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Home » Sixteen19 Adds Top Tier Talent Bob Lowery, Allison Varga

Sixteen19 Adds Top Tier Talent Bob Lowery, Allison Varga

Bob Lowery Takes the TV Helm; Allison Varga to Lead Sales

NEW YORK—February 9, 2019— Sixteen19, the New York-based boutique production and post services company, announced two key hires today: Bob Lowery as head of TV Production and Allison Varga as Global Feature Film and Episodic Sales Coordinator. Lowery and Varga join a growing team headed by Sixteen19 co-founders Pete Conlin and Jonathan Hoffman, and bring a wealth of experience and stellar industry reputations that match Sixteen19’s place as a leader in the post services industry.

Lowery is a respected veteran VFX executive producer, with a particularly deep well of experience in episodic television. Most recently, he co-founded, with VFX Supervisor Ed Mendez, PowerHouse VFX , a rising force in the visual effects industry that maintains a strategic alliance with Sixteen19, and is co-located at Sixteen19’s New York office. At PowerHouse, Lowery has served as VFX executive producer on a variety of TV productions, including USA Networks’ The Purge, Deception, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Before PowerHouse, Lowery spent over fifteen years in the VFX and post sectors, notably founding BigSmack TV and serving as VP of business development at DIVE VFX. Lowery’s pre-PowerHouse TV credits include The Leftovers, Mr. Robot, Blindspot and Power. “I’m thrilled to be heading up TV production at Sixteen19,” said Lowery. “I’ve spent the past few years working closely with Pete and Jonathan during my time at PowerHouse, so I know that ours is a really unique partnership. This new role allows us to take that partnership to the next level, while continuing to deliver the excellent work Sixteen19’s episodic TV clients have come to expect.”

“Sixteen19 has had a strong relationship with Bob for years, which hardly makes us unique in this business” said Hoffman. “Since 2017, we’ve come to understand what a huge talent he is through our partnership with PowerHouse. He’s got a great mind for business development and is a producer at heart, but he totally speaks the language of content creators and creatives. That skillset is going to fit right in with the boutique, client-focused culture we bring to the table.”

“Bob has a level of episodic experience that’s unmatched in this industry,” said Conlin. “When it comes to TV, his resume speaks for itself. He’s worked on shows with some really complex needs, and he makes it a priority to meet those needs for every single client – that’s why we know he’s a fit at Sixteen19. Like us, he believes that post isn’t just about adding the finishing touches. It’s about being a valued creative partner every step of the way.”

“I’m thrilled to be heading up TV production at Sixteen19,” said Lowery. “I’ve spent the past few years working closely with Pete and Jonathan during my time at PowerHouse, so I know that ours is a really unique partnership. This new role allows us to take that partnership to the next level, while continuing to deliver the excellent work Sixteen19’s episodic TV clients have come to expect.”

Allison Varga

Sixteen19 also recently promoted Allison Varga Global Feature Film and Episodic Sales Coordinator. Varga has worked with Sixteen19’s clients as sales and marketing coordinator for three months. Before joining Sixteen19, she spent over two years as a Production Coordinator at Disney ABC Television Group.

“Since she joined Sixteen19, it’s been obvious that Allison fits perfectly with the highly-customized, client-first way we do business,” said Hoffman. “We pride ourselves on building a creative environment that allows our clientele to thrive, and our Sales team is a crucial part of that. Allison has shown time and again that she understands our clients’ needs, and that she puts those needs first. We’ve built our reputation by operating that way, and we’re confident that her leadership is going to enhance that reputation.”

“I’m so excited to be a part of a company whose vision I really believe in,” said Varga. “It’s an amazing opportunity to join a growing company that goes above and beyond for its clients. I can’t wait to be a part of Sixteen19’s work and help foster the creative, collaborative culture that makes it a top option for post service industry-wide.”

The additions of Lowery and Varga are the latest in a string of high-profile successes for Sixteen19. The last two years have seen the company cement its place as a worldwide leader in post by opening a new state-of-the-art headquarters in New York and launching its innovative partnership with PowerHouse VFX. This forward-thinking approach has shone through in the company’s work on acclaimed projects like Mary Poppins Returns, A Quiet Place, and M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass.

2019 promises to bring more exciting developments, as Sixteen19 plans to add HDR color suites and open an outpost in France to support its work on an upcoming Wes Anderson project. PowerHouse will also expand its CG department, and continue to grow its rapidly expanding team of 40 talented artists. Both companies’ work can be seen in upcoming film and TV projects including The OA Season 2, Showtime’s Black Monday, and The Last Thing He Wanted, directed by Dee Rees.

