Shortly after resigning as president of New York-based postproduction facility Post Perfect and COO of its holding company New York Media Group, Dean Winkler has accepted a position as chief technologist at Crossroads Films, bicoastal and Chicago, and the Crossroads family of companies.
The family consists of spot house Crossroads Films; bicoastal commercial shops X-Ray Productions and X-1 Films; bicoastal broadcast creative services agency/production company Crossroads Television; and New York-based design/editorial/postproduction house 89 Greene.
In his newly created position, Winkler will analyze how to best use technology to assist the traditional media projects that the Crossroads companies work on. For instance, he currently serves as visual effects supervisor on a promo for an undisclosed client for Crossroads Television. Crossroads partner Dan Lindau added that Winkler has already served in an advisory capacity on a few Crossroads commercial projects that combine live-action and visual effects.
Additionally, Winkler will help advise and provide technological expertise to clients who want to work in new and emerging media. "The idea is to use whatevers out there for the directors, writers and everybody thats at Crossroads," said Winkler. "We want to make [the technologies] work for them." These technologies range from capturing and finishing images in high-def, to exploring applications of Apple Computers PowerMac G4 desktop PC for the Web, said Winkler.
For example, he continued, HD figures to significantly change the landscape, post-wise and production-wise. "The Panavision Sony camera is incredible," stated Winkler. "But lets look two years out, when you can have a $10,000 16:9 1080/24P camera. That changes a lot of stuff if youre making independent films, and so a whole world of things will go with that."
Lindau said that Winklers addition was prompted by the need to learn developing technologies for emerging new media. "It became more and more evident that we needed to be conversant with the various technologies," Lindau explained. "You need to be able to shoot in various formats and you need, I think, an array of compositing abilities. Going forward, were positioning ourselves to be ready for the world of interactive television. [We want] to be able to work with clients to develop content that makes sense in that forum, and to facilitate [projects] with technology people at the ad agencies, or the broadcasters. We needed somebody who could help us with all that. Dean was that guy."
In August, Winkler stepped down from Post Perfect, the company he co-founded some 15 years ago, in order to become more closely involved with content creation and new-media opportunities (SHOOT, 8/18, p. 7). "I look back at the last year or so at Post Perfect," said Winkler, "and I was spending so much of my time doing the business side of things. That was a good education and Im glad I did it. But when I look at what Ive done creatively in the last four weeks and how much fun Ive been having, its exactly what I wanted to do."
According to Winkler, his involvement with Crossroads started out as a short-term project that developed into a more permanent one. "It didnt start out to be [long-term] but it turned out that I was just having so much fun," Winkler reported, "and theres so much to do. Crossroads is an interesting place. Its this really cool hybrid of entrepreneurship and creativity."
Because the industry is already well supplied with top-quality post houses, Winkler and Lindau emphasized that the goal at Crossroads is not to create another one. Nor do they intend to buy equipment that needs to be "fed by the hour," noted Lindau.
Lindau said Winkler will be helping to develop what the next generation of 89 Greene will be. To that end, Winkler added, several announcements will be made in the near future related to new companies that will be associated with either 89 Greene or Crossroads.
"The other thing I want to stress is that were looking to talk to other people around the world about different opportunities," said Winkler. "Half of this job is new business, or new opportunity, development. Some things were identified internally pretty quickly [with regard to] things that looked very attractive to do immediately. Now, were looking out a little farther … and asking what makes the most sense and what we can do to help leverage all the creativity at Crossroads."
