Hollywood Changes in Production: Coronavirus

Hey guys, I wanted to jumpstart our conversations on the future of Hollywood, specifically in production, and even more specifically how it is affected by the coronavirus. We'll be talking about distribution in the coming days too because obviously streaming is emerging as the clear frontrunner now.

We all know that things are changing in Hollywood production and the coronavirus is adding complexity and speeding that up. Technology changes are coming yes, but productions now have to think about crew and talent bubbles, location safety, transportation, etc - it's a lot to consider, let alone implement.

Here are some of the things that need to be considered regarding production in these times:
- Smaller movies. Smaller locations, sets, crews, talent, etc. Think about all the roles that need to be careful - Makeup for example. Very close contact with actors.
- Virtual productions, especially for larger budgets. Think THE MANDALORIAN, AVATAR, TINTIN, THE LION KING, etc. Anything that can be done behind a computer could and should become the gold standard. More on that in upcoming posts.
- Tightly controlled bubbles. Everyone involved in the production needs to be in their own bubble. Just like what the NBA is thinking of doing on July 31.
- Daily testing with swabs and/or non-invasive temperature checks.
- Ensuring locations/sets have exceptional air circulation and filtration.
- Specialized medical teams. Productions are going to need them.
- Specialized cleaning teams. Productions are going to need them.
- Using Zoom for the bulk of required meetings.
- Insurance. The coverage is going to look a lot different. Less extravagant locations and more green screens and perfcap volume sets. More on this in the coming days.

I see some immediate changes. Since theater releases are not going to happen on a large scale anytime soon, productions are going to have to align with digital streaming pipeline workflows and release schedules. That's the new time slots. Anything to ease this transition and integration with Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO, Amazon Prime, etc is going to boom.

Other fast changes include production bubbles - studios will need to house, feed, transport, and safely enable sets for all crew members - perhaps even family members for longer productions. This is no small feat. Tight budget controls will need to be in place, especially because distribution is in flux and not as certain as theatrical.

Marketing is going to undergo huge changes. No more festivals or industry events. No more mammoth budgets for red carpets, travel, and awards. Think more about social media, influencers, and short clipped "trailers" on Tiktok for example.

Even as more and more of society opens up, theaters will remain one of the worst places for infection. A second wave is a very real possibility. I shudder to think about it.

Here's the bottom line: Expect many more first-run movies on streaming services. Take the recently released BECKY, starring Kevin James and Lulu Wilson, written by a friend of mine, Nick Morris. It was slated to premiere at Tribeca this spring and be released in theaters, but now it released on several digital platforms like Apple TV+ and Vudu. No theatrical. That will continue to happen in the industry. Hopefully, we can get to a place where there is a simultaneous release on digital and also any theatrical territories that have opened up in the future.

The coronavirus has definitely done one thing: Sped up adoption of streaming services around the world, and the acceptance of that distribution by studios. I don't believe theaters are dead. They're going to change, but they will be back.

We Are Wrapped!! 40 BELOW AND FALLING Enters Post Production!

We're wrapped! Into post we go. What a journey so far and I'm thrilled to be a part of such an awesome movie. I'll be sure to keep you all up to speed on happenings in post production as well and we have some surprises in store for you!

Here's our official press release: 

EDMONTON - That’s a wrap! Filming in Edmonton is officially complete on 12pt Media’s 3D Romantic Adventure/Comedy 40 Below and Falling. The film stars actors Jewel Staite (Firefly, The Killing) and Shawn Roberts (Resident Evil) along with a superb Canadian support cast that includes Cindy Busby, Shaun Johnston, Mark Meer and Hollywood trained grizzly bear Whopper from Innisfail, Alberta.

40 Below and Falling tells the story of Kate Carter (Jewel Staite), a small town school teacher who is moving back to the big city for her wedding. When a blizzard strikes, her flight gets cancelled and the roads are shut down, leaving Kate no choice but to hop on the back of a surly stranger named Redford’s (Shawn Roberts) snowmobile. As they battle the winter elements together and their adventures unfold, Kate slowly starts to question the choice she has made about the man she is set to marry.

