Mumbai-headquartered company reaches agreement to buy Post Logic Studios, Frantic Films VFX
Prime Focus Group, a publicly traded, Mumbai-headquartered postproduction company, has expanded into North America with the acquisitions of Post Logic Studios, Hollywood and New York, and Frantic Films VFX, which maintains offices in Los Angeles, Vancouver, B.C., and Winnipeg.
Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed, and the transactions are pending any and all applicable regulatory approvals. The structure of these acquisitions is yet to be finalized.
The latest Prime Focus purchases continue the growth of its global footprint. Last year the company–which operates six studios in three different cities in India–bought a 55 percent controlling interest in The VTR Group (encompassing London post house VTR, editorial/post house Blue, visual effects arm Hive and standards conversion/duplication business The Machine Room) and finalized a management buyout of London effects boutique Clear (which then absorbed Hive). At that time, as reported by SHOOT (9/22/06) Prime Focus turned its acquisition sights to the stateside market, a goal which has now been realized with the Post Logic and Frantic Films VFX deals.
Prime Focus Group plans to continue operations of both Post Logic Studios and Frantic Films as independent facilities. Post Logic is known for delivering high level digital intermediate, color science and post services to independent and studio feature clientele. Recent Post Logic projects include American Gangster, Phoebe in Wonderland, Smart People and Elite Squad. The bicoastal shop is also active in commercials.
The Frantic deal includes not only the visual effects company but also its R&D division, Frantic Films Software, that develops and markets effects software solutions. However, NOT part of the Prime Focus acquisition are Frantic’s live-action production/post facilities and a TV commercial division that will continue to operate independently out of Winnipeg and Toronto.
Namit Mahlotra, founder of Prime Focus, noted that Frantic (with such feature credits as Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer, Superman Returns and Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium) and Post Logic “will facilitate a gateway for Prime Focus Group into all of the major studios. Both companies also have strong R&D divisions that have developed proprietary technologies and processes for film color management, visual effects and pipeline collaboration which will benefit the organization as a whole.”
Post Logic CEO Larry Birstock said, “We look forward to being part of the successful Prime Focus Group organization and to taking advantage of creative synergies across continents and across disciplines to deliver a new model for the future of digital postproduction.”
Frantic co-founder Chris Bond noted that Prime Focus “will allow us to expand the Frantic Films presence in North America with additional staff and resources to take on even larger projects than ever before. We also anticipate working closely with Prime Focus Group companies across North America, India and the U.K. to broaden our pipelines internationally, and offer our film VFX clients an expanded slate of post services.”
James Earl Jones, Lauded Actor and Voice of Darth Vader, Dies At 93
James Earl Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen — eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, "The Lion King" and Darth Vader — has died. He was 93.
His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning at home in New York's Hudson Valley region. The cause was not immediately clear.
The pioneering Jones, who was one of the first African American actors in a continuing role on a daytime drama and worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor.
He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious work habit. In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for a Broadway run of "The Gin Game" having already memorized the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.
"The need to storytell has always been with us," he told The Associated Press then. "I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn't get him."
Jones created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in "Field of Dreams," the boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit "The Great White Hope," the writer Alex Haley in "Roots: The Next Generation" and a South African minister in "Cry, the Beloved Country."
He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader ("No, I am your father," commonly misremembered as "Luke, I am your father"), as... Read More