Category Archives: Behind the Scenes

Featured Film Editor: Said Franco!

May 30, 2015 Christina Williams Leave a comment

In the world of filmmaking, many groups work together to create a production. The vision of the director, the roles of the actors, and the reach of the production team are all important. That being said, it doesn’t matter how incredible these teams are if the film falls apart in the post-production process.

The skill of a film editor can make or break an entire production. When a production company finds a film editor that can rapidly create quality content, they hold onto them. Perhaps this is why Said Franco, 29, has remained so busy for the last decade.

Franco was born in Mexico City, and found himself fascinated with the filmmaking process from a young age. At 15, he decided that he wanted to pursue a career in film editing. At that point, he set out to complete all the necessary education required to turn his dream into a reality.

Franco began working as a film editor immediately after graduating from the University of Mexico with an MBA in TV and Communications. The first job he secured was in 2008, as an assistant editor for the Spanish TV series Capadocia. To add a dash of prestige to his early resume, this series was nominated for three Emmy awards, in addition to winning numerous awards at other events.

After he began working in film editing, Franco realized that he had chosen his career wisely: “While working on Capadocia, I learned that I had the skills that an editor needs to succeed in the business.” Apparently, many other companies have acknowledged his skills as well, as he has since been recruited to lend his talent to an onslaught of productions.

Recently, Franco has been working for Rancho Studios as a chief editor on many international commercials, including those for Apple, Coca-Cola, Ducati, Hershey’s, Sony, and Wal-Mart. After completing commercials for Coca-Cola and Sony, both companies returned to Rancho and asked if Franco would edit their future commercials.

Microsoft also hired Franco for more work after seeing the results of his holiday promotional commercials for the Xbox gaming system. Franco agreed to edit commercials for many video games, including Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty, FIFA 2013, Grand Theft Auto, Halo, and the Need for Speed.

Not all of Franco’s editing work has taken place within the confines of an office though. As a result of his success in his career as a film editor, he has had the opportunity to set forth upon many adventures.

On one of these adventures, Franco travelled to Spain as a representative for Heineken. Heineken, who sponsored the Champions League of Europe football game, hired Franco to edit each game, which was then broadcast to television networks throughout Europe. During his time in Spain, he edited a total of 25 games and six additional events.

While working for Grupo Televisa, the largest media company in Latin America, Franco edited a commercial campaign for the 2010 World Cup. During the month that the campaign for the World Cup aired, he edited five commercials a week, which were broadcast to many major television networks throughout Latin America.

Franco has a wide variety of experience in many different genres of film editing. In addition to his prominent work in commercials and sports, he has expertise in editing television shows, YouTube channels, and music videos.

Several of the music videos Franco has edited have achieved widespread acclaim including the “Voces” video he edited for Division Minuscula, and the “Miedo a Caer” video he edited for Ruido Rosa.

When it comes to film editing, Said Franco is comfortable working within any genre. In the last 10 years, he has repeatedly demonstrated his expertise in his field. This continues to be confirmed as companies return for more work after viewing his product. As important as the film editor is, it’s no wonder they continue to return.

AFI, Behind the Scenes, Editor, Film

Editor Oliver Harwood turns Good Stories into Great Films

March 25, 2015 Scott Prewitt Leave a comment

Oliver Harwood understands better than most what it takes to turn a good story into a great story. His work spans the Atlantic, he’s been trained in one of the most exclusive and prestigious film schools in the world, and his talent has been essential to the success of an ever-growing list of award-winning films. So what does it take to make a good story great? It takes the keen eyes and ears of an editor.

Just this year, Share, a film edited by Harwood and directed by Pippa Bianco, premiered at the massive Austin-based SXSW 2015 festival where it won the Special Jury Recognition Award for Narrative Short. Share tells the story of a young girl’s return to school after being in a sex tape that gets shared online.

Harwood fell in love with film-editing inadvertently, when as a teenager he and a friend began filming their own comedy sketches. He became enthralled with cutting, splicing and arranging the clips, and in so doing found that the way stories are told on film come down to decisions made by the editor. Within a few short years, the young Brit was enrolled at the American Film Institute, known the world over for producing some of the biggest names in entertainment and filmmaking.

In 2013, Harwood edited Gala Goliani’s (What the Monkey Saw, Worship) film Red Rider, a dystopian thriller set eight years after a disaster turns the world into a wasteland. The intense action follows Adena, played by Abigail Wilson (Cigarette, The Half Man), as she roams the wastes seeking revenge on a vicious biker gang. A marvelous editing job to say the least, Harwood uses the character’s voice to narrate her thought process as she plans her mission, which gives viewers entry into her world without the overuse of dialogue to explain her plight.

