inspiration from Slab Serif, a typeface used in the mid-1800s. It has chunky serifs. We got rid of the serifs and made it more contemporary to go with the concept of a contemporary retelling.” 6
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With the updated Slab Serif Gettysburg logo in place, METAphrenie began to review the arriving footage. Shot with RED Digital Cinema’s RED One camera at 4K resolution, the raw footage permitted METAphrenie artists to create effects through color grading with RED Cine, says Dionisio. In several scenes, for instance, soldiers appear in black silhouette against a smokefilled white background. “Those scenes were shot in full sunlight, and the characters weren’t silhouetted,” Dionisio says. “By pushing the contrast, gamma and color, we created the silhouette effect, which makes the footage very dramatic.” The incoming clips featured “lots of explosions, with dirt flying up from the ground,” he says. “Dirt covered the soldiers, their faces and uniforms.” The flying dirt and debris inspired the memorable effect of making the titles disintegrate into debris and blow away. It happens to each of the titles and once to the footage – in the sequence transitioning from the dying soldier to the battlefield. METAphrenie artists used Autodesk Maya to craft the effects. When enough shots had come in, the team prioritized them and performed a preliminary color grading for
[Above] The show logo in METAphrenie’s Gettysburg TV trailer disintegrates into debris and blows away.
consistency during transitions from scene to scene. They also did a lot of work on the backgrounds with Maya and Adobe After Effects, adding soldiers, painting out houses and adding trees. Once the rough cut gained approval from The History Channel’s senior creative director Pablo Pulido, METAphrenie artists Amr Mohammed Abdelhamed, RayJohn Fernandez, Giuseppe Ambrosio and Michael Olea went to work on the final color grading with RED Cine and enhancing the trailer with a few additional effects. “We wanted to show how hot it was,” Dionisio says. “The battle was in July, the height of summer. We created that shimmering effect you see hovering near the ground in the summer. We also added flying debris, sometimes burning debris and rock to some of the scenes.” Finally, METAphrenie whittled the :60 trailer down to create an alternate :30 version and crafted the opening credits, which reprise the trailers’ powerful effects by rolling across the screen, disintegrating and blowing away.
Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
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making Commercials
Launch | By Michael Fickes
Testing, Testing Launch’s 3D-animated test commercials visualize the action, refine the story and provide production insights. Quick quiz: Which of the two illustrations pictured is a frame from the new Fanta commercial, “Chase,” and which is a frame from its test commercial? While the detail of the brick wall in one illustration might fool you into picking it as the full-up spot, the actual commercial frame depicts the black-haired boy standing in front of a wooden wall. “Chase” tells the story of the youngster who out-skateboards a throng of skateboarding kids who want some of his Fanta. Ogilvy NY (www.ogilvy.com) produced the commercial for the Coca-Cola Company brand. PSYOP NY (www.psyop.tv) handled the animation. The remarkably detailed 3D-animated test commercial for “Chase” was created by New York City-based Launch (www.321launch.com). Unlike storyboards and animatics, 3D-animated test commercials are actual precursors of final commercials. “These test commercials are an evolving specialty driven by advertisers that want more certainty about their ad spending,” says Joseph P. Weil, president of Launch. By studying and responding to consumer reactions to 3D-animated test commercials, Launch can adjust the script, visuals, edit or all three. As a result, it can communicate more complex and subtle marketing messages. Research firms use test spots in focus groups and newer online settings. In online link surveys, for instance, respondents log onto a website, watch a test commercial and answer some questions. Then they watch the commercial again and answer more questions. Respondents fall into different demographic groups, including the target group, whose answers receive special consideration. “When a commercial created with the help of animated test spots airs, you www.markeemag.com
see the most successful of at least two test spots,” Weil says. The Launch client roster suggests that some of the biggest advertisers in the world have signed on to this kind of commercial development: AnheuserBusch InBev, Coca Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Unilever. While Launch offers a variety of test commercial executions from conventional animatics to 2D and 3D animation, Weil says that 90 percent of the firm’s assignments today involve 3D animation.
Making Fanta Fantastic “We work closely with agencies and often production houses to develop these pieces,” Weil says. For the Fanta test commercial, PSYOP NY, which developed the character designs for previous Fanta spots, provided Launch with source drawings. “We worked with the agency and PSYOP to tighten the story and make it clear,” continues Weil. “We worked out a strong storytelling template and made a couple of spots.” Starting with the source drawings, Launch artists built model wireframes then rigged and animated the characters to tell the story four different ways. They then rendered the spots adding the final lighting and texturing. In short, Launch did everything an animation house would do to make a finished 3D-animated commercial, and they did it quickly. “We’ve written proprietary software that enables us to make high-end 3D animation on the schedule of a test commercial, which can be three days to two weeks,” Weil says. Depending on the project, Launch might use its proprietary tools along with Autodesk Maya and MotionBuilder and NVIDIA Mental Ray.
[Above Top] The full-up Fanta frame closely resembled Launch’s 3D test animation.
[Above] Launch’s 3D-animated test commercial for Fanta was a precursor of the final spot.
Fanta’s campaign features cartoon characters, but for test spots requiring realistic human animation – also done at warp speed – Launch’s offices contain a motion-capture studio. “We use it to capture source motions,” Weil explains. “Our infrared cameras record motion from 360 degrees so you can see movements from any angle.” Finished spots are crafted with the collaboration of the agency, Launch, market researchers and the production house. The agency and director benefit from Launch’s participation by knowing more about how the story works than with a typical storyboarded spot. Equally important, they know where the production challenges are and how best to deal with them. “When things work best,” says Weil, “production problems have [already] been solved, and the production house can focus on doing great work.” July/August 2011
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KNB EFX Group and Stargate Studios
BRING THE WALKING DEAD TO LIFE When swarms of post-apocalyptic zombies staggered onto the screen in AMC’s The Walking Dead last Halloween, viewers got up close and personal with the
BY CHRISTINE BUNISH
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undead and the remnants of the world they and the surviving bands of humans inhabit thanks to remarkable make up effects by KNB EFX Group Inc. in Chatswoth, California (www.knbefxgroup.com) and equally impressive digital VFX by Stargate Studios in South Pasadena (www.stargatestudios.net). Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
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With season two of The Walking Dead in production, the companies have reteamed to bring fans another memorable chapter in executive producer Frank Darabont’s compelling adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s graphic novel. Although they won’t reveal details of the 13 new episodes, KNB EFX and Stargate Studios have their work cut out for them if they plan to top the show’s pilot (the most-watched premiere of any AMC series) and first five episodes, which were shot on location in Atlanta during one of the hottest summers on record.
KNB EFX Takes Zombies in New Directions Even though The Walking Dead’s zombies are quite unique in the zombie genre, zombies are nothing new for Greg Nicotero, one of Hollywood’s busiest and most respected special effects make up professionals. Originally inspired to pursue a career in special effects after seeing Jaws and Dawn of the Dead, Nicotero broke into the business working for the legendary Tom Savini on George Romero’s zombie classic, Day of the Dead. He formed KNB EFX in 1988 with friends Robert Kurtzman (who left in 2002) and Howard Berger; the Oscar and Emmy Award-winning company’s credits include Sin City, Kill Bill, Minority Report, Spider-Man, Ray, Chronicles of Narnia and Transformers. Nicotero was 2nd unit director on Darabont’s The Mist and lensed his own short film, United Monster Talent Agency, featuring some of Universal Studios’ most iconic creatures. “Frank [Darabont] and I always talked about how exciting it would be to do a zombie project together,” says Nicotero of his friend of some 18 years. “We discussed The Walking Dead for about two years before AMC greenlit the show, so when the first draft of the script was done, we already had created a couple of prototype busts.” The goal was to “capture the spirit of the graphic novel in concept and design, to take a cue from the book. Its zombies were emaciated and gaunt with sunken cheekbones and eyes.” The first zombie busts were sculpted in clay then molded in silicone. Acrylic teeth were added along with glass eyes, hair and even costumes. “Frank went to the pitch meeting and pulled out the busts we made,” says Nicotero. “They got us pretty far in getting people to come onboard with the show.” Then sculptors got back to work in clay and on life casts to fabricate the hero prosthetic make ups and zombie prosthetics needed for the series. Jaremy Aiello was the key sculptor for the zombies’ look; Garret Immel, Andy Schoneberg and Jake Garber would later accompany Nicotero to Atlanta. “Having the same crew that worked on the make up from its inception has made a tremendous difference,” he notes. “They had a vested interest in making the sculpture they created come to life. I was in the shop with them every day; if we got an idea we could brainstorm it, refine it and test it. They were instrumental in making everything look as good as it could look.” To facilitate bringing the zombie look he envisioned to the screen, Nicotero took on a new role: casting. “First and foremost it was important to cast people with the right body type. Usually we get sent people and make them up. Romero’s zombie movies featured his friends and friends of friends.” But Nicotero hand picked The Walking Dead’s featured zombies, selecting people with a gaunt look, great facial bone structure and long necks so that when layers of prosthetics were added they would have the look of decomposing corpses and not fleshed out actors. “I was able to make the most of my past onset experience with zombies,” he says. “Contact lenses are always a must – they make a big difwww.markeemag.com
[Opposite Page] Sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) heads for a deserted Atlanta on horseback in a multilayered composite shot created by Stargate Studios from 2D elements, matte paintings, photographs and live action.
[Below] The amazing make up effects of the zombie known as Bicycle Girl get a final dab from KNB EFX make up artist Andy Schoneberg.
