Reliance calls time on iLab

Nine redundancies are likely to be made, with the last work passing through the Soho facility this week.

Head of strategy for Reliance MediaWorks Patrick von Sychowski told Broadcast that the closure was a result of the shift to digital acquisition.

“It is sad, but [iLab] couldn’t outrun the digital revolution,” he said.

“There was a large amount of commercial and film work, but drama productions were the bread and butter of the business and they have been switching from 16mm to digital.”

Von Sychowski said Reliance would focus its attention on VFX and film restoration work.

“Through our partnership with Digital Domain we will be expanding our VFX and restoration teams, with the number of VFX staff set to increase from 50 to 100 in the first quarter of next year.”

Reliance MediaWorks bought the assets of film processing company iLab in January last year.

In July, Deluxe Laboratories and Technicolor struck a deal for Deluxe to subcontract its 35mm and 16mm processing work to Technicolor’s Pinewood facility.