Outpost Digital, a wholly owned subsidiary of bicoastal/international @radical. media, is using its international reach and technological expertise to extend its client base and build its infrastructure. This includes a massive effort to connect its locations and clients using the Internet and a high-speed private network—as well as a new alliance with Post Logic Studios, a Hollywood-based postproduction house.
At the helm of Outpost is company principal Evan Schechtman, who also serves as chief technology officer of @radical.media. With about 30 employees worldwide and reach in a range of markets, Outpost currently has space in New York (specializing in trailers, spots, TV programming, DVD authoring and other special products), Santa Monica (music videos), SoHo in London (commercials and longform) and Notting Hill in London (longform and shortform). @radical.media’s offices in Paris and Sydney boast some post capabilities—Apple’s Final Cut Pro powered by Pinnacle’s Cinewave—but do not use the Outpost name. Schechtman expects that the next Outpost unit will be built in Berlin, but there is no set timetable.
The company is platform-agnostic in editorial—offering tools including Avid Technology’s Media Composer and Apple’s Final Cut Pro—and uses Apple’s Shake for compositing.
For online, Outpost offers Final Cut Pro with HD capabilities, powered by Pinnacle’s Cinewave and AJA’s Kona HD card. "Final Cut Pro recognizes over two hundred file formats such as MP3 and AAF. It’s a Swiss army knife," says Schechtman. "The system … helps [us build] the next generation post house. It is able to do 10-bit output for broadcast quality, and recognizes Flash files. I’ve never seen another [nonlinear editing] system that natively recognizes Flash. It also recognizes QuickTime, which is used for both authoring and delivery. That’s big for us because we are a global company."
These days, infrastructure is of high importance. The company already has a private network—45 MB of bandwidth—connecting New York and Los Angeles. A T1 line links New York and London. And a 2 MB pipe bridges London and Paris. Using this network, which includes private servers to store client work, the company has already created applications including video conferencing and playback for review and approvals. For these applications, Outpost also uses Telestream’s Clipmail Pro and BeamTV, which offers asset management capabilities in the system.
Recent events are driving further development. "Two years ago there was a fire in our London site, and ever since then we make sure to have a redundant back-up system," Schechtman explains. "Since the blackout in New York, it’s become necessary overnight."
Outpost is building an Intranet that will sit on its private network. "If the Internet was to go down in New York, we have it set so the office can work point-to-point and get to L.A.," notes Schechtman. "We will keep building in redundancies in Internet services."
Post Logic Deal
Through the new alliance with Post Logic, Outpost’s New York operation will get an additional 12,000 square feet—beyond its current 10,000 square feet—for the installation of new technology and capabilities from Post Logic. This includes a Grass Valley Spirit Datacine, a film vault, a master control room, HD D5 decks, a dirt removal and film cleaning system, 2 QC (quality control) rooms and four Teranex standards converters. This extension is scheduled for completion by year’s end.
While Outpost Digital and Post Logic will collaborate on certain projects, they will retain their separate brand identities. The plan was prompted by a three-year deal with Miramax Films. Per the agreement, the New York office will remaster many titles from the studio’s catalogue, do online TV spots for its current releases, and create the content for ancillary markets (i.e. airlines).
"First of all, the opportunity to work with Miramax is amazing," says Post Logic president Barry Snyder. "They’ve been a great client in Hollywood, and we share their desire to revitalize the New York film market. Also, this is a great opportunity for Post Logic to expand the reach of the company, and for talent to have a home in New York, and vice versa."
These services are available to clients in addition to Miramax, and it may not be long before @radical. media is completing more spots for broadcast in cinemas using the new infrastructure. Schechtman reports that the company is already examining the possibilities.
Outpost is also adding to its coterie of talent. Video and sound artist Joshua Pearson recently joined the company’s New York shop. He has designed, edited and scored commercials, show opens, longform promotional videos, episodic TV shows and documentaries. Pearson has collaborated with such firms as @radical.media; Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore.; BBDO New York; MTV; and Comedy Central. In the art and design world, Pearson has created several multi-channel video installations for the American Museum of Natural History, New York. He is in the midst of working with documentary filmmaker Garland Farwell on Pigs and Panthers, and has teamed with installation artist Kyong Park on a multi-channel video projection piece that has been exhibited throughout Europe.
