SHORT CUTS
Christopher Gotschall and Chris Claeys of Cutters, Chicago, edited a package of spots for Walt Disney Studios at Disneyland Paris and agency Leo Burnett, Paris and Chicago. The commercials were produced in a variety of formats (16×9, 4×3), with "Next Door" airing in the UK, Germany and Italy, and "Donald" showing in France and Germany. In the ads, various costumed Disney characters (Snow White, Goofy, Donald) herald the opening of the new park, as various attractions are showcased. Dan Levinson of bicoastal Moxie Pictures was the director. Additional Cutters credits go to assistant editors Sean U Ren and Matt Egan and producer Chris Johnson. SOL designfx, Chicago and Venice, Calif., a division of Cutters, worked on the post and visual effects for the spots. Chicago credits include online editor Anthony Izzo, colorist Peter Simpson, assistant colorist Tim Stipan and Flame artist Greg Souers. For SOL Venice, Jeff Heusser was Flame artist and Alicia Churchwell was producer. And Chicago-based music/sound design division Another Country completed the sound design, with John Binder as sound designer/engineer, Richard Deprey as assisting and Brynn Reedy producing.
New York-headquartered So! Animation has added Avid’s DS-HD high-definition finishing system to its array of production and design tools. So! is a 2-D and 3-D design company whose partners include creative director Lauri Salladay, president Rob Cazin and executive producer John Lovelace.
The Post Group, Hollywood, has been awarded the postproduction work for the upcoming feature Kermit: The Swamp Years, from the Jim Henson Company. The Post Group will provide a wide range of post services for the film, which is being shot in 24p high-definition video and is planned for home video release later this year, including over 150 visual effects, compositing and rod removal. The company will also work on online editing, tape-to-tape color correction, conversions, titling, audio layback and quality control. The visual effects will be created using Inferno software, with color correction being performed in the facility’s tape-to-tape color correction suite featuring the D-Vision high-definition color corrector. The Post Group team for the project includes visual effects artists Mark Intravartolo and Chris Clausing, effects producer Linda McDonnell, online editor Randy Magalski and tape-to-tape color corrector Paul Westerbeck.
MUSIC NOTES
Hank Smith Music (HSM), San Francisco, composed the theme music for the popular Nickelodeon animated series SpongeBob SquarePants. The music was written by HSM executive producer/composer Blaise Smith, with lyrics supplied by the show’s creator Steve Hillenburg. The instrumentalists were Meloisa Lundy (accordion), Jason Gianni (drums), and Smith (guitar, bass and pennywhistle).In other HSM news, Hector Perez, formerly of bicoastal Michael Boyd Music, has come onboard HSM. He also recently composed the score for the documentary Daughter from Danang, which won first prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Additionally tracks from HSM’s "Sampler Library" have been licensed recently for various commercials, including AT&T, Macy’s and Toyota. Volume III of the CDs is in production currently. The company has also built two new recording studios, which will have composition, sound design and postproduction capabilities.
Wendell Hanes of New York-based Bang Music completed the soundtrack for ESPN’s "World’s Sexiest Athletes" special that aired late last month. The resulting soundtrack contained over 52 cues running nearly 45 minutes.
Steve Kramer and Jim Weber of Hest & Kramer, Minneapolis, composed music for Target’s "Jump" and "Beach," out of Peterson Milla Hooks, Minneapolis. "Jump" features a basement party indie track, while "Beach" showcases a dreamy dub ska ballad.