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VFX in TV
[Below] KNB EFX make up artists Garret Immel (left, in top shot) and Andy Schoneberg (right) apply the finishing touches to the prosthetic torso of the Bicycle Girl zombie.
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ference. The eyes are so important to [communicating] the life of a person, and contacts take a lot of that life away. We built up the ridge of the bridge of the nose for a look of decay and pushed lips away from teeth like you see with real mummified corpses.” To its credit, AMC “never said ‘You can’t do that,’ just ‘Use your own best judgment,’” he reports. And Darabont’s and Nicotero’s best judgment was “to make it awesome.” Although The Walking Dead’s zombies don’t tend to have personalities – “they act like more of a collective: one part of society overtaking another part of society” – one of the most striking individual zombies in season one was a young woman dubbed Bicycle Girl. With her lower body eaten away, the decomposing woman pathetically dragged herself across the grass until Sheriff Rick Grimes (played by Andrew Lincoln) put her out of her misery. Many viewers took Bicycle Girl to be an outstanding example of animatronics; in truth, she was a stand out example of special effects make up augmented by digital VFX. “We had sculpted her whole facial prosthetic, chest and back appliances and trailing entrails,” recalls Nicotero. “We had initially planned to dig a trench in the ground so her lower half was concealed and the gag would be entirely practical, but the park where we were shooting said we couldn’t dig a hole or put her on a platform. “Frank really wanted her on the ground anyway. So we put blue stockings on her legs and shot her rolling over and limply crawling to Rick. We also created chewed up bones and trailing intestines and dragged them in the same path of her crawl. Then Stargate composited everything together for a great melding of those practical elements.” Nicotero takes it as “the ultimate compliment that viewers didn’t know how we did that shot.” He calls the interplay of digital VFX and practical effects “a delicate ballet” but says “when people understand how to use each to maximum effect, you get the best results – a perfect blend of the two art forms.” KNB EFX fabricated a good portion of the prosthetics out of 3D prosthetic transfers, which Nicotero likens to “zombie tattoos.” The process “allowed us to do full volume make up in an hour and 20 minutes instead of three hours. We had hundreds of generic prosthetic pieces so when an actor came in his face was a new canvas, and we could use our imaginations and do whatever we wanted to do.” The make up process began by gluing on and painting the prosthetics, which were continually replenished by KNB EFX’s California studio. Zombies were rendered pale and discolored. Fake blood was added – often by spattering with a brush – and dirt, dentures and contact lenses were applied. The heat wave that hit during production didn’t threaten to melt the make up, but it meant that frequent touch ups were required. Team supervisors checked to ensure that zombies taking a drink or washing their hands didn’t remove critical make up. For crowd scenes KNB EFX crafted three tiers of zombie make up for featured, background and deep background characters. “It Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
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wasn’t practical to do 150 make ups with the 10-person crew we had, so we were smart about how to apportion things,” Nicotero explains. “We had maybe 30 featured zombies and 30 background zombies with make up and 30 deep background zombies with masks. Sometimes the zombies just needed wardrobe if they were at the end of a street filling out crowd scenes.” The last two episodes that depicted bodies strewn around the exterior of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) featured 60 zombie dummies and 60 actors in make up. “You couldn’t tell them apart,” says Nicotero. “That was the goal: to make everything as authentic and real as possible.” That authenticity extended to one of KNB EFX’s most successful non-zombie efforts: crafting the 1:1 horse model for the street scene in which the sheriff’s fallen horse is mobbed by a huge swarm of ravenous zombies who tear it to pieces.
Stargate Studios Creates Post-Apocalyptic Atlanta A self-confessed “huge fan” of the graphic novel, Jason Sperling “petitioned” Stargate Studios to put him on The Walking Dead; he was convinced that his background knowledge would serve him well. Sperling was named VFX supervisor for the show and was on set in Atlanta during production; the pilot was co-supervised by Sam Nicholson, Stargate’s owner. “The biggest challenge for us was bringing such an ambitious world view to the TV audience,” he says. “Frank did an incredible storyboard for the pilot. We were able to give him mock ups of what his shots might look like; that gained his trust and built our artistic relationship. Tonally and image-wise, the pilot really set the look and feel for the rest of the season and, we hope, the rest of the series.” One of the key early moments in The Walking Dead finds the sheriff waking up in the hospital to find himself the only one alive on the premises and the only apparent survivor in his small town as he ventures outside. After passing hundreds of bodies, some actors and some digitally cloned, he reaches the parking lot, which shows evidence of a lost battle: Helicopters are immobilized, Humvees are abandoned, tents are empty, barrels and debris are strewn everywhere, and a building in the background bears holes and scorch marks. According to Sperling, star Andrew Lincoln was photographed walking in his hospital gown against a 60-foot greenscreen that wrapped around part of the parking lot and the body of a real helicopter. “We added the chopper’s 3D rotors and built a second chopper from a 3D model,” he says. “The tents, Humvees and Jeeps and all the debris were 3D. The destroyed building and some additional debris were matte paintings.” Stargate Studios’ primary tools were Adobe Photoshop for matte painting, Autodesk Maya and NewTek LightWave 3D for 3D modeling and animation and Adobe After Effects for 2D compositing. All of the software ran on the company’s battery of PCs. “The show was shot on a mix of 16mm and 35mm film,” says Sperling. “The 16mm gave it an especially gritty look, although it’s a challenge doing VFX with 16mm; we tried www.markeemag.com
[Top] Sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln, center) leaves the hospital to discover the aftermath of the horrific zombie attack in a parking lot largely populated by 3D elements and matte paintings from Stargate Studios.
[Bottom] An aerial shot of an abandoned tank in downtown Atlanta reveals swarming zombies, many generated by Stargate Studios using Massive Software’s crowd-simulation tool.
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[Above] The Bicycle Girl zombie as she appeared to viewers, her lower limbs having been encased in blue tights so she seems to drag only her torso and entrails – a triumph of KNB EFX’s make up effects and Stargate Studios’ digital VFX.
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to use 35mm for the greenscreen work to give us a better key and more latitude to do what we needed.” The Bicycle Girl sequence was “a great challenge for everyone involved,” he reports. “We had to seamlessly blend Greg’s fantastic prosthetics with the femur, entrails and nasty guts we created in Maya to replace the actor’s legs. Greg provided us with a femur and the torso piece, and we took a lot of photos and textured them onto the 3D geometry we created. We even did some amazing finishing touches like the trail on the grass left by her entrails.” A scene in which the sheriff appears to be a lone man facing hundreds of swarming zombies involved blocking off a number of downtown Atlanta streets over a weekend. The sheriff, on horseback, is mobbed by zombies who fell the horse and proceed to devour it as the lawman escapes to an abandoned tank. “The concept was to start the shot real close to the tank and pull the camera back to reveal the trouble Rick is in,” Sperling explains. “There were a hundred extras swarming the tank, but when the camera pulled back to show hundreds more we had to generate them with Massive Software’s crowd-simulation tool originally developed for the Lord of the Rings movies,” he says. “We did a motion capture session with Robin Conover at Lightstone Animation. One of the featured zombies who had been to zombie training school gave us a lot of different motion data that we could use to move the 3D zombies throughout the environment.” Stargate Studios also created the 3D streets, crosswalks, lights, buildings and trees revealed in the background. One of the most iconic shots of season one shows the sheriff riding his horse on the highway, the Atlanta skyline looming in the distance. The side of the road leaving the city is full of abandoned and destroyed vehicles; the sheriff’s side is deserted except for him. “Rick’s ride into Atlanta has a direct correlation to the panel in the graphic novel,” Sperling says. “It was inspirational to our final VFX shot and a nice juxtaposition of the reality of the world he’s entering into. When people at Comic-Con 2010 saw that shot, which became The Walking Dead poster, they got really excited about the show.” The complex shot features multiple 2D elements, matte paintings and live action composited together. “Andrew was shot on the horse in a parking lot about five miles away,” Sperling reports. “We had 35mm plates of the Atlanta skyline and a ton of stills. The highway was real, but we extended the lanes on both sides with matte painting. The cars were real photographic elements that we dirtied up. While I was in Atlanta I saw an auto accident and shot stills, with my Canon EOS Rebel T2i, of all the cars that were backed up.” The railroad tracks flanking the deserted side of the highway were “an invention of matte painter Kristin Johnson who moved real tracks from the location where we shot Rick on his horse and populated them with matte painted train cars.” The row houses on the other side of the highway were real buildings; matte painting helped them show evidence of destruction. Likewise, bits of the gleaming skyscrapers are also missing and scorched. Trash and debris were shot on greenscreen; a gathering storm was composited into the sky. “There were maybe 14-15 iterations of this huge matte painting,” says Sperling. “It was a spectacular compositing job. All the details – the trash, birds, the coming storm and trees moving add to the mise en scene of the shot.” In the conclusion to season one the CDC, where the sheriff and his band of survivors had sought refuge, was destroyed. “As soon as we saw the incredible Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre building [which doubled for the CDC], we knew we had to blow it up!” Sperling recalls. Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
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After shooting plates of the building in Atlanta Stargate Studios partnered with special effects coordinator Darrell Pritchett on the pyro in LA. “We shot 1:1 pyro elements and lots of debris on a greenscreen or blackscreen stage, then supplemented them with 3D debris, breaking glass, matte painting, bodies and 3D trees swaying in the explosion,” he explains. Using real pyrotechnics was a no-brainer. “With the pyro so close to the camera lens and performing specific actions – flying out the windows, consuming bodies and tanks on the ground – we didn’t feel that 3D fire was a viable option,” says Sperling. “Once we decided on pyro we were basically able to take every angle of the shot, line them up with the camera feed and do a realtime previs mock up with our proprietary VB Live system. We could see how the pyro would interact with the environment and get a reference for the real size and shape of the pyro we needed from Darrell.” Kent Johnson was Stargate Studios’ VFX producer in LA. Anthony Ocampo was lead visual effects animator, Chris Martin lead visual effects compositor, Kristin Martin lead matte artist, Michael Enriquez lead model maker and Michael Cook lead CGI artist/animator. Adalberto Lopez was CGI supervisor.