The film was an Official Selection by several film festivals in 2014 including the San Jose International Short Film Festival, the La Femme International Film Festival and the NewFilmmakers New York Winter Festival. It also won the awards for Best Actor and Best Cinematographer at the Los Angeles New Wave Intl’ Film Festival.

After Red Rider, Harwood was tapped by director Leonard LoBiondo (Inheritance) to edit the film Reaver starring Kelly Blatz (Prom Night, 90210, Chicago Fire). A hair-raising chiller, Reaver is the haunting story of two siblings who come face-to-face with the evil specter that spirited-away their father. Reaver won the festival prize for Best Lovecraft Short at the 2014 A Night Of Horror Film Festival.

“Starting Reaver, I was pretty comfortable with myself as an editor, and was ready to experiment with my approach to collaborating with a director,” Harwood said.

A huge part of making a great film comes from knowing how to communicated and collaborate best with your fellow filmmakers. Harwood has been editing films long enough to what he needs to achieve the best possible film, and for him, that has to do with having his own space to create without someone looking over his shoulder. So, when it came time to start editing Reaver, Harwood suggested the use of a separate monitor where the director could view the progress without looking over his shoulder.

That decision really paid off. Harwood recalled, “It helped the director keep a better sense of perspective on the movie… he was much more able to astutely observe how much tension we could bring out from each shot, and how the following shot could be used to further enhance and build on that tension.”

Hot on the heels of Reaver, Harwood began work on Contrapelo in 2014. Directed by Gareth Dunnet Alcocer (Dig!, Exodo), Contrapelo was a huge change of scenery for Harwood. While the film’s dialogue was in Spanish, a language Harwood didn’t speak a word of, he managed not only to do the job, but to edit it into an awe-inspiring and gripping film. Contrapelo focuses on a cartel boss, a barber, a straight razor, and one of the most difficult decisions a person can be forced to make.

“Because I was unable to understand what was being said, I was able to decontextualize the line and turn the dialogue into something like music,” said Harwood, explaining that in a way the language barrier helped him with editing. “The rhythm and tone of the words being spoken helped me guide each cut based on feeling.”

The film’s recognitions included countless awards including Best Indie Short Film and the Audience Award at the 2014 Cine Gear Expo, the Best Short Awards from the Las Vegas International Film Festival and the Los Cortos International Film Festival, as well as nominations for Best Overall Short Film at the Calgary International Film Festival, the German Independence Award for Best Short Film at the 2014 Oldenburg Film Festival, and Best Narrative Short at the world-renowned Tribeca Film Festival.

Harwood’s mastery of his craft is the result of his incredible training, extensive experience and raw, innate talent. He possesses the rare skill to find the exact crossroads between technical genius and creative visionary. His work is certain to leave viewers not just satisfied with the cinematic experience, but contemplating some of the most serious issues facing the world today. And that, after all, is the difference between a good story, and a great story.

Behind the Scenes, Film, Producer, Production, Television

The Producer Behind “Shaya” Prepares for the Release of Two Upcoming Features

February 28, 2015 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment

Amir Noorani (left) and Mike Gut (right) at the 2013 CAAM Film Festival

Using his background in finance along with his creative talents as a filmmaker himself, producer Mike Gut knows how to make a winner. As a producer with Oracle Film Group, Gut recently produced the upcoming films Timber the Treasure Dog and Cowboys vs Dinosaurs, which are set for release this year.

Timber the Treasure Dog, which is being distributed by Archstone Distribution, the company responsible for distributing mega-hits such as Machete, The Rum Diary and For the Love of Money, follows a young boy and his talking pup as they embark on a hunt for grandpa’s hidden treasure in an effort to save the family home from foreclosure.

Out of all of the films Gut has produced Timber the Treasure Dog was a game-changer in this talented producer’s career. He says, “Timber the Treasure Dog was my favorite so far. The reason being is that it was the hardest film I’ve made to date, which ultimately made it that much more rewarding to pull off.”

When it came to the challenges, Gut says that they shot the film under strict time constraints with all of the actual filming taking place in a time span of less than three weeks, additionally the film’s cast included three dogs and two kids as lead actors, performers who are known throughout the industry for having unpredictable behavior on set.

“The old Hollywood adage that states– “never work with kids or dogs,” was on my mind the entire time, however I think we got lucky and had an amazing cast all around,” explains Gut.

Gut also played a huge role in another of this year’s highly anticipated flics, Cowboys vs Dinosaurs. Shot in Montana, the perfect location for a story set in the wild west, the film stars Eric Roberts, Vernon Wells, Sarah Malakul Lane and Rib Hillis. A high-energy action packed sci-fi film, Cowboys vs Dinosaurs revolves around a group of prehistoric dinosaurs that come to life after a catastrophic mining accident and the band of cowboys and girls who will stop at nothing in order to send them back to where they came from.

