Colorist John Zaik has joined Company 3, Santa Monica. He comes over from POP Television, a recently dissolved division of POP Studios, also in Santa Monica. Both POP Studios and Company 3 are part of the Four Media Corp. (4MC) family of companies.
At his new roost, Zaik unites with fellow colorists Stefan Sonnenfeld and Mike Pethel who left POP in 97 to found Company 3 as an artist-driven boutique specializing in telecine and visual effects.
Over the years, Zaik has amassed credits that encompass high-end commercials, local and regional spots, dailies for a select group of commercial directors, long-form television and music videos. Among his latest work is Mariah Careys music clip, I Still Believe. And in longform, he recently completed a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced TV movie, Max Q, whose director Michael Shapiro (at the time repped for spots by Cucoloris, Venice) wanted a commercial colorist.
Zaik has carved out a niche in the earlier alluded to high-end dailies fare for a number of spot directors. Zaik keeps a flexible schedule, often coming in at 6:30 or 7:00 a.m., to accommodate directors who need dailies early. They want someone who has experience, whos good at working over the phone, said Zaik. Theyll be on the set shooting and Ill have the dailies. Ill labor over them meticulously and make them perfect. Theyre going to be sitting in the cutting room sometimes for weeks editing these spots, and if theyre all washed out and yellow and dreary from a one-light done at the lab, everyones going to be tired of looking at it. This way theyre cutting with beautiful-looking dailies. Since many directors are not involved in the final transfer, Zaik explained that his dailies give directors a way to offer their input into the final look of the spot.
Zaik grew up in Massachusetts and graduated from Brown University in Rhode Island with a degree in classics. I always knew I wantd to get into the film/TV world, but I was really good at Latin so I figured I would get myself a solid, classical education before moving on, said Zaik. Upon relocating to New York, Zaik got his start as a tape op at Manhattan Transfer in 87. He was upped to colorist at Manhattan Transfer in 90 where he specialized in spots before coming aboard POP in 94.
