The Manhattan postproduction landscape has shifted once again, this time with PostWorks, New York’s acquisition of The Lab at Moving Images, which now operates under the moniker PostWorks, The Lab. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, although it was rumored to be in the $3.5 million range.
The Lab brings under the PostWorks umbrella development of 35 mm, Super 35 mm, 16 mm and Super 16 mm color negative film, as well as cross-processing and skip bleach processing services; Its clients include a combination of film, television, commercial and other short-form projects.
The lab business in New York consists of a relatively small number of players, including DuArt Film and Video Laboratories, and Technicolor. “[A lab] is really the final piece to what we offer as ‘one source,’ and this piece gives us control with didn’t have,” explained CEO David Rosen of the strategy behind the move. “[Now] we offer the complete package.”
PostWorks already offers a wide range of post services including nonlinear editing, high definition and digital intermediate services, for both short and long-form clients. In fact, PostWorks recently doubled its telecine capacity with the addition of two new telecine suites featuring the da Vinci 2K Plus system, as well as Thomson’s Grass Valley Spirit 2K scanner, the next iteration of the popular Datacine. PostWorks also offers scalable production offices and rentals.
The Lab’s staff of 12, including COO Domenic Rom and chief engineer Chuck Roback, will remain at the company under the new ownership. Rom is a 25-year New York post veteran who has worked at such companies as DuArt and now-defunct Unitel; Roback comes from The Tapehouse, which was acquired by PostWorks in ’03.
“Joining the PostWorks family gives our clients access to the services they need, like high-end telecine, data scanning and tape to film, to name a few,” Rom said. “All of our clients will continue to get dailies quickly and of the highest quality. The fact that we are able to retain all our personnel and add the top people of PostWorks is an added bonus.”
The Lab remains operational at its 4,000-sq.-foot Midtown locale. Construction is underway for a additional location that will be within walking distance from PostWorks’ 10,000-sq- foot SoHo headquarters and is scheduled to open at the end of the first quarter next year. “As to whether or not the Midtown space will close or remain open, that will be determined by demand,” said Rosen.
PostWorks, The Lab is also scheduled to go beyond processing with the addition of advanced printing capabilities. “Today, working with our customers who finish their projects on film, we are often challenged by issues relating to check print quality and turnaround times,” explained Joe Caterini, PostWorks’ executive VP. “When our printing capabilities come online at The Lab, the traditional and Digital Intermediate finishing processes we offer will gain absolute control over quality, on much shorter timelines.”