Screen Magazine: Vol. 28, Issue 10

Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 28, Issue 10 - Index

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Although commercial and industrial films have
been Chicago’s bread and butter, features like
“The Merry Gentleman” can also make a big
impact on the local production community.
With feature films swarming the city this spring,
local crews and vendors have a whole slew of
opportunities to pursue, above and beyond their
day-to-day clients.
One company that has benefited from
the recent surge in features is Filmworkers/
Astro Lab, a
motion picture
laboratory that
completed film
processing and
video dailies
for “The Merry
Gentleman.”
The company
also worked
on the Dennis
Quaid film “The
Express” at the same time, making for an
unusually busy schedule.
While Filmworkers/Astro is happy to
accommodate features, it also continues to
provide services for its regular clients. General
manager Manuela Hung says the lab accomplishes
this by assigning colorists to work exclusively on
a feature, while spreading their assignments out
to the rest of the staff. “The Merry Gentleman”
is being handled by the team of Matt Harger and
Cheryl Fisher.
Even so, feature films usually shoot for eight
or nine weeks, says Hung, as opposed to
commercial projects, which the lab might take
a few days to complete. She also points to the
fact that features shoot in multiple locations and
at different times. They also require a broader
range of services, which can include creating flex
files or streaming dailies to the West Coast.
According to Hung, Filmworkers/Astro is
able to meet those demands by shuffling its
four rooms and seven colorists. “One of the
advantages to working with a smaller lab like
ourselves is it affords a lot of flexibility,” she
says. “We’re able to move our crews around
with them and work different hours.”
And while feature work can be taxing, it’s also
refreshing for Hung to see her facility buzzing.
She says she remembers some days, before the
Illinois tax incentive was passed, when no film
came through the facility at all. “We’ve seen the
extremes,” she says, “[but] it’s great seeing all of
this film coming back to Chicago.” (DGS)
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