[Above] Stargate Studios shot 1:1 pyro elements to integrate with 3D debris, breaking glass and matte painting in VFX shots of the conflagration at the CDC building.
They’re Baaaack! While Nicotero and Sperling can’t divulge what’s ahead in season two, they have a notion of what they’d like to see. “After season one we made a list for ourselves of do’s and don’ts for season two,” laughs Nicotero. “A lot of make ups were really successful, and we want to be able to push them further by utilizing full over-the-head silicone masks and some techniques we haven’t explored yet to sell the idea that the zombies are continuing to decompose and decay.” He also thinks there may be some animatronics in the new episodes. “A couple of animatronic zombies would be fun to do,” he says. Sperling says Stargate Studios will “continue to supplement the gore that fans love, and we’re hoping for twice as many zombies.” He marvels at the volume of work Nicotero was able to accomplish in season one. “We supplied a few scenes with digital zombies but, frankly, we expected to do a lot more. That we didn’t is a testament to the ability of Greg and his team to produce hundreds of extras.” Nicotero returns the compliment with kudos of his own. “What Stargate did fantastically well were the entrance and exit wounds for a lot of the head hits – we had numerous conversations about digital blood.” Sperling says he and Nicotero became close friends on the set. “We even tried to one up each other,” he reports. “I’d pitch a digital zombie with his stomach shot out, and Greg would come back and have it done with a real person. It was fun using all the different types of effects – Greg’s a god in the industry and a great ally on the set.” Nicotero stresses that no matter how well KNB EFX and Stargate Studios deliver on their goal of making The Walking Dead look amazing, the series is ultimately a drama about survival. “It’s the performances of the actors that pull you in,” he says. “The audience is not limited to people who’d watch any zombie project. The genre feels fresh, and that’s a tribute to the actors, Frank’s work as a writer and all the directors on the show.” www.markeemag.com
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LOCATIONS, LOCATIONS, LOCATIONS Location shooting spells success for much programming on the small screen. A wide diversity of venues in close proximity to each other, a strong sense of place and local flavor, the authenticity of real brick-and-mortar neighborhoods and period sites all contribute to making audiences for The Glades, Mildred Pierce and Hung feel they know their characters and their worlds.
BY CHRISTINE BUNISH
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The Glades Unveils Another South Florida Motion pictures and episodic television are not new to South Florida. Consider the impact of Miami Vice and the Bad Boyz franchise and, more recently, USA Network’s hit series Burn Notice. But there’s a new South Florida player in the mix, A&E’s original detective series The Glades, which debuted last year. Set in the fictional, slightly sleepy town of Palm Glade, the series, from FOX Television Studios in Los Angeles, gives viewers a look at “a different side of Florida that they may have forgotten existed” with urban-based Florida productions dominating the screen, says location manager Leah Sokolowsky. “It’s the Florida that’s not showcased as much but is just as beautiful – a version of ‘old’ Florida, a low-density town bumped up against The Everglades. Finding it in a suburban, built-out area has been challenging but fun.” A location manager for almost 20 years, the lion’s share of it in South Florida, Sokolowsky has worked on both seasons of The Glades, 80-90 percent of which is shot in Broward County, much of it within a 30-mile radius of Pembroke Park. “The entire production is based here: production offices, set construction, the stage. It’s been phenomenal – you can get anywhere quickly,” she says. As a member of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Det. Jim Longworth (played by Matt Passmore) is based in Palm Glade, but travels to crime scenes throughout the state – but all are represented by locales in South Florida. “We’ve done quite a bit of Everglades and swamps this year,” Sokolowsky reports. “Everyone’s vision of The Everglades is different so that gives us a lot of flexibility in shooting: Being able to craft our own version is a wonderful tool.” Some Evergladesidentified locations are really in The Everglades, but sometimes it’s not logistically feasible to shoot there, so state, county and municipal parks in eastern Florida have doubled for the area. “We’ve been very successful working with the park people,” she says. “A number of factors come into play when you’re making location decisions about natural, protected areas. They’ve been wonderful helping us reconcile production needs with those of a pristine environment.” Dania Beach north of Hollywood, Florida is a popular location for its beach and pier, and other locations. “We’ve been there five or six times this season,” she notes, “for a more rural, less dense look.” Homes from the historic Sailboat Bend neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale featured in an episode as did a cluster of buildings on the New River in downtown Fort Lauderdale, which doubled for the carnival town of Gibtown. Owned by the local historical society, the New River buildings were a “gold mine” for a location manager, says Sokolowsky. “It was really fun creating the look of the town for the show.” Recurring locations include the FDLE substation exterior, which is the non-profit Art and Cultural Center of Hollywood; Longworth’s house in Hollywood; the house of Longworth’s love interest nurse Callie Cargill (Keile Sanchez) in Fort Lauderdale’s Victoria Park; and Callie’s Palm Glade Regional Hospital, which last year was a dormant hospital in Oakland Park. Interiors are shot in a Pembroke Park warehouse that’s slowly being converted into a soundstage. A second-season episode with a NASCAR racing theme took the production to nearby Homestead, which has its own NASCAR facility. “We partnered with NASCAR for the episode, and the people at the speedway were amazing – very accommodating and easy to work with,” Sokolowsky reports. “This episode was a huge boost for the cast and crew. You get really energized seeing things up close and personal.” www.markeemag.com
[Above Top] A body falls onto a roulette table in a scene from The Glades shot in the Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino in Hallandale, Florida. Photo: Gene Page/Courtesy of FOX Television Studios
[Above] Shooting the Gibtown episode of The Glades at buildings on the New River owned by the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society (Matt Passmore in blue shirt). Photo: Glenn Watson/Courtesy of FOX Television Studios
[Below] The Glades (Matt Passmore, right) shot a NASCARthemed episode in Homestead, Florida. Photo: Glenn Watson/Courtesy of FOX Television Studios
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Locations, Locations, Locations
[Above] The diner where Mildred (Kate Winslet) gets her first job and meets Monty (Guy Pearce) was built in the front of a hairdressing school in Peekskill, New York. Photo: Andrew Schwartz/HBO
Last year, the show took over the Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino a few miles from the production offices in Hallandale for an episode based at the fictional Cold Stream Casino and, for a hurricane show, the popular Hyatt Pier 66 Hotel in Fort Lauderdale permitted special effects to blow “rain, wind and muck into their front lobby,” says Sokolowsky. The Governor’s Office of Film & Entertainment, working in conjunction with FOX Television Studios, also has been helpful in streamlining processes and permitting, as have county and city film commissions, especially when 24- to 48-hour turnarounds are needed. “They’ve really got systems that work quickly and effectively,” Sokolowsky says. As a Broward County resident, Sokolowsky knows how rich in locations the area is: horse farms, cities, suburbs, historical buildings, Everglades-style terrain. “I’ve spent most of my career in Miami-Dade, so scouring the Broward community to find everything that’s available here has really been fun. And now, in the second season, local residents are identifying with the show, which has become a source of pride for the community.”
