June 7 marks the launch of DDP Studios, Deluxe Australia’s new integrated film and TV post production facility.
The new enterprise combines the post businesses of Deluxe/Cinevex, CornerPost, Digital Pictures and EFILM, headed in Melbourne by Ian Anderson and in Sydney by Marcus Bolton.
That follows Deluxe’s acquisition last August of Omnilab's Media’s creative and media services businesses. Operating at sites in South Melbourne, Crows Nest and Lane Cove, DDP Studios provides feature film, documentary, TV drama and light entertainment services, from on-set to delivery master, all under one umbrella.
The common philosophy, executives say, is a commitment to helping storytellers tell their stories better. “We’re really embracing our new brand and ethos with the resources to be mobile, able to go wherever our clients need us,” said Sydney general manager Bolton, who was head of post-production and visual effects supervisor at Digital Pictures.
“We’re bringing all these businesses together and combining all the new technologies,” said his southern counterpart Anderson, who was general manager Deluxe Melbourne.
The executives said it took some time after the Onmilab acquisition for the respective teams to get to know each other and their ways of working. They point to such synergies as combining the CornerPost team’s expertise in working on TV reality shows such as The Block and RBT, with the film and drama-versed teams at Lane Cove.
“Screen production equipment is ever changing and offers infinite possibilities,” said Bolton. “We live and breathe this techie stuff every day and it can be so easy for clients to get overloaded with choosing file types, camera formats and digital workflows. We believe technology should never get in the way of a good story.”
“‘We’re about people first, technology second,” Anderson said. “Our digital architects take the time to get to the technical heart of a project and design the best end-to-end digital roadmap allowing our clients to direct all their energy towards storytelling.”’
It’s been a busy start to the year for the businesses now housed under the DDP Studios banner. Among the films being serviced are The Mule, These Final Hours, The Turning, Patrick, Galore, Felony, I, Frankenstein, The Rover, Tracks, Son of a Gun and Deepsea Challenge 3D.
The TV clients include Essential Media & Entertainment’s Jack Irish – Dead Point and The Broken Shore, Every Cloud Productions’ Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries Series 2 and The Gods of Wheat Street, FremantleMedia’s Wentworth and Wonderland, Matchbox Pictures’ Devil’s Playground, Playmaker Media’s House Husbands Series 2, Screentime’s Janet King and Underbelly: Squizzy , Seven Network’s A Place to Call Home and Winners & Losers Series 3 and Werner Film Productions’ Dance Academy Series 3..
However the executives lament the absence of big budget Hollywood films shooting in Australia and endorse the campaign by Ausfilm and other industry groups to raise the location offset from 16.5 per cent to 30 per cent.