Two Decades and Growing – Abel Cine Tech

pete and rich abel
Pete and Rich Abel (Photo: courtesy of Abel Cine Tech)

Time to celebrate a pioneer: if you do production in New York or LA (or as of last August–Chicago), you know that camera rental/sales house Abel Cine Tech long ago became one of the top go-to facilities for indie productions. They’ve become known for a personable, low-key style that goes easy on the hype while never putting off newbies with a know-it-all attitude.

The company’s regular efforts at educating the production community with classes and demos are acknowledged resources for anyone delving into the latest technology. Abel Cine Tech, now based at 609 Greenwich Street, is certainly “passionate about bringing new technology to the production community” as Pete Abel recently said.

That’s borne out, for example, with the decision of Aaton some years ago to hook up with Abel Cine as their U.S. distributor of cameras and other gear. Led by the brilliant, fiercely independent camera designer Jean Pierre Beauviala–who has designed cameras at the behest of BFF like J-L Godard–both camera maker and camera house seem simpatico to idea of keeping media creation small and personable. (For an entertaining, interactive timeline of the company developments from its “humble beginnings” on Staten Island, check out www.abelcine.com/20years/.)

That doesn’t mean Abel Cine doesn’t play well with the big boys: the company offers full sales and service for various Panasonic and Sony cameras, along with package support and services for RED and the high-speed Phantom. Be sure to check out Abel Cine’s tech blog regularly for info on new gear. Meanwhile, their downloads page helps keep track of camera firmware upgrades for Panasonic, RED, and Sony cameras.

Let’s wish them 20 more good ones.

About Dan Ochiva

New York City-based journalist and NYCPPNEWS founder Dan Ochiva writes and consults on film, video, and digital media technology.

A letter from International Cinematographers Guild President John Lindley and 13 other top cinematographers was sent to Hollywood studios urging them to reduce excessively long workday hours on film sets as they resumed talks with IATSE on Tuesday on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Along with Lindley, the letter was signed by four Oscar-winning cinematographers, including Roger A. Deakins (“1917,” “Blade Runner 2049”), Emmanuel Lubezki (“The Revenant”), Erik Messerschmidt (“Mank”), and John Toll (“Braveheart”).

Read the full article on TheWrap by clicking here.

PITTSFIELD — Get Diane Pearlman talking about visual effects and she will provide several stories about cutting-edge techniques that were created in the Berkshires for many well-known movies.

For six years in the 1990s, Pearlman served as executive producer and general manager of Mass.Illusion, a visual effects movie studio that had an office in Lenox. Two movies that Mass.Illusion worked on in the Berkshires, “What Dreams May Come” and “The Matrix,” received Academy Awards for visual effects in 1999 and 2000, respectively.

Mass.Illusions no longer exists, but Pearlman remained in the Berkshires after the company was sold. She now serves as executive director of the Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative, an organization that promotes and facilitates film and media production in the Berkshires.

To read the full story on The Berkshire Eagle, click here.

Last month, Ben Gottlieb, a 27-year-old set lighting technician, wanted to show his support for his union’s campaign to improve working conditions on film sets so he wrote an Instagram post calling for an end to 12- to 14-hour shifts.

As with many of his colleagues, the Brooklynite felt burned out after working grueling hours without substantial breaks for much of the last year. Some nights, he was so tired driving home that he felt inebriated. He even thought about quitting — only two years after joining his union, IATSE Local 52.

The post struck a chord, drawing more than 21,000 likes. Gottlieb was soon inundated with messages from industry colleagues sharing their own stories, which prompted him to create a dedicated page called IATSE Stories. In just a few weeks, more than 500 posts have drawn nearly 17,000 followers to the page.

To read the entire story on the Los Angeles Times’ site, click here.

IATSE leaders say they remain “very far apart” on a wide range of issues in their negotiations with management’s AMPTP for a new film and TV contract.

“After more than six weeks of negotiation over a period of four months, it remains clear that the employers are unwilling to resolve our priority issues – living wages, reasonable rest, meal breaks, sustainable benefits and streaming – aka ‘not so new media,’” IATSE president Matthew Loeb and leaders of the union’s 13 West Coast studio locals said today in a message to their members.

To read the full article on Deadline.com, click here.

IATSE is gearing up for a possible strike against the film and television industry, which would be the first industry-wide strike in the union’s history. The union and management’s AMPTP will return to the bargaining table on Thursday in an effort to reach an agreement on a new film and TV contract in advance of Friday’s expiration of their current deal.

A strike, if it comes to that, would still be several weeks away, however, as IATSE continues to lay the groundwork for a possible walkout, which includes a text-messaging campaign to educate members about the negotiations and what’s at stake.

To read the full article on Deadline, click here.