As the Executive Producer and Producer of Cowboys vs Dinosaurs and Timber the Treasure Dog, Mike Gut has devoted the last year and a half to helping perfect these films to a place worthy of Hollywood critics and international audiences. But this isn’t Gut’s first rodeo; if anyone knows how to make an award-winning film it’s him.

Shaya, one of the first films he produced, along with Eric Bergemann, was an instant success on the international film festival circuit.

Directed by Amir Noorani, Shaya is loosely based on the perplexing experience of an Afghani refugee family Noorani helped move to the United States several years ago. While the story in the film includes a cast of characters with different circumstances and ethnicities compared to those in the event Noorani previously witnessed, Shaya raises similar questions concerning morality and the migratory experience many face when moving to a new land.

The film follows a tribal Pakistani refugee family who move to Los Angeles in hopes of escaping the trauma of war-torn Pakistan; however, they instead discover that moving to a new country brings an entirely new set of challenges, making them long for their former home.

Gut says, “We wanted to bring light to an authentic true story that was gripping to all of us who were involved in making the film, as well as deliver a transformational experience to the audience.”

A testament to Mike Gut’s skill as a producer, and the entire team behind Shaya, the film was chosen as an Official Selection at the Figari Film Festival in Italy, the LA International Short Film Festival, the Hawaii International Film Festival, the San Francisco Asian American Film Festival, the Sedona International Film Festival, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, the Champs-Elysees Film Festival and the Bel-Air Film Festival. Shaya was also a finalist at the Academy Qualifying USA Film Festival in Texas, and took home the Platinum Remi Award (1^st Place) at the Worldfest Houston International Film Festival, as well as Second Place at the Athens International Film & Video Festival, among other awards.

For Gut, the magic of producing lays in the fact that he is able to have a hand in every phase a film goes through on its way to the screen.

He admits, “Nothing makes me happier than when I’m on set. When I used to make films as a hobby on the weekends, I remember thinking– If I could get paid to do this, it would just be icing on the cake. It’s really rewarding to read a good script and eventually see that script come to life.”

It is also interesting to note that in addition to producing, Mike Gut has appeared in several of the films he’s produced including Shaya and Timber the Treasure Dog, as well as worked as the director of the film Unfair and Imbalanced, which he produced as well.

Behind the Scenes, Film, Producer, Television

Producer Meric Aydin Unveils His Highly Anticipated Upcoming Projects

February 9, 2015 Scott Prewitt Leave a comment

Visionary producer Meric Aydin has displayed a keen eye and untiring work ethic through his work on projects such as the critically acclaimed Zayiat. While Zayiat did incredibly well on the international film festival circuit being chosen as an Official Selection of the 2013 SXSW Film Festival, the International Film Festival of Colombo in Sri Lanka, and the !f Istanbul International Independent Film Festival, Aydin’s upcoming projects are set to be his most ambitious yet.

As a producer, Aydin is heavily involved in every aspect of a production, giving him a great deal of responsibility for and influence on every production to which he lends his name.

“The producer is the person who’s with the project from the beginning to the very end, doing whatever it takes to achieve production and release,” Aydin explained about his work. “I genuinely enjoy every stage.”

Working from behind the scenes, Aydin’s mastery of the filmmaking process ensures his projects run like a Swiss clock. This year will mark the release of two highly anticipated feature films from Eclectic Pictures, both bearing Aydin’s distinct touch. The first, Septembers of Shiraz, is a thriller with a backdrop of political turmoil. The film centers on a Jewish family in Tehran after the Iranian Revolution, and their lives following the fall of the Shah. Septembers of Shiraz will feature an all-star cast, including Salma Hayek (Frida, Once Upon a Time in Mexico) and Adrien Brody who received an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Pianist.

Also set for release later this year is Frankenstein, a project in which Aydin played a critical role in getting off the ground, and one that is sure to terrify audiences. A contemporary metamorphosis of Mary Shelley’s classic novel led by director Bernard Rose (Candyman), whose work has been known to give millions of people nightmares, for fans of the horror genre the new Frankenstein will undoubtedly be on the top of list of films to see this year.

As for lovers of films riddled with suspense, Meric Aydin recently began the first phases of production on The Census Taker, a film destined to keep audiences on the edge of their seats. Inspired by the classic style of Alfred Hitchcock, this enthralling mystery follows a wealthy New York couple who find the body of a real estate developer in their apartment. When a census taker arrives at the house and witnesses the scene, a police investigation ensues, but the plot begins to thicken when the census taker disappears. The Census Taker is being produced by Eclectic Pictures.

