Beast Editorial’s new Virtual Telecine links to L.A./NY colorists

Virtual Telecine colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld

Bi-coastal Company 3 and sister company Beast Editorial opened a Virtual Telecine this week, giving Beast clients access to live, full HD telecine sessions with Company 3’s colorists in Los Angeles and New York.

While a few bi-coastal post houses offer virtual telecine convenience, “Company 3 is the only one with ‘outposts’ across the country and around the globe,” says Los Angeles-based Ella Gaumer, Company 3 director of sales and business operations.

“This technology is a time and money saver, and we’ve been told it’s even a marriage saver because there’s no distance travel involved,” Gaumer says. 

Chicago’s virtual outpost is situated in Beast’s recently installed Smoke room, where local clients can collaborate with Company 3’s well-known feature and spot colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld, or any of its 20 other colorists on the other end of the connection.

In the room is a high resolution monitor that was precisely calibrated by a Company 3 engineer.  It’s coupled with a video conference system to ensure the Chicago creative’s feedback reaches the Company 3 colorist in L.A. or New York without delays or color discrepancies.

Melissa Thornley, Beast's executive producer“The color calibration is exactly the same as if the creative and remote colorist were in the same room together in Chicago, L.A. or New York,” explains Melissa Thornley, Beast’s executive producer.

Elements are given to the colorist 24-hours in advance of the session for color preparation.  An encoder/decoder is situated in both locations.  This technology is also used for streaming visual effects from sister company Method.

Virtual hourly rates are the same as a regular telecine session and competitive to rates charged in the Chicago market, Thornley says. 

The first client for the Virtual Telecine is Leo Burnett for Allstate, whose creatives will connect with Sonnenfeld at the end of this month. 

Company 3 co-founder and president Sonnenfeld is known for his work on features, such as Rango, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, The Green Hornet, Unstoppable, Red Dawn and many others.

The Virtual Telecine is also available in outposts in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Minneapolis, Tokyo and London.

Company 3, Method and Beast Editorial are subsidiaries of Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, to create one of the world’s largest postproduction entities.