OTF brings post work in house

The leased building in Elmdale Road houses eight Final Cut Pro systems, a 96TB Apple Xsan 2 file system and a Pro Tools HD3 5.1 mixing theatre.

It will initially be used to post-produce a 13 x 60-minute HD recommission of Stan Lee’s Superhumans for the History Channel.

The facility will also be used to digitise and store the company’s archive and rushes, including those from its international branches, ahead of the launch of an online clip sales business next year.

“External post houses were charging 40% of our total budget for Superhumans,” said Allison Bean, managing director, OTF Bristol. “We worked out that if we built our own facility we could get a return on investment in two years, plus we’d own the kit and have far more budget control and flexibility.”

Despite the investment, OTF will continue to outsource most of its overspill post work, she added. “This is purely to allow us to go into production on a programme we couldn’t afford to do otherwise,” said Bean.

OTF Post will be run by Jon Pembro and Stuart Chambers, with dubbing mixer Adrian Ruiz-Langan, dubbing assistant Tom Barton and technical assistant Adam Kirby.

It was designed and installed by Dave Blackham of Esprit Film and Television with equipment supplied by Quadlogic Systems and DS video. Blackham will also assist the indie in any future stereo 3D productions.

“3D is an area we have had interest in and the one technical area we may invest further in,” says Bean.

The 13 x 60-min HD production Wildest Africa will also be posted at the new facility.