With his experience touring the festival circuit, it’s fitting that one of Aydin’s most ambitious productions yet is set in Cannes. Du Cap follows a former paparazzo as she is called back for one final job covering the famed Cannes Film Festival. Staying in the glitzy Hotel Du Cap and reporting undercover, she becomes wrapped up in a series of events, which culminate in the murder of a star. Aydin will be working with producer Heidi Jo Markel (Olympus Has Fallen, As I Lay Dying) on Du Cap, which is being produced by Eclectic Pictures as well.

As he has climbed the ladder to the top of the film industry Meric Aydin has proven that he is the kind of producer that makes successful films, but beyond success Aydin is dedicated to making pictures that bare a deeper meaning.

“I’d like to achieve the creative power to tell thought provoking stories that bring up issues of misrepresented people, topics that are controversial to deal with and causes that we all care about; environment, animal welfare and poverty alleviation. I also wish to add to these exciting and engaging storytelling,” said Aydin.

Aydin’s interest in political, philosophical and humanitarian issues is apparent in both his work, as well as his personal life. In his native Turkey, Aydin volunteered with the philanthropic organization UNIRC where he taught children about cinematography and helped to cultivate the next generation of filmmakers.

Aside from Aydin’s upcoming film projects, he is also working on an hour-long television drama called Reminiscence. Proof that his talents extend beyond producing; Aydin was honored by the renowned Final Draft Big Break Competition where he was selected as a quarterfinalist for Reminiscence, which he wrote and plans to produce next year.

Reminiscence tells the story of a dystopian society where memory implantation and extraction have become so widespread that people no longer know what version of the past is true. The story follows a dissenting faction of the futuristic society that is dedicated to discovering and exposing the lost truth. Through the narrative Aydin explores the motif of censorship. “The general debate is a philosophical one: should you tell the truth no matter what, or should you restrain it,” said Aydin in a recent interview.

As for the future, Aydin said, “My plan is to raise the bar for filmmaking; as innovations occur, I am constantly learning new ways of doing our business. I’m open to improvements and I’d like to see opportunities in what some call cable cutting. The Internet came and started converging with how we are living in every way, and this has inescapably reflected upon our industry. Now if a film can’t find a place in movie theatres for one reason or the other, they can always go to VODs. And this doesn’t mean the traditional is going to decay forever. It is all about content; great stories will always be great stories. The main point is who tells those stories. Successful creators and content makers will define that by who they go to. And I would like to be that person that they go to.”

Actors, Asian, Behind the Scenes, Canadian Star, Film, Model

Spotlight on Canadian Actor & Model Steven Van Nguyen

January 19, 2015 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment

Canadian Actor and Model Steven Van Nguyen photo by Marc Shultz and styling by Paul Langill

Originally from Waterloo, a small town in Ontario, Canada, Steven Van Nguyen rose to the top of the Canadian entertainment industry as an actor and a model several years ago. As an actor Steven has starred in the films The White Samurai, Deception, Checkmate, Add To Cart, M.E.G.O., Cheese The Musical and others, as well as an impressive list of commercials for companies including Canadian multinational coffee and doughnut restaurant chain Tim Hortons, Voxx Sports, Emerald City Condos, Mani Wonders, mobile game developer Emoteplay, OCMT College, and Clipter, a collaborative video stories app for Apple operating systems.

Steven played the starring role of Ryan in the dramatic Web series UNDERside, which was nominated for an Upper Year Script Award at the 56th Annual TARA Awards last year. Produced by V.O.P. Media, UNDERside centers on youths from different socioeconomic classes and seeks to reveal how the financial class one grew up in affects their overall outlook on life. Through Steven’s character Ryan audiences see how growing up wealthy without ever having to work can lead to ignorance and hinder one’s ability to create authentic relationships. Steven gave a stellar performance in the show where he starred alongside Lisa Lau (Covert Affairs, Purple Squirrels, Her Shadow, Poker Night, Broken Earth).

Over the course of his career it has become clear that Steven has a look casting directors are dying to cast for a variety of roles, but more importantly he has shown through his work that he is a great actor with incredible versatility. Collectively, his projects span virtually every genre imaginable. While his uniquely handsome appearance is what helped Steven first break into the industry after he signed with Geoffrey Chapman Model & Talent Agency, which has received 24 consecutive Reader’s Choice Awards including the Award for Best Model & Talent Agency for the past three years, the young actor’s dedication to his craft is what has made him truly successful. Nguyen is also signed to Talent INK and MoonStar Management.

In 2013, Steven Van Nguyen took on the role of the Demon in the horror noir film The White Samurai. Produced by Gorgeous Horror Entertainment and D.B. Films, The White Samurai is a film about a man who must break his oaths and reclaim his former identity as the White Samurai after his daughter is taken from her bed in the middle of the night. While the White Samurai will stop at nothing to rescue his beloved daughter, evil natured villains like the Demon, played by Steven Van Nguyen, challenge his tumultuous journey at every corner.