New York Goes Hollywood for Mildred Pierce The highly-acclaimed HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce has collected an armful of Emmy Award nominations for its retelling of the James M. Cain classic set in 1930s Southern California. When East Coast-based location manager Joe Guest signed on, the production had scouted locations in California, but teams also were scouting in New York. “A few locations, including Mildred’s neighborhood (found in Merrick, Long Island) and Hollywood (in Peekskill) sold them on the fact that the show could be done here,” he says. If it sounds like a stretch that locales in Long Island, along the Hudson River and in New York City could double for LA 80 years ago, consider this. “Any period project immediately becomes a challenge: It’s not just where you can do it, but how you can create a world that doesn’t exist anywhere,” says Guest. “The California of the ‘30s isn’t around anymore in California either. You wouldn’t necessarily find any better period locations there than here.” A key dealmaker was the Merrick, Long Island neighborhood of The Gables whose Spanish-style stucco houses doubled for Glendale, California – Mildred’s modest, middle-class home so despised by her scheming, social-climbing daughter Veda. “The houses were built to be a commuter suburb for workers at the Kaufman Astoria Studios,” in the borough of Queens, says Guest. “The studio workers were supposed to feel at home in a more Cal-
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A neighborhood of Spanish-style homes in Merrick, Long Island doubled for Mildred’s Glendale neighborhood. Photo: Andrew Schwartz/HBO
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ifornia vibe.” Apart from installing new tile roofs on Mildred’s house and those of her immediate neighbors and trucking in tropical-style landscaping, the unique locale was camera-ready. Manhattan’s Madison Avenue at 27th Street was transformed into downtown Los Angeles. “Not very many spots in New York City are left where you can get that period look and match the scale of LA with the wider streets,” says Guest. The classic New York Life building and landmark Met Life Tower fit the era and storefronts across the street got temporary awnings and other evocative set dressing. “The Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting was instrumental in permitting us to redirect pedestrians and traffic during shooting,” he reports. Nearby, Steiner Studios in Brooklyn served as the production’s stage facility. Peekskill offered a great period diner for the Hollywood sequences where Mildred (played by Kate Winslet) takes a waitressing job and launches her restaurant career. “But it was critical for [director] Todd [Haynes] and the production designer to see street life through the diner window,” says Guest. “So there was a hairdressing school that let us transform the front of their building into the diner.” The street outside was dressed with a Kresge’s five-and-ten and bank building and vintage automobiles. “It was a great block of architecture, and everyone was excited about having us,” he recalls. The diner’s kitchen was a functioning kitchen in the basement of the House of the Redeemer Church on East 95th Street in Manhattan. The location for the first restaurant that Mildred opens in Glendale was found in Point Lookout, Long Island. “The house we used was a model home built to sell homes in the area,” says Guest. Ironically, the fictional Mildred’s ex-husband was a homebuilder. To make the house look isolated and to block out neighboring vinyl-sided homes, photography cheated on the angle for the corner lot and got help from set dressing and landscaping. The Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club in Long Island acted as Mildred’s second restaurant in Laguna Beach with its shorefront terrace and porch facing the water. “I remember scouting it years ago for a summer project, and they weren’t interested,” Guest notes. “But this time the project appealed to them and our timing worked out: We were able to get into the beach club and shoot before club activity picked up for the season.” Glen Cove’s landmark Woolworth (yes, those Woolworths) Mansion was “an amazing architectural treasure” that served as the home of Monty Beragon (Guy Pearce), says Guest. “For a while it was leased as a corporate headquarters; it was privately owned when we used it. It’s a big property and you get that sense of bigness – the staircase, the huge rooms. We were able to achieve a sort of rundown quality – Monty’s living in the servants’ quarters because the place is too big and expensive to maintain. Then Mildred transforms it to its former glory. I think what helped us get the property was that the project honored the house for what it is in the story.” Another important find was the glorious United Palace Theatre in Washington Heights, the last of the Loew’s Wonder Theaters built in New York and now owned by the Christ Community United Church, which www.markeemag.com
[Above] New York City’s Madison Avenue was dressed as 1930s LA for Mildred Pierce. Photo: Andrew Schwartz/HBO
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Locations, Locations, Locations
[Above] The beautifully restored United Palace Theatre stood in for the LA Philharmonic in Mildred Pierce. Photo: Andrew Schwartz/HBO
has restored it. It doubles for the LA Philharmonic where Veda (Evan Rachel Wood) makes her operatic debut. “There are only a few of those magnificent theater interiors left,” notes Guest, and even the exterior was “the right scale for the LA Philharmonic of the era.” All over Long Island Guest found other “little magical pieces of 1930s LA,” including Caumsett State Park, which offered polo grounds, stables and a farm for Mildred’s produce shopping; it was even the locale of her car crash after leaving Monty’s mansion. “It’s a wonderful property that’s always been friendly to film production,” says Guest. He was delighted to have found so many locations in Long Island’s Nassau County and western Suffolk County without having to tote 100-150 crew members, actors, extras and 10-20 tractor-trailer size vehicles to the eastern-most tip of Long Island, which some suspected would be more location rich. “I couldn’t have done my job without the support of the New York State Governor’s Office for Motion Picture and Television Development,” says Guest. “Many times they helped with the weight of their office. We discovered the whole concept of ’30s California in New York, and they can be proud of that. We were able to say, ‘In your face, California!’”
[Below] Tanya’s apartment in Hung is a multifamily home in Hamtramck, Michigan. Photo: Lacey Terrell/HBO
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HBO’s Hung Hangs Out in Michigan HBO always has been known for its cutting-edge programming. Its much-praised original series Hung is the story of a struggling suburban Detroit high school baseball coach who moonlights as a male prostitute. About 20 percent of the show is shot on location in Michigan with the balance lensed in California, which doubles for the Great Lakes state. David Wolfson has been the Michigan location manager for the show since the pilot; season three airs this fall. “There is not one factor that determines where a location will be shot,” Wolfson says. “In general, exterior locations are favored over interiors, allowing better visual use of the real Michigan environment. At the same time, there are always some interiors in the location mix.” Among recurring locations in Michigan is the house of well-endowed coach Ray Drecker (played by Thomas Jane) in West Bloomfield. “The house was picked to fulfill a story point of the main character living in a small, slightly rundown house next to a new, large house that dwarfed Ray’s by comparison. The houses also needed to be on a lake. Early in the story, Ray was living in a tent in his backyard. The lake visually opened the set and provided an environment for other scenes using Ray’s dock and swimming in the lake.” The apartment building of Tanya Skagle (Jane Adams), another recurring location, is in Hamtramck. Hung also has used a hotel and bowling alley exterior (the latter doubling as an ice rink) in Troy, Michigan; a chain restaurant with parking lot in Walled Lake; and in the pilot, a high school gym exterior in Rochester Hills. The upcoming season made stops in Royal Oak, Birmingham and Hamtramck, and viewers will see local storefronts, a farm, parks, an apartment building, a bakery and a coffee shop adding authenticity to Ray’s Upper Midwest world. An episode in season three features a bumper-car ride at an outdoor amusement park, a location that posed a challenge for Wolfson. “For most of the 20th century there was a large amusement park on an island in the Detroit River,” Wolfson explains. “Unfortunately, Boblo Island closed in 1993 and was not replaced. The bumper-car rides that currently exist are at small, indoor amusement centers.” Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
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Luckily, production of the show coincided with the start of “festival season” in southeastern Michigan, he reports. “Almost every municipality has a carnival with amusement park rides. By contacting all the carnival organizations touring Michigan we were able to locate several that would be in the Detroit area during the filming period.” The production did face a logistical challenge, however. “Festivals typically occur for only two to four days, and the rides are set up usually a day before the festival opens,” he notes. “After speaking to several carnival vendors, we found one who had the labor resources to work non-stop to set up the rides a day early. That allowed enough time between set up and the festival opening for Hung to film its scripted scene and maintain complete control over the carnival space. In the end, we were able to create an outdoor amusement park environment without the very large expense of erecting a carnival set.” Wolfson says that the Michigan Film Office has been “very helpful in dealing with Michigan government locations and connecting us with local government representatives. The majority of the Detroit filming area lies outside the city of Detroit. This remaining area mostly consists of small cities, many of which have limited to no experience with filming. The state film office helps liaise with these smaller municipalities.” Municipalities that give Hung the Michigan flavor viewers have come to expect.
[Above] An episode of the new season of Hung features a carnival bumper-car ride, which proved a challenge to find for Michigan location manager David Wolfson. Photo: Lacey Terrell/HBO
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Office (404) 355-4370 1-866-355-4370 Fax (404) 355-4360
www.atlantarigging.com July/August 2011
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Locations Gallery Contact: Jutta Matalka Director, Tourism/Film
Palo Duro Canyon State Park Considered the second largest canyon in the U.S. and one of its most magnificent scenic attractions. More than 30,000 acres display extraordinary vistas of color and beauty. Today’s visitors appreciate the fact that they can drive 800 feet down to the bottom of the canyon.
Amarillo Film Commission 1000 S. Polk • Amarillo, TX 79101 Phone: 806.342.2012 • F: 806.342.2061 www.visitamarillotx.com
Contact: Steve Montrowl Director of Production Pamela Tuscany Vice President/GM
Stage Facilities & Backlot Rentals Industry leader providing production facilities and services for film, video and media content creation. Sounds stages, over 100 backlot locations, production offices and warehouses, hair, make-up / wardrobe plus extensive production resources and vendors. Universal Studios Florida Production Group 1000 Universal Studios Plaza, B22A• Orlando, FL 32819 Phone: 407.363.8400 • 877.612.3737 www.universalstudios.com/studio/florida productiongroup@universalorlando.com
Contacts: Andy Edmunds, Location Manager Kathryn Stephens, Industry Relations Manager
Fort Monroe Fort Monroe is a recently de-commissioned military base that features an historic 17th century fort, unspoiled ocean shoreline, warehouse space, water tank, lighthouse, marina, and residential, military and commercial buildings. This unique location is an exceptional period and modern location — ready for filming.
