Colorflow, a full-service post-production company specializing in color grading for independent films, documentaries, long-form television and similar projects, has opened an all-new, state-of-the-art facility in the historic Saul Zaentz Media Center in Berkeley, California. The 7500-square foot facility features three color grading and finishing suites, and a DCI-compliant DI grading theater. Colorflow has recently provided color grading and finishing services for a number of films, including “Heatstroke,” a suspense thriller from Bold Films; and “A River Changes Course,” a documentary set to premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
Founded in 2009, Colorflow has quickly built a following among production companies and individual filmmakers. It blends a laid-back, boutique-style environment with talented colorists and next generation technology.
“We needed a larger facility with a more robust infrastructure and a theater environment in order to properly service the type and number of projects we are attracting,” says Alexander Black, the company’s Managing Director.
“We have done a careful job in balancing the creative and the technical in the new facility,” adds Digital Intermediate Supervisor Alexander MacLean. “Every infrastructure decision was made in service of the creative process for our artists and clients.”
The centerpiece of the new facility is its DI grading theater. Originally built as the Jacobs Theatre by Saul Zaentz, it includes theater-style seating for 20, a Christie 2K digital cinema projector, a 20-foot screen and a latest-generation Autodesk Lustre color grading system. Three HD color and finishing suites feature Assimilate SCRATCH, Autodesk Smoke and DaVinci Resolve. All of the company’s resources are linked via a high speed fiber optic network that allows seamless access to HD, 2K and 4K media in any suite. Its infrastructure is fully file-based and can directly accommodate raw media from all digital cinema cameras, including RED Epic & Scarlet, Arri Alexa, Canon C300/500 and Vision Research Phantom.
“Our theater mixes the best of all I’ve seen over the years at post facilities around the globe,” says Lead Colorist Kent Pritchett. “I can’t imagine a better working environment, and I am thrilled to offer this environment to clients.”
Colorflow‘s creative staff includes lead colorist Kent Pritchett, and senior colorists David Lortsher and Gary Coates. In addition to color grading and finishing, the company also operates a full-service digital lab providing dailies, visual effects pulls, standards conversion, film restoration, digital cinema packages, data back-up and archiving, and tape deliverables. Its past credits include the Academy Award-nominated short The Barber of Birmingham and several PBS documentaries. It also recently provided restoration services for director Carroll Ballard’s 1969 documentary short “Rodeo” prior to its screening at 38th The Telluride Film Festival.
Colorflow‘s location at the Saul Zaentz Media Center positions it just a short distance from Skywalker Sound and Lucasfilm and near the heart of the growing Northern California film community. Colorflow Executive Producer Alex da Silva notes filmmakers welcome the individualized service and the opportunity to finish their films at a site outside Los Angeles or New York.
“It’s our talent and attention to service that sets us apart,” he says. “Our clients are not rushed or ‘bumped.’ There’s none of that kind of behavior here. Rather, filmmakers can apply the finishing touches to their work in a relaxed, comfortable environment while working with world-class post-production talent and the industry’s best technology.”
About Colorflow
Colorflow is a full-service post-production facility specializing in color grading for film, broadcast and the web. The facility is 100 percent file-based and can accommodate all camera formats, including raw camera files and uncompressed image sequences. Its workflow is fast, modular and can be adapted to accommodate productions of all types and scale. Colorflow is located in the Zaentz Media Center at 2600 10th Street, Ste.110, Berkeley, CA 94710. www.colorflow.com