Steven admits, “My favorite role so far was playing the Demon in ‘The White Samurai’ because the role was solely based on my acting abilities and not on my looks. I was able to express freely without any restrictions from the director on how I thought my character should be portrayed from how he sounded to his little ticks.”

Not only did the role allow him to showcase his acting prowess without the limitations posed by the audience’s perception of his physical features, as he underwent 10 hours of prosthetic make-up before each shoot in an effort to make him look as evil as possible, but the role offered him the challenge he was looking for. He says, “I’m not a sadistic person so I had to really dig deep and find a memory in the past that made it possible to be an evil, sadistic character.”

In addition to his growing Canadian fan base, Steven Van Nguyen is in negotiations with Plaza 7 Talent and several other agencies for representation in the U.S., a move which guarantees audiences across the United States will be seeing a whole lot more of this talented young star.

Behind the Scenes, Editor, Film

Editing Alchemist Andrew Coutts

January 3, 2015 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment

Renowned film director David Fincher (Gone Girl, The Social Network, Zodiac) said in an article published by Den of Geek,“The best editors are alchemists. They’re equal parts poet and blacksmith. They can forge something – they make pieces go together that should never work. They can take footage that was intended for one thing, and use it to illuminate a whole new idea in a sequence that you maybe never conceived.” We couldn’t agree more.

A film editor is a vital force in bringing the stories audiences see on the screen to life. Not only are they responsible for selecting the right shots and sequences out of hundreds, and sometimes, thousands of hours of footage, but they also decide the timing and pace of the story that unfolds before us.

Continually executing the aforementioned in a way that is seamless and virtually unnoticeable by the audience, the work of Canadian editor Andrew Coutts procures him a place among the world’s best editors. An alchemist in his own right, some of Coutts’ film work as an editor includes Saw V, Saw VI, Saw 3D: The Final Chapter, The Day, Nurse 3D, Altergeist, The Man Who Loved Flowers, Sequence, Anguish, Blood Sucking Bastards, Grizzly, 10:17, and the series Sleepy Hollow, The Line, Hungry, and more.

Andrew Coutts was the editor of the horror film Saw VI, the sixth installment of the seven-part Saw franchise. The film, which grossed an impressive $68,233,629 at the box office internationally, was nominated for two Most Memorable Mutilation Awards at the Scream Awards in 2010 for “The Pound of Flesh Trap” and “The Needle Trap” scenes.

“I had a lot of fun cutting the traps on the saw films, since they tend to be pretty visually intense and you can try some pretty fun techniques in editing as part of the scenes, jump cuts, flash frames, using off-speed camera ramps,” recalled Coutts.

Visually intense is a light description of the traps in Saw VI, they were down right horrifying, but after all that is the point. The way Coutts combines jarring sound effects and swift cuts during the film’s traumatic torture scenes effectively heighten the intensity to the point of making your heart feel like it might just jump out of your chest. The opening pound of flesh scene where Jigsaw’s most recent victims, Simone and Eddie, race the clock to see who will cut of the most flesh in order to survive is so frightening that I actually had to close my eyes at a point, and even then, the fluctuation and rapidity of the sound effects intermixed with the actors’ screams was enough to keep me squirming in my seat.

Coutts, who has been working as an editor for over 15 years, is above all passionate about bringing stories to life and he views editing as a powerful means for evoking reactions in his audience. “Whether it’s a tension filled horror scene where through editing and pacing we’ve built suspense and shock the audience with a scare moment, or putting together poignant performances from the actors that resonates emotionally with the audience, or a heart pounding action scene that is an exciting thrill ride, it’s all of these moments in editing that I love,” said Coutts.

Coutts also served as the lead editor on the final film in the Saw franchise, Saw 3D: The Final Chapter. The film grossed $136,150,434 at the box office internationally and was nominated for another Most Memorable Mutilation Award at the Scream Awards, this time for the “Reverse Bear Trap” scene, as well as an award in the horror movie category at the Teen Choice Awards. Once again Coutts used his exceptional eye as an editor to create a terrifying sequence of shots that was further intensified by the 3D element in the film.

“One of the biggest challenges on this film was finding a way to introduce 3D on both a creative and technical level into the already strongly stylistic Saw world. Shooting and editing a film in 3d brings certain requirements for brighter lighting and slower cutting than the Saw films typically had,” explained Coutts. “Working with the director and cinematographer we had to find a way to push the limits of 3D as far as we could to bring it as close in line as we could with the previous films looks.”