Virginia Film Office 901 East Byrd Street • Richmond, Virginia 23219-4049 Phone: 800.854.6233 • F: 804.545.5531 www.filmvirginia.org
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July/August 2011 • V. 26 |No. 4
2.0 Music & Sound Guide
Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
[Pictured] Megatrax Production Music’s recording facilities, North Hollywood, California. Photo: Fernando Sanchez
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Music & Sound Listings 5 ALARM MUSIC
626-304-1698
F:626-795-2058
cassie@5alarmmusic.com www.5alarmmusic.com
AMERICAN MUSIC COMPANY INC F:516-764-2648
516-764-1466 info@americanmusicco.com www.americanmusicco.com
AUDIOIMAGE RECORDING
804-644-7700
F:804-644-8801
info@audioimagerecording.com
AUDISEE 5TH FLOOR RECORDING CO
414-276-1919
F:414-221-6621
ray@5thfloorrecording.com
615 MUSIC
615-244-6515
F:615-242-2455
info@615music.com www.615music.com
ANOTHER COUNTRY F:312-706-5801
AUSTIN SOUNDMINE 323-461-3211 F:512-291-0214
323-650-0767
F:323-650-2906
F:212-856-9807
AZ LOS ANGELES 212-856-9800 F:310-581-8091
ARU INC F:612-373-5826
612-373-2220
F:312-527-3360
BAD ANIMALS 312-527-7000 F:206-441-2910 BAKER SOUND STUDIOS
ASCHE & SPENCER 612-339-6758
F:612-338-4319
612-338-0032
818-255-7100 F:310-396-7387
310-396-2344
F:954-923-9274
954-920-4418 BEAR CREEK STUDIO
AUDIO ENGINE-NY 212-352-1888
F:212-352-1208
michelle@ambermusic.com
310-582-8288
F:310-582-8288
dana@ambermusic.com
212-473-2700
F:425-486-2718
425-481-4100 bearcreek@seanet.com
sharond@audioengine.net
BENNETT STUDIOS AUDIO ENGINE-WEST
AMBER MUSIC
310-392-9535 adrea@beaconstreetstudios.com
linda@audacityrecording.com
info@aircraftmusiclibrary.com
AMBER MUSIC
info@bamstudio.com
BEACON STREET STUDIOS AUDACITY RECORDING
800-343-2514
312-255-8862
F:312-255-8842
info@ascheandspencer.com
info@megatrax.com
F:617-303-7666
info@bakersound.com
BAM STUDIO ASCHE & SPENCER
AIRCRAFT MUSIC LIBRARY
215-567-0400
F:215-567-0350
info@ascheandspencer.com
absolute@absolutemusicinc.com
AIRCAST CUSTOM MUSIC
206-443-1500 info@badanimals.com
contact@aruchicago.com
info@aaronstokes.com
ABSOLUTE MUSIC
310-581-8081 alonso@azlosangeles.com
accountservices@apmmusic.com
mark@7outmusic.com
AARON/STOKES MUSIC + SOUND
512-423-3680 info@soundmine.com
accountservices@apmmusic.com
APM MUSIC 7-OUT-MUSIC
info@audisee.com
tim.konn@anothercountry.net
APM MUSIC F:323-461-9102
206-283-4733
312-706-5800
F:602-250-8606
AUDIO LAB SOUND RECORDINGS
602-250-8605
F:201-227-7133
201-227-0200 dae@bennettstudios.com
shannonb@audioengine.net
BIG SCORE MUSIC 208-344-9551 F:800-514-8354
800-864-1467 info@bigscoremusic.com
steve@audiolab.org
BIG U MUSIC.SOUND DESIGN F:602-254-6596
BLAZING MUSIC + SOUND
602-253-2448 info@bigumusic.com
919-645-6622 eric@blazingmusicsound.com
BLUE MUSIC & SOUND DESIGN F:310-568-0033
BOUTWELL STUDIOS
310-568-3355 blue@bluemusicla.com
205-870-1180 greg@boutwellstudios.com
BROCK MUSIC INC
615-298-2200 info@brockmusic.com
BWN
612-252-3990 info@bwnoise.com
BWN
323-462-1873 info@outlawsound.com
CAKEMIX RECORDING F:972-818-2686
CANARY COLLECTION
972-818-1649 record@cakemixrecording.com
888-422-6279 info@canarymusic.com
CATAMOUNT RECORDING INC
319-235-6517 catamount@cfu.net
CHAPMAN RECORDING STUDIO F:913-894-6857
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913-894-6854 chuck@chapmanrecording.com
Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
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CHARLES ELLER STUDIOS
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802-870-3436 DAVENPORT MUSIC LIBRARY chas@charlesellerstudios.com
CHICAGO RECORDING CO F:312-822-9189
312-822-9333
F:704-749-2566
DAVID BERNSTEIN MUSIC
chrisshepard@chicagorecording.com
CINETRAX
323-874-9590
F:323-874-9592
info@cinetrax.com
CLATTER & DIN
206-464-0520
F:206-464-0702
tickle@clatterdin.com
CLEAN CUTS MUSIC F:202-237-5455
202-237-8884 kendrah@cleancuts.com
COLORADO SOUND RECORDING STUDIO
303-430-8811
colosnd@coloradosound.com
CONCENTRIX MUSIC & SOUND DESIGN F:704-372-3581
COUPE STUDIOS MUSIC
303-447-0551 info@coupestudios.com
CREATIVE SOUND CONCEPTS F:404-367-9599
CSS MUSIC F:323-660-2070
CURTIS BRYANT MUSIC F:770-969-4013
www.markeemag.com
404-873-6628 creativesound@mindspring.com
800-468-6874
DEAF MULE F:214-849-5507
DERRYBERRY AUDIO INC F:303-254-6304
DEWOLFE MUSIC LIBRARY F:212-382-0278
DIGITAL DOMAIN OF AUSTIN F:512-328-9056
F:503-224-7413
DL MUSIC F:323-878-0444
DOPPLER STUDIOS F:404-249-7148
DREAMSCAPE MUSIC
info@cssmusic.com
770-964-3063 cbmusic@bellsouth.net
503-396-5294 db@davidbernsteinmusic.com
704-372-3448 DIGITAL ONE
fred@concentrixmusic.com
866-698-7983 nd@davenportmusic.com
214-849-5505 info@deafmule.com
303-456-8216 info@derryberryaudio.com
212-382-0220 info@dewolfemusic.com
512-328-9058 kelly@digdom.com
503-228-3441 cameeron@digone.com
323-878-0400 derek@dl-music.com
404-873-6941 info@dopplerstudios.com
310-857-8599 len@dreamscapemusic.com
DRM: SIR REEL SOUND F:972-539-1129
214-752-5000 sirreelsound.mac.com
July/August 2011
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Music & Sound Listings EARHOLE
312-527-1775
F:312-527-4884
ECHO BOYS F:612-338-4601
ELIAS ARTS
612-338-7947
GLENN SOUND
206-583-8112
info@echoboys.com
F:206-583-0930
info@glennsound.com
dpiacenza@eliasarts.com
ELIAS ARTS
310-581-6500
F:310-581-4800
ahaugen@eliasarts.com
EMOTO MUSIC
GMP MUSIC
800-955-0619
F:269-687-9200
EMOTO MUSIC
310-260-2626
F:310-572-4647
F:310-573-8488
310-694-8251
HI FI PROJECT
marycatherine@endlessnoise.com
F:310-395-5868
ENDLESS NOISE
EXTREME PRODUCTION MUSIC F:310-395-0409
FIRSTCOM MUSIC F:972-389-4301
310-395-0408 la@extrememusic.com
800-858-8880 info@firstcom.com www.firstcom.com
617-666-1200
president@handsomebrothers.com
F:416-786-1783
413-786-1450
INTIMITA MUSIC
310-260-9939 jud@horriblemusic.net
HUM MUSIC AND SOUND
IV
F:708-283-8870
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info@gamebeatstudios.com
July/August 2011
F:601-853-1169
615-320-1444
F:615-256-6037
skeller@ivgroup.cc
800-325-9877 james@jamesneelmusichouse.com
F:904-399-2981
JAY HOWARD PRODUCTION AUDIO F:704-523-5473
310-260-4949 JDK MUSIC PRODUCTION
F:310-260-4944
708-283-8860 HUNTER GIBSON MUSIC INC
323-573-2896 johnmassari1@mac.com
debbi@humit.com
F:804-761-6955
615-385-3729
JECO MUSIC
info@hummingbirdproductions.com www.hummingbirdproductions.com
F:310-315-9585
JECO MUSIC GAMEBEAT STUDIOS
623-376-7049 contact@imagescore.com
310-319-1100 JAMIE DEFRATES MUSIC
F:818-995-6110
bob@freshmusic.com
IMAGESCORE MUSIC
310-573-8484 JAMES NEEL MUSIC HOUSE
info@hifiproject.com
HORRIBLE MUSIC
F:615-385-3446
312-587-0133 john@idmusicchicago.com
jim@hestkramer.com
HUMMINGBIRD PRODUCTIONS FRESH MUSIC LIBRARY
ID MUSIC
info@grooveworx.com
312-640-1878 HEST & KRAMER VAN HOUSE & WEBER chicago@emotomusic.com
312-988-9072 ron@idigmusic.com
info@gmpmusic.com
GROOVEWORX CUSTOM MUSIC
F:617-666-3918
I DIG MUSIC
info@gemusic.com
310-399-6900 HANDSOME BROTHERS MUSIC la@emotomusic.com
F:310-566-1469
212-673-9274
F:212-673-9140
212-807-6500
F:212-645-0874
GE MUSIC
info@earholestudios.com
601-853-1778
F:212-768-8505
904-399-2929 defrates@bellsouth.net
704-525-7864 info@jayhowardaudio.com
804-272-6777 info@jdkmusic.com
310-315-3626 gus@jecomusic.com
212-768-8501 gus@jecomusic.com
huntergibson1@comcast.net
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JRT MUSIC
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888-578-6874
F:212-353-9317
info@jrtmusic.com
JSM
212-627-2200
F:212-645-0484
info@jsmmusic.com
KALEIDOSOUND
925-283-9901
F:925-283-9902
MUSICBOX F:818-224-4043