The movie was filmed in Edmonton and various locations across Alberta with a custom manufactured beam-splitting rig. This cutting-edge technology allowed the team to effectively shoot in freezing Canadian temperatures with reduced setup times for all of the film's remote locations. The feature is now entering into post-production, utilizing Davinci Resolve, AVID, NUKE and After Effects to meet its quick delivery date at the end of May. The complicated workflow involves over 150TB of data and is being managed in house by 12pt Media.

Executive Producers Darren Arsenault, Corinne Ferguson, Pierre-Andre Rochat, Producer Andrew Scholotiuk, Associate Producer Jim Dorey, along with the crew, are hard at work behind the scenes getting the film ready for its expected release in the fall of 2015. 40 Below and Falling is currently scheduled to be broadcast in Canada in 2D on Super Channel, with an international release being handled by distributor DARO Films out of Monaco.

Produced in association with the Edmonton Film Fund and with the assistance of the Government of Alberta Media Fund and the Canadian Film or Video Tax Credit Program.

Stay up to date on the film’s adventures and get in on some of the behind the scenes action by following 40 Below and Falling on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Facebook: 40 Below and Falling 3D
Twitter/Instagram: 40Below3D
www.40belowandfalling.com 

Stay tuned for more!
 

Blackmagic Design Releases 3D VFX Software Fusion 7

Tim here, and today Blackmagic Design announced that they are releasing the popular visual effects and motion graphics software Fusion 7 for free, with a Studio version for as low as $995. Wow! Like Blackmagic did with DaVinci Resolve and color grading they have now done with Eyeon's Fusion. Back in September Blackmagic announced that it had bought Eyeon in order to acquire this software. Read the full press release below:

Blackmagic Design Revolutionizes the Visual Effects Industry with Fusion 7

Fremont, CA - November 10, 2014 - Blackmagic Design today announced that Fusion 7, the world's most advanced visual effects and motion graphics software, is now available completely free of charge.
Fusion 7 for Windows can be downloaded from the Blackmagic Design website now.
Previously getting access to high end visual effects tools such as Fusion cost thousands of dollars, so it was more restricted to elite Hollywood visual effects artists. Now with Fusion 7 being available free of charge there is no limit to block anyone from creating world leading visual effects. Blackmagic Design believes this will revolutionize the industry and consumers will be able to watch dramatically better feature films and television shows in the future.
Also announced was Fusion 7 Studio, a complete bundle of VFX and motion graphics solutions with collaborative tools and unlimited network rendering for creative teams and larger facilities. Fusion 7 Studio drastically reduces the cost of setting up multi user studios. Fusion 7 Studio will be available for $995 from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide.
Fusion has been one of Hollywood's leading visual effects and motion graphic tools for over 25 years and has been used on thousands of feature film and television projects, including blockbusters like Maleficent, Edge of Tomorrow, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, The Amazing Spider-man 2 and The Hunger Games, as well as hit television shows like Battlestar Galactica, Orphan Black and many more.
The free of charge Fusion 7 is a fully featured solution and is not limited in it's features. It has a massive visual effects and motion graphics toolset that can be used for both personal and commercial work. Fusion 7 features an infinite 3D workspace and an easy to use node based workflow for quickly building unlimited effects. Customers get advanced 3D compositing, paint, rotoscope, retiming, stabilization, titling, an amazing 3D particle generator and multiple keyers, including Primatte. Fusion 7 also lets customers import and render 3D geometry and scenes from other applications as well as create their own elements from scratch.
The $995 Fusion 7 Studio includes everything found in the free Fusion 7 software, plus adds extra high end features such as optical flow tools for advanced retiming, stabilization and stereoscopic 3D production, support for third party OpenFX plug ins, and distributed network rendering so customers can render jobs on an unlimited number of computers at no additional cost! Fusion 7 Studio also includes Generation, a studio wide multi user workflow and collaboration tool that helps creative teams manage, track and review versions of every shot in a production. Customers can also move projects from the free Fusion 7 software to a workstation running Fusion 7 Studio and take advantage of workflow collaboration and unlimited distributed network rendering.
Unlike other software, Fusion 7 Studio doesn't require annual maintenance fees, subscriptions, a connection to the cloud, or per node render license costs. That means customers don't get tricked into hidden or on going costly payments for software they've already purchased.
"Visual effects software has been expensive for way too long and it's time that this changed. Consumers are screaming for more exciting movies and television programs and so we need to do everything we can to help our customers create stunning visual effects," said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. "Now, with the free version of Fusion, everyone from individual artists to the biggest studios can create Hollywood caliber visual effects and motion graphics! When combined with DaVinci Resolve Lite, customers can get the world's most advanced tools for editing, grading, 3D compositing, visual effects and motion graphics, all absolutely free!"