Putting his unparalleled talents as a horror editor on display, there is no doubt about it, Andrew Coutts nailed the mark on both Saw VI and Saw 3D: The Final Chapter, and we can not wait to see what he has in store for us next.

Actors, Behind the Scenes, Film, Television, Theater

One of Mexico’s Brightest Stars, Actress Ale Fips!

January 1, 2015 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment

Originally born in Guadalajara, Mexico, actress Ale Fips began her career on some of the most prestigious stages in Mexico at the age of 8. The young Fips was first chosen to work with the International Book Festival known as the FIL, with which she performed for four years putting on a new a play each season for audiences in the hundreds.

Ale Fips got her first big break when she was cast in the starring role of Princess Nadia in the musical theatre production of “El Príncipe Rana,” also known as “The Frog Prince,” when she was barely 16-years-old. The production follows Princess Nadia, a spoiled young girl who loses a golden ball in the water, as she begins to cry a mysterious frog appears and promises to return her prized possession as long as she promises to let him live in the palace from then on. The princess agrees, but quickly forgets her promise until the frog appears at the palace as an honored dinner guest later that night. The moral of the story revolves around honoring one’s promises, as well as not judging others by their outer appearance a point which is furthered by the fact that frog turns into a prince towards the end of the story.

Ale Fips proved her tenacious dedication to her craft as she continually wowed audiences in her portrayal of Princess Nadia over the course of the production’s three season run in Mexico. While “El Príncipe Rana” proved the power of Fips’s magnetic stage presence as an actress, the production also gave her the opportunity to vocalize her impressive range as a singer, an asset to the production that kept audiences coming back over and over again. “El Príncipe Rana” was performed in several theaters in Guadalajara including Foro de Arte y Cultura de Guadalajara, Centro Cultural Jaime Torres Bodet, and Guadalajara Teatro del IMSS.

Some of Ale Fips’s other theater productions include “Monstruos El Musical” where she played the role of Dr. Jekyll’s daughter Belinda, “La Mulata de Cordova” where she played the starring role of La Mulata, “Fondo De Cultura Económica” where she played the role of Maya, as well as many others. While Fips’s dynamic abilities as both an actress and a singer have made her a highly sought after talent for high profile musical theater productions, her abilities have also made her an integral actress on some of the most popular television shows in Mexico.

“I moved to Mexico City when I was 18 because I was cast for the Latin version of High School Musical on TV Azteca. It was an amazing experience; we were on primetime television for five months on Canal 13, TV Azteca’s most popular channel,” recalled Ale Fips. “Then I continued my career in theater until I was called to start working on La Rosa de Guadalupe on Televisa.”

Ale Fips played several leading roles in the hit series La Rosa de Guadalupe, a dramatic anthology series that began in 2008 and continues to bring high viewership ratings today. Fips has starred in eight episodes of the series including “La Luz de la Verdad,” “La Semilla del Bien,” “Perdonar con Amor,” “Vivir en Paz,” “Con pies de Plomo,” “Donde está el Sol,” as well as others.

Now in her early 20s, the actress has advanced her craft with leaps and bounds and has come to be recognized throughout Mexico for her diverse acting skills. Fips is currently working on the production of “Judgment on A Gray Beach” where she will play the starring role of Leni. The production is scheduled to open at New York’s renowned La MaMa theater in 2015.

Behind the Scenes, Commercials, Editor, Film

Editor Vladimir Boboshin Proves that Passion Fuels Success

December 29, 2014 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment

Film and Commercial Editor Vladimir Boboshin

Originally from Moscow, Russia, film and commercial editor Vladimir Boboshin has taken the film and advertising industries by storm with his unparalleled ability to create captivating stories from raw footage.

“Editing film, regardless of the genre and form, is very much like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, with one major difference: you don’t have a reference picture. You find pieces that match together and then find their neighbors and so on,” explains Vladimir. “I like to see how the story shapes up out of the chaos.”

Vladimir Boboshim is supremely talented; anyone who can make an Ikea commercial touch audiences on an emotional level deserves some serious attention and praise, thankfully the numerous awards his productions have received speak for themselves. In an industry where behind the scenes contributors rarely get the attention they deserve, Vladimir Boboshin has managed to make a name for himself as one of the advertising industry’s most sought after editors.

Some of his editing work in the commercial world includes Coca-Cola’s “Olympics,” “Exam,” “Christmas,” “Open Up for Happiness” and “Rucheyok,” Canon’s “Stolen”, “Handover” and “Breach,” 20 commercials for Ikea, 11 commercials for Nestle, four commercials for Road Safety Russia, one of which entitled “Belt” received the Grand Prix Award at the Meribel Ad Festival and the Gold Award at the Road Safety Film Awards, and many more. Vladimir also worked as the editor of the Russian comedy series Univer, where he edited 99 episodes, and the show Nasha Russia, where he edited 74 episodes. He was also the editor for the promo-trailers for the films Silent Souls, High Security Vacation, and The Practice of Beauty.

