Cinelicious, based in Hollywood, has opened a leading edge broadcast and DI theater housed at production and design studio Big Block in Santa Monica to provide a convenient solution for Westside clients. Working in collaboration with Big Block’s design and VFX team, the new venture will broaden Cinelicious’ reach in DI and short form telecine and provide a high-level color and finishing solution for both companies. As a key part of the expansion, Cinelicious has signed short-form colorist Robert Curreri.
Cinelicious principal Paul Korver related that the Santa Monica foothold provides clients on the Westside with a convenient geographical alternative to tap into his company’s talent and resources.
Kenny Solomon, managing director of Big Block, related, “Installing the DI Theater at Big Block is a unique opportunity for both companies. For Cinelicious’ Westside clients it means freedom from the constraints of time and traffic. And having superb color grading capabilities in-house provides a completely holistic production environment for our clients.”
The new theater is designed to achieve rec709 colorspace for broadcast finishing, as well as P3 for digital cinema feature film deliverables. The collaboration with Big Block also marks a reunion for Big Block’s Solomon and EP Leslie Sorrentino with Cinelicious operations producer Reggie Diaz and colorist Curreri, all of whom spent years together working side-by-side at The Syndicate, which was founded by Solomon and Sorrentino. It was this longstanding relationship that inspired the expansion and collaboration.
Colorist Curreri’s spot credits span such clients as Honda, Toyota, Ford, JCPenney, Reebok, Wachovia, Bud Light, Yahoo, Target, and Volkswagen. He has been an independent talent since 2008 and was previously a colorist at Riot/CO3 (2006-2008 and 1999-2002) and The Syndicate (2002 – 2006). On the music video front, his projects include Beyonce, Lady Gaga, My Chemical Romance (2006 MVPA Best Colorist Award Winner), The Killers, All American Rejects, and Queens of the Stone Age for directors Marc Webb, Nick Night, Marcos Siega, Ruben Fleischer, Brett Simon and many others. Curreri’s feature projects include the Grammy Award-winning Tom Petty documentary Running Down a Dream directed by Peter Bogdonavich and the Sundance winner for best U.S. documentary, We Live in Public directed by Ondi Timoner.
“Beatles ’64” Documentary Captures Intimate Moments From Landmark U.S. Visit
Likely most people have seen iconic footage of the Beatles performing on "The Ed Sullivan Show." But how many have seen Paul McCartney during that same U.S. trip feeding seagulls off his hotel balcony?
That moment — as well as George Harrison and John Lennon goofing around by exchanging their jackets — are part of the Disney+ documentary "Beatles '64," an intimate look at the English band's first trip to America that uses rare and newly restored footage. It streams Friday.
"It's so fun to be the fly on the wall in those really intimate moments," says Margaret Bodde, who produced alongside Martin Scorsese. "It's just this incredible gift of time and technology to be able to see it now with the decades of time stripped away so that you really feel like you're there."
"Beatles '64" leans into footage of the 14-day trip filmed by documentarians Albert and David Maysles, who left behind 11 hours of the Fab Four goofing around in New York's Plaza hotel or traveling. It was restored by Park Road Post in New Zealand.
"It's beautiful, although it's black and white and it's not widescreen," says director David Tedeschi. "It's like it was shot yesterday and it captures the youth of the four Beatles and the fans."
The footage is augmented by interviews with the two surviving members of the band and people whose lives were impacted, including some of the women who as teens stood outside their hotel hoping to catch a glimpse of the Beatles.
"It was like a crazy love," fan Vickie Brenna-Costa recalls in the documentary. "I can't really understand it now. But then, it was natural."
The film shows the four heartthrobs flirting and dancing at the Peppermint Lounge disco, Harrison noodling with a Woody Guthrie riff on his guitar... Read More