Dean Winkler, president of New York-based postproduction facility Post Perfect and COO of its holding company New York Media Group, has resigned from both firms to pursue several yet-to-be-named business opportunities. Winkler co-founded Post Perfect some 15 years ago.
Pat Howley, also a co-founder of Post Perfect, is now taking the lead role at the company, moving up to general manager from his position as executive VP, operations and sales. As general manager, he will be responsible for the day-to-day running of Post Perfect.
The overall New York Media Group maintains a family of New York-based companies that consists of Post Perfect, production, design and visual effects shop Cyclotron, DVD production and authoring facility Crush, and audio houses East Side Mix, Lower East Side, Mixed Nuts and Superdupe Recording.
There will be no immediate replacement for Winkler at the New York Media Group. "Each of the companies has strong management, so they're going to run on their own. I'll help out from time to time, but over the years Dean did a lot of good, positive things and put a strong management team in place," said Howley, who acknowledged that Winkler will be missed. The two worked together for many years.
Howley was president of Post Perfect from '87 until he left in '94 to pursue a number of business ventures in New York and Miami. Winkler was then promoted from VP to president. "We both kind of co-ran the place for the first seven years ['87-'94]," recalled Howley. "I was the president and Dean was the VP and the chief technical officer, but he did much more than that, and we worked well as a team."
Upon Howley's return to Post Perfect in '98, Winkler was president of the facility as well as COO of New York Media Group. Now Howley is back at the helm of Post Perfect. "I'm stepping up and becoming the general manager of Post Perfect, which will include Post Perfect, Mixed Nuts and Cyclotron," related Howley. As to why his title is general manager rather than president, Howley quipped: "I'm in the mood to roll up my sleeves. I don't need a fancy title. I've been the president before, and I wanted something different this time around."
Winkler left Post Perfect and New York Media Group last Friday (8/11) after having officially announced his resignation the previous week. But he noted that he has been talking to key people for some time and making sure that clients are taken care of. Winkler said that he leaves on good terms, relating that although he was stepping down, he would remain a stockholder.
"I can't imagine working for a more fun postproduction facility, but I've been doing this for 15 years, and I wanted to be closer to the content creation, to the front end and to some new media opportunities. So I'm going off to do a series of projects, some of which you will hear about in the fall," he said.
Winkler declined to discuss specifics regarding what the new opportunities would be, only relating that one involved the Internet and another hi-def television. Before embarking on those long-term endeavors in which he will be more "hands-on" involved, Winkler said that he will be engaged in some short-term undisclosed projects, including one for Crossroads Films and 89 Greene Editorial, both in New York. These short-term commitments will also give him time off to pursue some of his hobbies such as aviation-related recreational activities.
In terms of what he had achieved with Post Perfect, Winkler said that over the years the company has had a series of technological firsts, but more important was its ability to deliver high-caliber work for clients while having a great time in the process. He also cited the fact that Post Perfect facilitated and helped to bring a number of television shows to New York.
Meanwhile, Howley is looking to diversify Post Perfect into other arenas. He said Post Perfect plans to form a new media company, Liquid Labs, which will offer such services as Web site design, digital compression and storage of images as well as sound, and digital delivery over such conduits as the Internet. "We've actually been doing it in-house for awhile so we've got the staff and we have decided to formally launch it as a separate business unit," Howley explained. Initially seven staffers will work at Liquid Labs, some exclusively and some as an extension of their duties at Cyclotron and Post Perfect.
Additionally, Howley is contemplating slightly different titles and responsibilities for some in Post Perfect's upper management. He hasn't yet decided on a successor to assume his prior role as executive VP, operations and sales. However, Howley hinted that he might be inclined to promote someone from within the company.
In May, when the actors' strike against the advertising industry began, New York Media Group laid off some 20 staffers to make for "a leaner and meaner administrative staff," said Howley. Ten others were given different jobs within the organization. Since then, approximately 10 of the staffers who were originally let go have been called back either as full-time employees or freelancers.