800-454-5537
F:310-865-4470
info@killertracks.com www.killertracks.com
LAMBCHOPS STUDIOS
512-989-3042 bmsatter@nuancemusic.com
MUSIKVERGNUEGEN
323-856-5900 OGM PRODUCTION MUSIC
F:323-856-5917
info@musikv.com
F:323-461-1543
800-448-6467
OMNIMUSIC
info@ntracks.com
F:516-883-0271
NARRATOR TRACKS
forrest@k-sound.com
KILLER TRACKS
818-224-4318 NUANCE MUSIC info@musicboxmx.com
NON-STOP MUSIC LIBRARY F:801-531-0346
323-461-2701 ogmmusic@gmail.com
800-828-6664 info@omnimusic.com www.omnimusic.com
801-531-0060 info@nonstopmusic.com www.nonstopmusic.com
OPUS1 MUSIC LIBRARY F:818-508-2044
818-508-2040 mitch@opus1musiclibrary.com
602-279-0900
F:602-279-0980
susan@lambchops.com
LEONARD WOLF MUSIC
615-254-4828 leonard@wolfmusic.com
LION & FOX RECORDING
301-982-4431 mail@lionfox.com
LOS ANGELES POST MUSIC INC
818-501-8329
F:818-990-7661
info@lapostmusic.com
LUMINOUS SOUND STUDIOS
972-331-7040
F:972-331-7041
info@luminoussound.com
M-CUTS MUSIC LIBRARY
706-333-0787 pat@m-cuts.com
MANCHESTER MUSIC LIBRARY
413-369-4331
information@manchestermusic.com
MANHATTAN PRODUCTION MUSIC F:212-262-0814
212-333-5766 info@mpmmusic.com
MARSHALL SOUND DESIGN
972-484-1535 johnny@marshallsounddesign.com
MAYFAIR WORKSHOP
773-426-3073 mark@mayfairrecordings.com
MEGATRAX PRODUCTION MUSIC F:818-255-7199
MENTEN MUSIC INC
888-MEGA-555 info@megatrax.com www.megatrax.com
612-940-6177 info@mentenmusic.com
MENZA MUSIC
214-574-6874 info@menzamusic.com
MODERN MUSIC F:612-332-4910
MULTI-MEDIAMUSIC INC F:432-224-9124
MUSIC 2 HUES F:860-745-1312
MUSIC A LA CARTE F:305-854-1925
www.markeemag.com
612-332-6299 info@modern-music.com
219-662-8857 joey@multi-mediamusic.com
860-745-1312 info@music2hues.com
305-854-1810 info@musicalacarte.com
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Music & Sound Listings OUTPOST AUDIO INC
305-250-9988
F:305-250-9922
debbie@outpostaudio.com
OZONE MUSIC
RIOT MUSIC
305-891-3508 SHORELINE STUDIOS
F:305-891-4407
steve@riotmusic.com
248-298-2858 RIPE SOUND
F:248-786-6248
ozone@ozonesound.com
PBTM ROYALTY FREE MUSIC
541-345-8117
support@instantdownloadmusic.com
310-394-4932
F:310-458-7802
info@shorelinestudios.com
707-782-9099 SIGNATURE MUSIC LIBRARY
F:707-782-9529
andy1@ripesound.com
RIPTIDE MUSIC
219-921-0205
F:419-844-2891
info@sigmusic.com
310-437-4380
F:310-437-4384
contact@riptidemusic.com
SINGING SERPENT
619-235-6040
F:619-235-6506
PERSONAL MUSIC INC
305-854-7014
F:305-854-7045
info@personalmusic.com
RIVER CITY SOUND PRODUCTION
music@singingserpent.com
901-274-7277
F:901-274-8494
info@rivercitysound.com
SINGING SERPENT
310-882-5439
F:310-882-5517
PLUG’D MUSIC + SOUND DESIGN
310-287-1876 RK MUSIC getreel@plugdmusic.com
music@singingserpent.com
212-229-2279
F:212-229-2082
rob@rkmusic.com
SINGING SERPENT
212-486-9816
F:212-486-9820
POINT CLASSICS LLC
866-368-9603
F:818-985-5811
tanvi@pointclassics.com
RON ROSE PRODUCTIONS F:813-875-6633
dennis@singingserpent.com
813-873-7700 info@ronroseproductions.com
SINGLETON PRODUCTIONS
972-226-7118
F:972-226-9413
PRODUCTION GARDEN MUSIC F:210-530-5230
210-530-5200 info@productiongarden.com
RON ROSE PRODUCTIONS
bobs@singletonproductions.com
800-662-6638
F:248-424-8622
anything@ronrose.com
SMARTSOUND SOFTWARE INC
800-454-1900
F:818-920-9152
PROMIDI INT’L CORP
305-956-9116
ROYALTY FREE MUSIC
F:305-947-8220
info@promidi.biz
F:770-453-9187
RCB MUSIC LIBRARY F:813-655-0575
info@smartsound.com
770-441-9161 info@royaltyfreemusic.com
813-689-6066 SCIENCE FRICTION
SONG STREET RECORDS
615-244-6515 support@songstreetrecords.com www.songstreetrecords.com
856-810-1448
info@rcbmusiclibrary.com
info@scifrimusic.com
SONIXPHERE REN MUSIC LIBRARY F:732-382-5329
732-382-6815 renmedia@aol.com
SCM PRODUCTIONS
312-329-1310 ken.kolasny@sonixpher.com
303-422-6333
F:303-422-6334
scm@scmpro.com
SONY CREATIVE SOFTWARE RHYTHM CAFE
312-787-8010
F:312-787-8122
im@rhythymcafe.com
SCOOTMAN MUSIC PRODUCTIONS
615-319-9556
800-577-6642
F:608-204-8804
www.sonycreativesoftware.com
scootmanmusic@bellsouth.net
SOPERSOUND MUSIC LIBRARY
800-227-9980 sopersound@aol.com
SOUND IMAGES F:513-241-4719
513-241-7475 charlie@soundimages.com
SOUND LOUNGE F:212-388-1214
212-388-1212 kathyg@soundlounge.com
SOUNDDOGS.COM F:310-496-3135
877-315-3647 customersupport@sounddogs.com
SOUNDMINE F:512-291-0214
818-767-4226 patrickm@soundmine.com
SOUNDS BIG PRODUCTIONS
212-920-4639 andrew@soundsbigproductions.com
SOUNDSCAPES
501-661-1765
F:501-661-0323
brent@soundscapes.com
SOUNDSNAP
Soundsnap@gmail.com www.soundsnap.com
SOUNDVIEW RECORDING
877-295-6435 dave@soundview-recording.com
SPROCKETS MUSIC
305-860-6960
F:305-860-5916
info@sprockets.com
STARTRACKER RECORDING STUDIO INC F:402-466-7501
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402-466-7623
bholihan@startrackerstudios.com
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STEPHEN ARNOLD MUSIC
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214-726-1600
F:214-726-1717
sales@stephenarnoldmusic.com
STEVE FORD MUSIC
888-828-0556
F:312-828-0576
sf@stevefordmusic.com
UNIQUE TRACKS F:718-965-1215
VAGABOND AUDIO F:312-321-0829
718-965-2318
VIDEOHELPER
212-633-7009
info@uniquetracks.com
F:212-633-9014
info@videohelper.com www.videohelper.com
312-321-0828 rise@vagabondaudio.com
WALTER BRYANT MUSIC
816-741-3750 walter@walterbryantmusic.com
STIMMUNG
310-460-0123
F:310-460-0122
contact@stimmung.tv
VALENTINE PRO
720-898-9171
YESSIAN MUSIC
laurie@valentinepro.com
STUDIO BARD LLC
503-273-2273 audiospa@studiobard.com
VALENTINO F:323-969-0968
SZABO SOUND & MUSIC F:713-956-2244
248-553-4044 info@yessianmusic.com
800-223-6278 info@tvmusic.com
713-956-7451 scott@szabosoundandmusic.com
TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD F:512-499-8057
512-499-8655 info@tequilamockingbird.com
THE HIT HOUSE
310-378-8633 music@thehithouse.com
THE HOLLYWOOD EDGE F:323-603-3298
323-603-3252 jmoran@hollywoodedge.com
THE LISTENING CHAIR
214-748-8846
F:214-741-3530
brian@listeningchair.com
THE LODGE F:310-581-8104
310-581-8363 musicproduciton@thelodge.com
THE LODGE F:212-727-8005
212-727-8000 musicproduciton@thelodge.com
THE MUSIC BAKERY F:972-424-3680
800-229-0313 helpnow@musicbakery.com
THE MUSIC FACTORY F:404-624-5374
404-688-1667 brian@themusicfactory.com
THE MUSIC KITCHEN F:661-338-2514
661-338-4749 michael@themusickitchen.com
THE PROCESS RECORDING STUDIOS F:336-855-0819
336-855-1941 office@theprocess.com
THE SOUND ADVISOR
203-373-1847 dennis@thesoundadvisor.com
TIM CISSELL MUSIC
972-680-0817 tcissell@wt.net
TONAL F:212-255-4729
212-255-4369 michelleb@tonalsound.com
TRF PRODUCTION MUSIC LIBRARIES F:201-335-0004
TRIVERS MYERS MUSIC F:310-647-5869
201-335-0005 info@trfmusic.com
310-640-9166 liz@triversmyersmusic.com
TUNEDGE MUSIC
800-279-0014
F:877-886-3343
rw@tunedge.com
TWISTEDTRACKS.COM
773-856-6586 music@twistedtracks.com
www.markeemag.com
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Music & Sound Listings
5 Alarm Music
615 Music
American Music Company
5 Alarm Music for film, TV, commercials, promos and replacement work. Over 60 production music libraries. Search and download online. Live chat help! Indie artists (Rescue Records).
We are 615 Music, an EMMY™ award-winning production music company intensely focused on creating the highest quality music possible. Our world-class catalogs, innovative news packages and custom scoring speak for themselves. Listen…and you’ll understand.
High quality, great production music and variety. Every selection of music is posted to our web site for immediate review and instant downloading. Inexpensive music licensing and no bull@#$%!
