Technicolor-PostWorks COO Rob DeMartin says that Ben Murray (shown here), founder of The Room, will assume duties as the company’s creative and technical lead, focusing on workflow design, training, talent management and recruiting.
Familiarity breeds – well, a new acquisition in this case. Technicolor-PostWorks New York announced that it has acquired The Room, the on-premise finishing studio that has been in-house for the past three years.
Technicolor-PostWorks COO Rob DeMartin, quoted in a press release, says that the buy will leverage the creative talent, 4K workflow and technology that have made The Room the “finishing facility of choice” for an increasing number of independent filmmakers as well as other content creators. Designed by architect Rafi Segal, The Room has handled clients working on independent features, long-form television and documentaries. Each of the three finishing suites includes an Autodesk Flame Premium workstation and 4K Christie projector.
The Room has a number of indie productions under its belt including St. Vincent, Her, The Giver, True Detective, Marco Polo, Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown,and Years of Living Dangerously.
Ben Murray, founder of The Room, takes up a new role as Vice President, Creative Services for Technicolor-PostWorks.
While PostWorks, a creative partnership from an earlier merger, posts and finishes top projects on a regular basis, Technicolor has shied away from offering creative finishing in the house. One reason? The prospect of competing with clients that offered their own finishing services.
So why change now? While the actual business reasons remain unclear, New York’s increasingly competitive market for post means that facilities need more reasons for productions to come in-house and stay, in this case, also accessing Technicolor’s worldwide distribution services.