Availability and Price

Fusion 7 software for Windows is available for download now from the Blackmagic Design web site free of charge. Fusion 7 Studio will be available for $995 at all Blackmagic Design Resellers. Existing Fusion 7 customers and customers on a current Fusion support plan can upgrade to Fusion Studio at no additional charge by contacting Blackmagic Design.

About Blackmagic Design

Blackmagic Design creates the world's highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design's DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company's Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com.

This is incredibly significant because what it means is that the software is available to a whole demographic of independent filmmakers who wouldn't have had access to it before. It also makes doing a stereoscopic 3D production more affordable to a certain extent. The full Studio version of the software comes with numerous stereoscopic 3D controls that aren't available in the free version. According to the official page's information: "Fusion Studio includes the world's most advanced camera matching, stereo alignment, convergence and spatialization tools for creating realistic, eye popping stereo 3D!"

Comprehensive Stereoscopic Tools

When you're shooting stereoscopic 3D it can be incredibly difficult to get perfectly aligned 3D images from the left and right eye cameras and lenses. Fusion uses an optical flow toolset that goes far beyond simple transforms and keystone adjustments to correct the intricate alignment and disparity issues that can occur during production. When creating stereoscopic composites, Fusion simplifies complicated stereoscopic workflows by using a single camera instead of complex stereo camera rigs. Fusion can even create 3D from 2D source material, and is used by more studios than any other solution to convert 2D movies into 3D!

STEREOSCOPIC WORKFLOW

Stereoscopic Production

Fusion Studio is a complete solution for stereo conversion! You can rotoscope different elements for displacement, add a 3D camera to your scene and then adjust for eye separation and convergence distance for amazing 2D to 3D conversions!

Stereo 3D Disparity tools

Fusion Studio includes specific tools to solve intricate issues that result from live action stereo production. Repair polarization, color, defocus and even timing differences between two cameras!

Optical Flow

Automatically repair problems with footage using advanced Optical Flow image analysis in Fusion Studio! Remove scratches and dust, smooth color variations and grain, even use optical flow to create super smooth retiming effects!

This is pretty sweet! And this software has been used on numerous Hollywood Blockbusters, including a few 3D flicks you might recognize. Fusion has been used for nearly 25 years to create the visual effects and motion graphics for some of Hollywood's biggest blockbuster films and television shows. This is the first time it is available so widely at two great prices: FREE & $1K.

Now it is only available for Windows Systems at this time. However, Grant Petty revealed on the Blackmagic Forums that they are working on a Mac OS version. Yet, at this time it is impossible for them to predict when that release will be. This is due to the infrastructure of the buttons having been built for Windows with the coding. They haven't left out the Mac users, and plan on opening it up to them as well as to allow all independent filmmakers the option to start experimenting with the free version and then move on to the full Studio version.

So there you have it. If you're running Windows you can head over to the Blackmagic Design Support Page and download it: here