London and New York-based commercial post house Smoke & Mirrors, with the backing of its London-headquartered parent company Tag, has acquired privately held London-based Red Post Production. This move marks Smoke & Mirrors and Tag’s latest investment in postproduction, and with the addition of Red’s Spirit Datacine brings telecine services to its London facility.
“It’s great news for our business and marks the further growth of Smoke & Mirrors,” said Smoke & Mirrors managing director/CEO Penny Verbe. “We have been expanding our range of services for some time now and with the addition of Red’s Spirit, Smoke & Mirrors will become a full service facility with a much higher capacity not only for creative work, but also for versioning and delivery. Whilst the enlarged offering will be fantastic for our clients, I also know that — I have people who are passionate and dedicated to moving the company forward”
Red partner Gary Szabo will be staying with the company as a colorist and creative services director. Szabo has been a colorist for 14 years. Prior to being at Red he was head of telecine at Framestore’s London office and senior colorist at London’s Rushes. His recent work includes an Orange campaign for London-based Mother, directed by Bryan Buckley of bicoastal/international Hungry Man.
“Red is a great company and although we have loved being independent for the last two years, in order to do the best for our clients in the long term, we needed to offer a broader range of services, larger infrastructure and more financial muscle,” Szabo explained. “We explored many options, but Smoke & Mirrors and Tag clearly offered the best fit both culturally and commercially.”
Red talent also transitioning to Smoke & Mirrors includes Flame operator Ally Burnett, DS artist/designer Henry Cummings, and producer Debby Darby.