About Sixteen19

Sixteen19 is a boutique production and post services company specializing in feature film, episodic storytelling and commercials. Based in New York, the company also maintains offices in Los Angeles, London and Atlanta. Founded in 2010, the company took its name from its original location at 1619 Broadway in the historic Brill Building. Recent projects include Deepwater Horizon, Jason Bourne, Pete’s Dragon, Bleed For This, Vinyl, and The Revenant.

Want more? Visit www.sixteen19.com

Community & Partner Links

How Sony’s New Virtual Sound Technology Can Change How We Hear Films

Kami Asgar and Jessica Parks are post-production heavyweights who work with major studios, namely Sony. As a sound designer (Asgar) and as a post executive (Parks), their collective resume touches on everything from Apocalypto to Grandma’s Boy to Venom.

Parks has recently shifted her focus from supervisor to hands-on sound design, and we talk about how it’s never too late to pivot on your career path and find the thing you love doing wherever you are in life.

Click on this link to read the rest of the article on No Film School’s site.

U.K. Extends COVID Insurance Scheme; Distributes $21 Million in Cinema Grants

The U.K.’s insurance scheme for film and television has been extended until April.

Known as the Film and TV Production Restart Scheme, the groundbreaking £500 million ($676 million) fund assures productions that they’ll receive financial support in case of COVID-related losses. The program has so far accepted 100 qualifying productions.

To read the full article in Variety, click on this link. 

Film Commish announces date for production restart

In her December 18, 2020 news update, MOME Commissioner Anne del Castillo announced that the Film Office is now accepting permit applications for production activity that begins on July 27th.

She also announced awards now (Awkwafina) and more. To read all of the Film Commish’s bloggy sort of news column, click here.

Stimulus Offers $15 Billion in Relief for Struggling Arts Venues

The coronavirus relief package that Congressional leaders agreed to this week includes grant money that many small proprietors described as a last hope for survival.

For the music venue owners, theater producers and cultural institutions that have suffered through the pandemic with no business, the coronavirus relief package that Congress passed on Monday night offers the prospect of aid at last.

To read the full article on The New York Times’ site, click here.

If you want to start production, here’s the latest news from the Mayor’s Office

Phase 4 production guidance is available on the Film Permit website. All production activity, whether it requires a Film Permit or not, must comply with New York Forward Industry Guidance.

For more information see, please refer to the State Department of Health’s Interim Guidance for Media Production During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Please review the guidelines and FAQ before submitting permit applications. The Film Office is operating remotely, so please allow additional time for Film Permit processing.

The above paragraphs contain links to the various FAQ – just mouse over the relevant words.

Nikon to Stop Making Cameras in Japan

Nikon has fallen on hard times as of late as its camera sales have cratered, and now there’s a new indicator of how dire its financial situation is: the company is reportedly pulling the plug on making cameras in Japan after over 70 years of doing so.

To read the full article on Petapixel’s site, click here.

NVIDIA Uses AI to Slash Bandwidth on Video Calls

NVIDIA Research has invented a way to use AI to dramatically reduce video call bandwidth while simultaneously improving quality

What the researchers have achieved has remarkable results: by replacing the traditional h.264 video codec with a neural network, they have managed to reduce the required bandwidth for a video call by an order of magnitude. In one example, the required data rate fell from 97.28 KB/frame to a measly 0.1165 KB/frame – a reduction to 0.1% of required bandwidth.

To read the rest of this article on Petapixel, click this link.

 

 

 

Union Health Plan Dodges Film Workers’ Suit Over Virus Relief

Law360 (October 9, 2020, 5:22 PM EDT) — The Motion Picture Industry Health Plan’s board can’t be sued under ERISA for allegedly flouting its duties when it relaxed plan rules in response to COVID-19, a California federal judge has ruled, nixing a proposed class action filed by two cinematographers who still couldn’t qualify for benefits.

In an order entered Thursday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner granted the board of directors’ motion to dismiss Greg Endries and Dee Nichols’ Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit accusing board members of breaching their duty to treat all plan participants fairly.

Endries and Nichols, members of Local 600 of the International Cinematographers Guild, said in July that the board left them and others “out in the cold” in its attempts to address the problems COVID-19 caused for plan participants.

But Judge Klausner agreed with the board’s contention that the case, which alleged a fiduciary breach, should be tossed because plan administrators don’t act as fiduciaries when they amend health care plans.

Read the full article on the Law360 site by clicking here.

Russo Brothers Received Close to $50 Million From Saudi Bank

Anthony Russo and Joseph Russo photographed at the PMC Studio in Los Angeles for the Variety Playback Podcast.

The Russo brothers, directors of the all-time top grossing film “Avengers: Endgame,” quietly secured a roughly $50 million cash infusion for their production company AGBO from Saudi Arabia earlier this year, multiple sources tell Variety.

In a deal brokered and closed at the beginning of the pandemic, the Russos received the investment from an undisclosed Saudi bank in exchange for a minority stake in the brothers’ Los Angeles-based shop.

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