P: 626.304.1698 • F: 626.795.2058 www.5alarmmusic.com info@5alarmmusic.com
P: 615.244.6515 • F: 615.242.2455 www.615music.com info@615music.com
P: 516.764.1466 • F: 516.764.2648 www.americanmusicco.com info@americanmusicco.com
FirstCom Music
Hummingbird Productions
Killer Tracks
FirstCom Music empowers your creativity with 150,000+ tracks with 6,000+ new releases every year. Our diverse repertoire includes high quality, easy-to-use production music that reflects today’s charts. Hear the difference at www.firstcom.com.
Hummingbird composes, arranges, produces and licenses original music. Known for the Budweiser Frogs sound design, IMAX signature film scoring, “Always Coca-Cola” music, and a catalog of over 7,000 original tracks.
21 unique music libraries plus thousands of quality sound effects and production elements, fast & easy one-stop licensing, friendly and knowledgeable music supervisors and account reps, and convenient music access online, on hard drive and on interactive DVD!
P: 800.858.8880 • F: 972.242.6520 www.firstcom.com info@firstcom.com
P: 615.385.3729 • F: 615.385.3446 www.hummingbirdproductions.com pgb@hummingbirdproductions.com
P: 800.454.5537 • F: 800.787.2257 www.killertracks.com info@killertracks.com
Megatrax Production Music
Non-Stop Music
Omnimusic
Megatrax Production Music is the leading independent music source. Featured in thousands of television shows, commercials, promos, trailers, feature films and multimedia projects, Megatrax truly is The Sound of Entertainment®!
Nearly 50 libraries of music and sound design elements are available for download as AIFF, WAV, or high-res mp3 at nonstopmusic.com. With the recent addition of the Groove Addicts catalogs, Non-Stop Music has become your onestop music library resource!
World-class production music with over 18,000 tracks in seven libraries. Superfast search and download, Emmywinning composers, easy licensing plus concierge service when you need it.
P: 888.MEGA(6342).555 • F: 818.255.7199 www.megatrax.com info@megatrax.com
New York: 212.275.3134 Los Angeles: 818.238.6300 Salt Lake City: 801.531.0060 www.nonstopmusic.com
P: 800.828.6664 www.omnimusic.com info@omnimusic.com
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Soundsnap Royalty-free, professionally produced and sparkling clear. Soundsnap — the most popular site for sound effects in the world.
www.soundsnap.com soundsnap@gmail.com
VideoHelper Production music for people who hate production music.
P: 212.633.7009 • F: 212.633.9014 www.videohelper.com info@videohelper.com
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SOUNDSTAGES Coast to Coast BY CHRISTINE BUNISH
Whether you’re shooting movies, TV series, specials, music videos, commercials, webisodes or corporate videos you’ll find stages across the country – both well-established and brand new – tailored to meet your needs.
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Projects:
Charles River Studios
Two new TV series, Boss and The Playboy Club
Canton, Massachusetts 781-364-1891 www.highoutput.com/hob_charles_river_studios.html Contact: Film + Television Department, High Output
Photo: Alison P. Katinger
Located on nearly 50 acres south of the Loop, Cinespace Chicago Film Studios will include 1.2 million sq.ft. of space when fully built. The complex (pictured) is the brainchild of a family-owned Toronto company whose studios in that city have hosted more than 1,000 films. “We have a solid 25-year track record of building excellent facilities for our Hollywood clients and look forward to finally bringing these facilities to Chicago,” says Cinespace owner Nick Mirkoupoulos.
Stages:
Comtel Studios North Miami, Florida 305-948-9116 www.comtelinc.com Contact: Bernard Cottle, sales & marketing/facility services
Studio A, 7,600 sq. ft.; Studio B, 3,500 sq. ft.; Studio C, 2,400 sq. ft.; all with 24.5 ft. working height
Features: Drive-in access; 2-wall cyc; permanent 18x35-ft. greenscreen in Studio A; on-site parking.
Projects: Seth McFarlane feature, Ted; spots for Hasbro, Wendy’s, Bank of America, Hood, Raytheon, McDonald’s, Reebok, Gatorade, Bertucci’s, Stop & Shop South of Boston, Charles River Studios is adjacent to High Output’s rental warehouse, providing access to equipment and expendables. All of the studios include a suite of production and client offices and make up, wardrobe and green rooms at no extra cost; Studios A (pictured) and B include private baths. There is a studio dining room for clients and a food-styling kitchen within the studio complex.
Stages: Studio A, approx. 8,000 sq. ft., 18 ft. to grid, which can be manually raised to 28 ft.; Studio B, approx. 7,200 sq. ft., 18 ft. to grid
Features:
Cinespace Chicago Film Studios Chicago, Illinois 773-521-8000 www.chicagofilmstudios.com Contact: Alex Pissios
Drive-in access and 300-seat capacity in Studio A (pictured); standing sets and chroma green hard cyc in Studio B; AC; catering services area; parking and on-site security; lighting, camera and grip equipment and some props available
Projects: Clients include Sony Entertainment, MTV Latin America, Ricky Martin Entertainment; NBC Telemundo; music videos and concerts; Nightly Business Report, believed to be TV’s longest-running business program, produced live from Studio B A one-stop shop for film and video projects of all sizes, 34-year old Comtel Studios is a subsidiary of Miami PBS station, WPBT. In addition to a pair of studios, Comtel offers “editorial and graphics for virtual sets plus office space rentals in a separate building,” notes Bernard Cottle. “We also have domestic uplink and downlink capabilities, international fibre optic connections and can handle webcasts.”
Stages: Five fully-functional, air-conditioned stages now complete
Features: Planned production offices with connectivity to studios, carpentry shops and paint areas, large wardrobe and dressing rooms, sizable parking areas
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Soundstages
Granite Media Center Tilton, New Hampshire 603-528-7600 www.gmcnh.com Contact: Bob Callahan, general manager
Features: Two mills, prop storage, wardrobe, offices, cafeteria with catering/cooking support, SFX shop; powered base-camp; parking; 15 minutes to airport; 45 minutes to Santa Fe
Backlot: Main studio building surrounded by 60 acres of open space
Projects: USA’s In Plain Sight (seasons two, three and four); TNT/LionsGate pilot; Dolce & Gabbana international commercial featuring Scarlet Johansson Since its launch in 2006, the independently-owned I-25 Studios has been continuously occupied and fully operational; 15 productions have called it home. Able to support multiple simultaneous productions, I-25 opened Stage E last November. “We have an incredible opportunity to bring more productions to New Mexico with these improvements,” says Rick Clemente. I-25 offers a wide range of production services inhouse and through relationships with companies on the lot and outside vendors.
Stages: Main Studio (pictured), 9,600 sq. ft., 36 ft. to ceiling; Hard Cyclorama Studio with 60-ft. curved hard cyc and 30-ft. flat screen, lights and control board; three additional studios, 1,600-2,400 sq. ft., for customizing
Features: 52,000-sq. ft. facility includes screening theater, commissary, reception lounge, post and beam barn with 23 production offices, construction shops; drive-in access to Main and Hard Cyc Studios
Backlot: Four acres of studio grounds; complex abuts 70 acres with pastures, orchards, ponds, wooded riding rink, homestead buildings, barns and stables
Ironbound Film and Television Studios, LLC Newark, New Jersey 973-344-4242 www.ironboundfilmstudios.com Contact: Norman Schoenfeld, partner/business strategy & development
Projects: Indie feature with Michael Madsen; commercials; greenscreen shoots;, pre-tour band rehearsals; New Hampshire primary coverage Ninety minutes north of Boston, Granite Media Center is private and traffic-free yet in proximity to hospitality amenities, services and suppliers. “Our goal is to make this feel like your production facility when you’re here,” emphasizes Bob Callahan. “We will help access crew and provide logistics support for securing shooting sites, accommodations, catering and other services or supplies. Repeatedly, we hear from both cast and crew how they enjoyed working in such a creative, peaceful and unique setting.”
Stages: Stage A, 8,000 sq. ft.; Stage B, 3,500 sq. ft.; Insert Stages C-1 and C-2, each 475 sq. ft.; all approximately 14 ft. to grid
I-25 Studios Albuquerque, New Mexico 505-822-7115 www.I-25studios.com Contact: Rick Clemente, CEO
Features: Three kitchens, one an industrial prep/shooting kitchen; 11.5 bathrooms, most with walk-in, rainstyle showers; on-premises parking
Backlot: 30,000 sq. ft. of shooting space on deck areas
Projects: Current TV’s Bar Karma series on Stage A (pictured); network projects and commercials booked through the fall Although Ironbound Film and Television Studios officially opens in September, the renovated turn-ofthe-century warehouse within minutes of Newark International Airport and an easy commute to Manhattan has already hosted a cable series and has more projects scheduled. “The whole facility is designed to be a shooting space,” notes Norman Schoenfeld, including 6,500 sq. ft. of stay-andshoot loft-style accommodations for housing or sets. “We can customize the space with cycs and greenscreens, and also provide production services and equipment rentals.”
Stages: Stage A, 26,000 sq. ft.; Stage B (pictured), 27,800 sq. ft.; Stage C, 26,200 sq. ft.; Stage D, 7,500 sq. ft.; Stage E, 10,500 sq. ft.; Stage F, 5,200 sq. ft.; all stages clear to industrial strength I-Beam grid at 23 ft.
