Larry Birstock has been appointed general manager of Universal Studios Digital Services, the on-lot picture postproduction group. In this newly created position, Birstock will oversee the facility’s operations, administration and sales activities.
Birstock’s career has spanned senior executive positions at leading post companies such as Post Logic, Technicolor and Deluxe. In these leadership roles, he has been responsible for growing established post facilities and launching new companies in the U.S., U.K. and India.
“Larry’s depth of experience is a great addition to our skilled team,” said Michael Daruty, sr. VP, Technical Operations. “He has a tremendous track record of success with both the creative and technical aspects of postproduction.”
Universal Studios Digital Services, a unit of NBCUniversal, offers film scanning, color correction, digital intermediates, DCP creation, editing, digital restoration, video duplication & conversion, digital effects, quality control and video encoding services for independent projects, television, features and trailers. The facility is also responsible for the preservation and restoration of the Universal film library and plays a central role in the Studios’ Centennial project. This project involves the extensive restoration of 100 of the studio’s most beloved titles such as To Kill a Mockingbird, All Quiet on The Western Front, Jaws, The Sting, Out of Africa, Frankenstein and Jaws.
“A Complete Unknown,” “Wicked,” “Sing Sing,” “Baby Reindeer” Among Guild of Music Supervisors Award Winners
The Guild of Music Supervisors held its 15th annual awards ceremony on Sunday night (2/23) at the Wiltern Theatre in L.A., honoring the best achievements in music supervision and songwriting with feature category winners including “Wicked,” “A Complete Unknown,” “I Saw the TV Glow” and “Sing Sing.” Among the TV category winners were “Baby Reindeer,” “English Teacher” and “Agatha All Along.”
Stephen Schwartz was awarded the Icon Award to celebrate his contributions to the music and film industry. Schwartz performed his song “Beautiful City” on stage from his musical “Godspell.” Music producer and supervisor Bonnie Greenberg took to the stage to accept the Legacy Award for her outstanding career in music supervision. Music supervisor and executive at EA Games Steve Schnur won the most awards for the evening with two wins for his work on video games EA Sports FC 25 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Keeping their promise of live performances from Best Song nominees, Oscar-nominees Abraham Alexander & Adrian Quesada performed their nominated song “Like a Bird” from “Sing Sing,” which took the prize for Best Song Written and/or Recorded for a Film. Danielle Ponder performed her nominated song “Egún” from Apple TV’s “Manhunt,” and the artist Role Model gave a rousing performance of their song “Sally, When The Wine Runs Out” as the Spotlight artist of the evening.
The complete winners list for the 15th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards is as follows.
FILM
Best Music Supervision in Major Budget Films
Maggie Rodford - “Wicked”
Best Music Supervision in Mid-Level Budget Films
Steven Gizicki - “A... Read More