by Christine Clark
April 2010
Paul Korver has his sights set on leading a post-production renaissance in Hollywood. In January, the principal/EP opened the doors on a new space for his two-year-old short-form finishing company, Cinelicious, on Melrose and Vine.
Not since the ’90s has finishing been available for commercial projects in Hollywood; all the work was concentrated in the bustling Santa Monica area. But with the closing of telecine-capable studios like R!OT and The Syndicate, Korver believes the time is right for a return to Hollywood.
“We wanted to create a space in Hollywood in hopes that clients would rethink where they stay when they come to LA,” says Korver, who feted his opening with the signing of ex-Company 3 colorist Steve Rodriguez and an eight-spot Hyundai campaign via Innocean Worldwide and Biscuit Filmworks USA, which aired during the Oscars. “A lot of filmmakers live here in the east side, too. So we were faced with the option of going out to where things used to be in Santa Monica versus trying to carve out a new area.”
The 5,000-sq-ft. facility was designed by architectural firm Shook Kelley. It’s modeled in a 1960s Industrial aesthetic and offers full client services, including tapeless workflows. “Our philosophy is, tape is great… at the end,” quips Korver. “But to go on and off of tape 10 times during the process of making a commercial costs people unnecessary money and it’s bad for the environment. So we’ll transfer straight from our Spirit DataCine to any file. Whatever format, we can deliver it on a hard drive.”
But the most innovative of Cinelicious’ offerings that the new space allows is custom “Dual-Room Monitoring”. Instead of having visiting clients held up in the dark, finishing suite – often dubbed The Cave – Cinelicious has built an adjoining, naturally-lit conference room equipped with a calibrated 4:4:4 monitor that shows what’s happening inside the suite. The room allows clients to stay connected to the creative process while carrying on with other work if needed.
“We got a great response from agencies that have come, especially agency producers, who are in the room for the first part but then they have to make calls or go online,” says Korver. “They can see the exact same 4:4:4 color-calibrated image that’s going on in the suite and they’re connected via intercom so they can still offer input.”