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Occidental Studios East Hollywood, California 213-384-3331 www.occidentalstudios.com Contact: Ricky Stoutland, president
Features: Newly-renovated support facilities include production offices, conference room, make up, wardrobe, canteen; covered bays with truck-height docks for both stages at main location and loading roll-up door at turnkey space; AC; food-styling kitchen; gated parking lot for productions
Projects: Major features, Turner television promos, national commercials, still shoots, corporate programming Deeply rooted in the community for almost 30 years, PC&E’s stage facilities (pictured) are located in midtown Atlanta about 25 minutes from the airport. “We’re known for our excellent customer service and providing just about everything that clients, especially our commercial clients, are looking for,” says stage manager Guilherme “Bill” Villarinho. Camera, lighting and grip equipment and expendables departments at the main location provide easy access to reliable gear; production offices and set-building services are available in the neighborhood.
Stages: Main lot: Stage 1, 14,000 sq. ft., 54 ft. to ceiling, 45 to truss; Stage 2, 8,600 sq. ft., 26 ft. to ceiling, 24 to pipe grid; Stage 3, 8,200 sq. ft., 19 ft. to grid; Stage 4, 1,200 sq. ft., 14 ft. to grid; eight stages from 4,000 to 43,000 sq. ft. at five LA-area locations
Features: $5-million lighting and grip department; 35,000 sq. ft. of offices on main lot; AC; greenscreen cycs; set dressing, props; 200-car parking on main lot
Backlot:
Picture This Production Services Portland, Oregon 503-235-3456 www.pixthis.com Contact: Ben Olberg, production manager
Practical locations available for shooting at various Occidental studio lots
Projects: FX’s Sons of Anarchy and Paramount’s My Mother’s Curse currently in production on Occidental lots Occidental’s new Stage 1 (artist’s conception pictured) joins three others and 6,000 sq. ft. of offices in the new four-story production center on the main lot. The historic lot was built in 1913 and is arguably the oldest continuously operating studio in Hollywood; the original stage was home to Mary Pickford, D.W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille. “We want to keep business in LA, and our clients were asking for more stage space on our main lot so we made the decision to build the new soundstage and offices,” says Ricky Stoutland. “When you shoot here now you get the best of both worlds – old Hollywood and new Hollywood.”
Stages: Stage A (pictured), 3,000 sq. ft., 18 ft. to ceiling; new Stage B, approx. 625-sq. ft. shooting space, 12 ft. to grid; both drive-in access
Features:
PC&E Atlanta, Georgia 404-609-9001 www.pce-atlanta.com Contact: Mark Wofford, general manager
Dressing room, wardrobe, make up, green room, video feed to stage, working kitchen, 2-wall hard cyc in Stage A; production office, bathroom, 25-ft. single-wall hard cyc in Stage B, which is pre-lit for casting; parking
Projects: Promo shoot for new NBC series, Grimm; Intel corporate; local and regional commercials As a grip, lighting and camera rental house, Picture This Production Services offers full equipment packages, crewing and production services to stage customers with convenient single billing. “We can handle as much or as little of a production as the client wants,” notes Ben Olberg. “We have a wide range of lights, tungsten fixtures, Kino Flos, HMIs plus a 3-ton grip truck.” Customers favor the economical 25x40-ft. roll-out greenscreen, which saves on paint and labor costs.
Stages: Three hard-cyc soundstages from 1,600 to 9,000 sq. ft.; 21-ft. lighting grids in two larger stages, 13-ft. grid in nearby turnkey stage
www.markeemag.com
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Soundstages
Sanborn Studios, LLC
Spiderwood Studios
Sarasota, Florida
Austin, Texas
941-359-6800 www.sanbornstudiosllc.com Contact: Brad Lindberg, David Lindberg, sales and marketing consultants
Stages: Stage A, 9,072 sq. ft. with lighting grid; Stage B (pictured), 8,694 sq. ft. with lighting grid and greenscreen; 30,000-sq. ft. airport facility available for postproduction and hangar/soundstage
Features: Production offices, hair/make up and wardrobe; lighting and grip equipment; HD and 35mm cameras; production trucks and generators; AC to film studio standards; parking; variety of aircraft, vehicles, and go-fast boats with gyro-stabilized cameras
Backlot: Projects:
Four fully-equipped motion picture soundstages from 1,200 to 6,500 sq. ft. with 24x100 ft. 2-wall pre-lit cyc and 15x20 ft. neoprene foam-back greenscreen
Features: Full-service audio and postproduction suites, control room, edit bays, animation, render farm; production offices, make up and hair; artificial snow and rain capabilities; steel catwalk; R.V. park Situated on 200 acres along the banks of the Colorado River with rolling hills, open pastures, river frontage, dense forest areas and more
Projects:
Feature film Miami 24/7 “Sanborn Studios is a full-service production facility with two facilities in Sarasota and Manatee Counties,” says CEO Ken Sanborn. “The primary complex is our 30,000-square-foot studio in Lakewood Ranch. It includes soundstages, postproduction facilities and offices that will provide a great venue to produce quality TV and movies in a beautiful setting. It is the only studio in Florida that offers a full grip and lighting department, an extensive camera department, postproduction facilities and crews under one roof.”
Markee 2.0 |
Stages:
Backlot:
Located in Lakewood Ranch whose Main Street serves as Sanborn Studios’ own backlot with Rodeo Drive-type shops and dining; also country roads, lakes, farms, industrial locations and sand mines
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512-332-0060 www.spiderwoodstudios.com Contact: Lori Madrid, director of marketing and operations
July/August 2011
Feature films, television, animation, music recording, national and international commercials, still shoots, corporate programming A full-service motion picture, music, animation studio and production company, Spiderwood Studios (pictured) was founded in 2009 by producer Tommy G. Warren. It has become a major part of the motion-picture industry thanks to its extensive facilities and 200-acre backlot. Spiderwood Studios is a two-hour non-stop flight from LA and New York and is located 15 minutes from Austin Bergstrom International Airport and luxury hotels.
Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
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Universal Studios Production Group at Universal Studios Florida Orlando, Florida 877-612-3737 www.universalstudios.com/studio/florida Contact: Pamela Tuscany, vice president/general manager
Stages: Eight soundstages from 8,000 to 22,000 sq. ft. upgraded in 2010; elephant door motors and controllers; innovative trolley beam system
Features: Stages accommodate any lighting power requirements; silent AC; areas adjacent to soundstages covered by canopy; production center includes production offices, warehouse space, 60+ production vendors and services from catering to full equipment rentals
Backlot: Universal Studios Florida Backlot offers wide variety of fully-dressed locations, including New York streets, Hollywood Blvd., residences, parks and waterfronts, fishing village, interior library and other interiors; Islands of Adventure features 2,000-seat amphitheater; Universal CityWalk includes nightclubs, shops, pedestrian traffic, two stages; Wet ‘n Wild has sand beach, beach club stage, Surf Lagoon wave pool; additional locations available at three resort hotels
Projects: Tooth Fairy 2, Letters To God, Family Feud, Powerball Lottery, MTV/The Inbetweeners Golf Channel’s The Feherty Show; commercials for Bose, KFC, NASCAR, Direct Buy, Tag Heuer, Gatorade, Krystal, Muscle Milk, Snickers Universal Studios Florida Production Group is “constantly upping standards and improvements so that our stages equal and surpass any facility in the world,” says Pamela Tuscany. “Add in our hundredplus backlot locations, world-class resorts and the State of Florida’s tax incentive and we are an unsurpassed production package.”
www.markeemag.com
July/August 2011
| Markee 2.0
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MARKETPLACE
advertisers’ index page# company phone & website 28
EQUIPMENT
5 Alarm Music 626-304-1698 www.5alarmmusic.com
25, 28
615 Music Productions Inc.” 615-244-6515 www.615music.com
20
Amarillo Film Commission 806-342-2012 www.visitamarillotx.com
22, 28
American Music Company, Inc. 516-764-1466 www.americanmusicco.com
19
Atlanta Rigging 866-355-4370 www.atlantarigging.com
1
NEW PRODUCTS
CineGear Expo 310-472-0809 www.cinegearexpo.com
16
Crew Connection 800-35-CREWS www.crewconnection.com
NEW SECURE WEBSITE
27, 28
FirstCom 800-858-8880 www.firstcom.com
26, 28
WillysWIDGETS.com
Hummingbird Productions 615-385-3729 www.hummingbirdproductions.com
17
Island Century Media 888-373-4539 www.icm4hd.com
24, 28
Killer Tracks 800-454-5537 www.killertracks.com
28, C3
Megatrax Production Music 888-MEGA-555 www.megatrax.com
5
Nevada Film Office 877-638-3456 www.nevadafilm.com
28, 29
Non-Stop Music 801-531-0060 www.nonstopmusic.com
23, 28
Omnimusic 800-828-6664 www.omnimusic.com
C2
Palm Beach County Film Office 800-745-FILM www.pbfilm.com
35
ProductionHub 407-629-4122 www.productionhub.com
35
Professional Sound Services 212-586-1033 www.pro-sound.com
MUSIC LIBRARIES
SERVICES
23, 29
Soundsnap www.soundsnap.com
20
Universal Studios Florida Production Group 877-612-3737
29
VideoHelper 212-633-7009 www.videohelper.com
20
Virginia Film Office 800-854-6233 www.film.virginia.org
FOR MARKETPLACE ADVERTISING DETAILS... Contact Gayle Rosier at 386.873.9286 or email: gaylerosier@gmail.com 36
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July/August 2011
Film • Video • Animation • Audio • Locations • People
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