Oscar Oboza is set to join production, editing and design house Optimus as sr. colorist on October 1. Most recently with Pixel Farm in Minneapolis, Oboza has come to be regarded as a leading industry colorist. Prior to his five-year tenure at Pixel Farm, Oboza was at Filmworkers in Dallas. Prior to that, he was at Hi-Wire in Minneapolis.
With 20 years of experience as a colorist, beginning at Cutters in Chicago in 1992, Oboza started his career in postproduction in 1985. Oboza has worked with agencies including Peterson Milla Hooks, Fallon, Martin Williams, Olson, Campbell Mithun, Periscope, Colle+McVoy and Carmichael Lynch. His client list includes JCPenney, Target, Cadillac, Best Buy, Payless Shoes, General Mills, Barbie, Minnesota Lottery, Kmart, University of Minnesota, Papa Murphy’s, Schwinn, Subaru, and Cenex. Music video artists include Incubus, Liz Phair, The Roots, Atmosphere, Low, and Polica. Films include Memorial Day, The Unforeseen, Older Than America, and Following Sean.
“Oscar gives us huge strength in our color department,” said Tom Duff, president of Optimus. “He is in the prime of his career with a proven track record as one of the top five colorists in the country. We’re thrilled to bring him back to Chicago–his home–where he began earning his great reputation. Moreover, as a wonderful cultural fit, Oscar is a man who will impress all of our clients with his talents, maturity and room presence.”
Oboza said he was drawn to Optimus’ creative culture and feeling of family. He also looks forward to being in the market where he first established himself professionally. “I couldn’t be more excited to return to the city where my career took shape. Chicago continues to prove itself as a strong creative community and I look forward to being a part of that again.”
Optimus maintains shops in Chicago, and Santa Monica, Calif.
“Mickey 17” Tops Weekend Box Office, But Profitability Is A Long Way Off
"Parasite" filmmaker Bong Joon Ho's original science fiction film "Mickey 17" opened in first place on the North American box office charts. According to studio estimates Sunday, the Robert Pattinson-led film earned $19.1 million in its first weekend in theaters, which was enough to dethrone "Captain America: Brave New World" after a three-week reign.
Overseas, "Mickey 17" has already made $34.2 million, bringing its worldwide total to $53.3 million. But profitability for the film is a long way off: It cost a reported $118 million to produce, which does not account for millions spent on marketing and promotion.
A week following the Oscars, where "Anora" filmmaker Sean Baker made an impassioned speech about the importance of the theatrical experience – for filmmakers to keep making movies for the big screens, for distributors to focus on theatrical releases and for audiences to keep going – "Mickey 17" is perhaps the perfect representation of this moment in the business, or at least an interesting case study. It's an original film from an Oscar-winning director led by a big star that was afforded a blockbuster budget and given a robust theatrical release by Warner Bros., one of the few major studios remaining. But despite all of that, and reviews that were mostly positive (79% on RottenTomatoes), audiences did not treat it as an event movie, and it may ultimately struggle to break even.
Originally set for release in March 2024, Bong Joon Ho's follow-up to the Oscar-winning "Parasite" faced several delays, which he has attributed to extenuating circumstances around the Hollywood strikes. Based on the novel "Mickey7" by Edward Ashton, Pattinson plays an expendable employee who dies on missions and is re-printed time and time again. Steven... Read More