While Vladimir has developed an effective style in editing commercials for advertisers whose main goal is to sell their products, he is not pigeonholed in his talents, something proven by the vast spectrum of his work. He has managed to create a portfolio of work that is both impressive and diverse, something he partially attributes to the fact that he is from another country.

“I’m bilingual and I‘ve worked with so many different people from all over the world, so over the course of my career I’ve learned to see and understand different visual styles and work ethics,” says Vladimir. “Many Hollywood editors haven’t been exposed to the same variety of international approaches as I have, because here in the US the work is more channeled. You get pigeonholed into a category – like car editor or comedy editor – and then most of your work only comes from those areas.”

As the post-production supervisor of the multi-award winning film Franz + Polina, Vladimir was in charge of overseeing the work of an entire team of editors, a feat he accomplished with ease. The film received three awards at the Avanca Film Festival, the Gold FIPA Award at Biarritz International Festival of Audiovisual Programming, the Golden Frog at Camerimage, the Magnolia Award at the Shanghai International TV Festival, among others.

The ability to successfully manage an entire team of professional editors comes down to more than just being technically astute in the field, it requires a certain type of personality. Being a talented editor by no means equates to being a people person with strong communication skills, but Vladimir is one editor who does happen to have these traits.

He explains, “The most definitive experience I got from large-scale projects was the importance of communication and soft control. With so many creative egos involved arguments are inevitable and my role oftentimes was to channel the argument into a positive flow so the parties involved come to an agreement and everyone is satisfied in the end.”

One aspect of Vladimir Boboshin’s journey as an editor that is incredibly unique is the fact that he didn’t undergo any formal education in order to break into the industry. However, that is not to say that he hasn’t spent years training himself in the tools of the trade, and when it comes to working as an editor in the film industry one must be a master of these tools.

“I never had any formal training or mentoring before I become an editor. All of my studies were on the job in the heat of the moment and there was no one to help,” admits Vladimir. “As for film language, one can learn as much as he is willing to, I think this sphere of knowledge depends on the person. I believe that the real way to hone one’s craft in the industry happens on the job, bit by bit.”

And that is just how Vladimir did it, bit by bit he managed to learn and master the same tools that took most other editors several years to figure out. Vladimir is proof that when a person’s passion is what fuels them to achieve their goals, obstacles begin to seem less daunting and instead become exciting challenges and a means to improve.

Behind the Scenes, Cinematographer, Film, Hollywood, Television

Acclaimed Cinematographer Kristin Fieldhouse!

December 27, 2014 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment

Although Kristin Fieldhouse first obtained a Bachelors and Masters in International Development and Politics at the University of Sussex in England, an area of concentration that led her to spend several years working for the United Nations across Africa and Asia, her love of photography and it’s integral role in filmmaking was something too powerful to ignore. The now highly sought after cinematographer discovered her passion for photography in her youth.

“I lost my dad and my sister at a young age – so photography helped me through that period. It was my salvation in a way, a chance to connect with people through an artist medium and express what I was feeling and going through,” admits Kristin Fieldhouse. “Later on, cinematography offered me a new and exciting challenge. The moving image was fascinating for me and I loved the idea of sequences of images to tell a story.”

After spending several years working for the UN, Fieldhouse moved to Canada where she further honed and perfected her skills behind the camera lens. “I worked and studied as a camera technician for many years working my way up through the Cinematographer’s Guild I.A.T.S.E before starting to shoot my own work,” explains Fieldhouse.

A testament to her unparalleled skill in the field, Kristin Fieldhouse was accepted as one of only 28 cinematographers admitted into the American Film Institute’s competitive conservatory program where she received her MFA. With an impressive list of award-winning projects already under her belt, Fieldhouse’s work undoubtedly speaks for itself. The cinematographer received the Kodak Student Cinematography Award for her work on the film The Man Who Found DB Cooper, as well as the award for Best Cinematography at the Milledgeville Film Festival and the John Kelly Award for Excellence in Cinematography at the Fresno Film Festival for her work on the film Young Americans, and the award for Best Cinematography at the Real Teal Film Festival for her work on the film TESS.

One of Kristin Fieldhouse’s other recent projects, Kepler X-47, has also had an incredibly successful run on the film festival circuit as it was chosen as an Official Selection at The LA Asian Pacific Film Festival, Comikazee Expo, ImagineNative Film & Media Arts Festival, NewFilmmakers Los Angeles Film Festival, The Geekie Awards, Dragon Con Film Festival, and many others. Directed by Erin Li Kepler X-47 is a sci-fi film that follows a woman as she struggles to adjust to her new life as part of a human zoo exhibit on an alien planet 5,000 light years from earth. The film put Fieldhouse’s talents to the test as it required extensive period costumes, futuristic locations and dynamic lighting choices.

Fieldhouse explains, “This project was demanding in terms of budget and I had to come up with cheap lighting solutions that gave a large range of looks from candlelight dinner scenes at tables to large soft sources above actors to give them freedom to move, but would also create an eerie look. Panavision came onboard and helped us by providing great lenses, which I netted to give a softer image and raise the black levels. I remember spending many hours testing out different kinds of stockings from stores around LA.”

Kristin Fieldhouse’s vast knowledge, dedication and substantial creative contributions to Kepler X-47 show through in the film’s end product and are proven by the film’s incredible success.

“I was inspired by the painters such as Caravaggio and wanted to be able to paint with light the way they would paint with oils,” says Fieldhouse. “We used a combination of in-camera effects and glass, with dramatic lighting, and I believe this gave the film an elevated look that took the audience on a beautiful and believable journey.”

Some of Kristin Fieldhouse’s other work as a cinematographer includes the films My Little Eye, Palm Swings, Brown Bag, He’s The Best, Borja, Future Me, Release, The Tent, Life In The Gutter, Hide & Seek and Things Go Wrong, as well as commercials for globally known brands like Nike, Coors Light and Kodak. The cinematographer has also contributed heavily to the camera departments on the films The Echo, Total Recall, The Incredible Hulk, Diary Of The Dead, House At The End of The Street, Resident Evil: Afterlife and A Beginner’s Guide To Endings, as well as the hit television shows Flashpoint, Happy Town, Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures Fairfield Road, Abra Ca Debra, Nikita, Covert Affairs, Warehouse 13, Unrivaled, Latest Buzz, Unnatural History, The Night Before The Night Before Christmas, Alphas, Kenny v. Spenny and many more.

To find out more about Kristin Fieldhouse’s incredible work as a cinematographer be sure to check out her website http://kristinfieldhouse.com/ and her IMDb page http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2465060/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Behind the Scenes, Cinematographer, Documentary Filmmaker, Editor, Film, Television

French Film Wizard Emeric Le Bars!

December 20, 2014 Lorraine Wilder Leave a comment

Although they are never seen on screen, film editors select every single shot the audience sees, a role that holds the power to make or break a project. Something of a film wizard, Emeric Le Bars is among the best European editors working in the entertainment industry today.

Originally from France, Emeric Le Bars has been honing his skills as a professional film editor for more than a decade. The talented young editor has continued to expand on his already impressive repertoire of work since moving to the United States a few years ago.

Le Bars is currently working on a feature film entitled Perception of Art, directed by German filmmaker Roana Wullinger (Moonflower, Rain Day, Brown Bag, Second Date?, Soul Bird). Set for release in February 2015, Perception of Art is a dramatic comedy about a spoiled yet struggling Italian painter who receives an opportunity to bring his art into the spotlight, but to his dismay, the opportunity requires him to collaborate with a cleaning lady. In addition to his work as lead editor on Perception of Art, Le Bars is also working as a colorist for the film. Le Bars explains, “In the film two worlds clash together and the entertainment value is impeccable.”

Emeric Le Bars first met director Roana Wullinger at Smile TV, where he is employed as an editor. Two incredibly talented individuals, Le Bars and Wullinger intend to continue collaborating after the release of the film. They have already started the groundwork for their next project, a documentary that focuses on the lives of children in the Middle East, and Le Bars says, “We want to keep working together for as long as we can!”

While working as an editor for Smile TV, Le Bars has lent his creative talents to more than 15 interstitials for PBS SoCal and 2 segments through the series LAaRT, which highlights the Los Angeles art scene and airs on PBS Southern California. Proving his incredible diversity in the industry, Le Bars served as chief editor and director of photography on an episode of LAaRT entitled “Homeless Karaoke.” He describes the episode like this, “After a day of quietly asking for change, this diverse group of people comes in from the street to hear and be heard.” At a venue that enables the homeless population of Skid Row to lift themselves up through music and companionship, Le Bars admits, “The talent will surprise you!”

Over the years Le Bars has displayed his passion and talent for editing in numerous projects, and he continues to give life to the footage he edits on a daily basis. “I love creating a story from nothing, sharing emotion and feeling,” remarks Le Bars. “There are thousands of ways to edit one video and you choose the one you want. You decide how you want to tell the story and what feelings you want to share.”

In this way, Le Bars accurately describes just how important someone in his position is to the production process, and we look forward to seeing what he creates next.