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Stephan Zacharias is a composer, based in Hamburg. In a conversation earlier this year with Variety’s Ed Meza, he shared some stories from his career – how he became a composer for film and television, working with the late and legendary German film producer Bernd Eichinger on both ‘Vera Bruhne’ (2001), for television and ‘Downfall’ (2004) directed by Oliver Hirshbiegel. The film, starring Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Thomas Kretschmann, Christian Berkel and many other renowned actors/actresses from the German cinema industry, was nomined for Best Foreign Language film at the 2005 Oscars. He also discussed film composers in Germany and abroad, who he continues to appreciate. GlobeScreen Podcasts would like to thank Barbara Auinger, for providing translations from German to English.  NOTE: This podcast is in German, with English translations provided at various intervals, throughout the conversation.

Naomi Amarger is a cinematographer, based in Paris. In a conversation this year with EMPIRE magazine Editor-at-Large, Helen O’Hara, she discusses her journey into the film industry from actress to director of photography. She recently collaborated with Marie Castille Mention Schaar on the director’s latest film, Divertimento, starring Oulaya Amambra, Lina El Arabi and Niels Arestrup, and released by Le Pacte. She also shares with Helen some of the specific shooting decisions that went into the film, including how she collaborated with Marie-Castille on set.

Neil Barsky is a journalist and documentary filmmaker, based in New York. During the Out of Competition screenings at the 3rd Edition of Festival FranceScreen (14-16 June 2023), in Paris, he joined us for a Q&A to discuss his 2012 Documentary ‘Koch’ (released by Zeitgeist Films). In conversation with Dara Naficy, festival director, he shared with the audience how the idea for an in-depth portrait of the former New York City mayor came to him, editorial and musical score choices in the film and the legacy of Ed Koch, among the history of New York politicians. 

Dante Spinotti is both a member of the ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) and the AIC (Association of Italian Cinematographers). In a recent conversation from LA, he spoke to us about his distinguished career as a cinematographer. He recalled how Dino Di Laurentiis helped start his career in the US on Michael Mann’s 1986 film ‘Manhunter’. Later in the discussion he shared many on-set stories working with Mann on four additional films 1992’s Last of the Mohicans, 1995’s Heat, 1999’s The Insider and 2009’s Public Enemies. He also talked about shooting 1997’s LA: Confidential for Curtis Hanson. Dante also offered his views on shooting film versus digital. GlobeScreen Podcasts would like to thank Murtha Skouras Agency, for arranging this episode. 

Stuart Dryburgh ASC is an Academy Award, (AMPAS), nominated cinematographer based in New York. Just a few of the many directors he has worked with include Jane Campion, F. Gary Gray, Peter Hedges, Peter Webber, Yimou Zhang, Ben Stiller, John Curran, Mira Nair, and Michael Mann. He recently spoke to GlobeScreen Podcasts about his eclectic career as a director of photography, how he got his start in New Zealand’s film industry, before going on to shoot high-profile feature films such as ‘An Angel at My Table’ (1990), ‘The Piano’, (1993) , ‘Analyse This’ (1999), ‘Bridget Jones Diary’ (2001), ‘The Painted Veil’ (2006) , ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ (2013), ‘Blackhat’ (2015), ‘The Great Wall’ (2016), ‘Ben is Back’ (2018), and ‘Men in Black: International’ (2019). GlobeScreen Podcasts would like to thank Murtha Skouras Agency for making this episode possible. 

Jany Temime is an accomplished Costume Designer for film and television. Now based in London her many credits as a Costume Designer include six Harry Potter films for Warner Bros, ‘Gravity’ (2013) and ‘Children of Men’ (2006), with Alfonso Cuaron and ‘Skyfall’ (2012) and ‘Spectre’ (2015), in the James Bond franchise, both directed by Sam Mendes. She spoke to us about her collaborations with these two iconic filmmakers. A few of her other film productions and television shows include HBO’s ‘House of Dragon’, Judy’ (2019), ‘Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool’ (2017), ‘Passengers’ (2016) and ‘In Bruges’ (2008). A unique in-depth discussion into the role of a Costume Designer.    Hosted by Zef Cota

Chris Roe is a London based composer for films, television and documentaries. In this discussion he shared with us how he collaborated with Aleem Khan for the 2020 feature 'After Love', which played at both Toronto International Film Festival and London Film Festival that year. It is now on theatrical release in the US. He also shared how the director originally did not envision any music for the project and how they eventually came to assemble a score for the finished production. Later in the conversation he discusses his musical score for BAFTA nominated Blue Jean directed by Georgia Oakley. The film will be released by Altitude Films in the UK on February 10th, UFO Distribution in France on April 19 and by Magnolia Pictures in the US. 

Ara Khanikian is a Gold Derby Film Award Nominee and Compositing Supervisor at Rodeo FX, based in Montreal. He begins this visual effects industry conversation with Zef Cota by recounting some of his memorable work on movies such as 'The Aviator', ‘300’ and 'The Fountain‘ while at Buzz Image Group and Hybride, before joining Rodeo. He explains the difference between an Inferno Artist and a Compositor. He then goes on to describe some of the compositing work he has led at Rodeo FX for 'Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol’, 'Mirror Mirror’, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales', 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’, Alejandro Inarritu's ‘Birdman’ and Andy Muschietti’s IT: Chapter One', including all the diverse technical challenges associated with these films.  He also shares some personal philosophies about VFX — the work can’t just look pretty, it needs to serve the storytelling of the project it is associated with. Listen in to learn more.

Martin Pelletier leads the Quebec office of Rodeo FX. In this conversation with Zef Cota he discussed his work on film and television projects such as ‘Stranger Things’ ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Fantastic Beasts’ ‘Gods of Egypt’ ‘The Nutcracker and the Four Realms’ and ’Star Trek: Beyond’. He also shared how his office coordinates project workflows and deadlines with the company’s other locations. He discusses specific technologies Rodeo FX is investing in, putting it ahead of other VFX companies in the industry. 

Florian Gellinger is a co-founder of RISE Visual Effects Studios, founded in 2007. With a team of 140 artists and offices in Berlin, Stuttgart, Munich, Cologne and London, it is one of the largest visual effects companies in Central Europe. Florian talked to us about getting his start in visual effects by working on Roman Polanski’s OLIVER TWIST. Later in the discussion he focused in-depth about some of the technical challenges on the following films and television shows his company has worked on HARRY POTTER: DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1, THE BOOK THIEF, THE FRENCH DISPATCH, IRON MAN 3, MAN FROM U.N.C.LE, FAST AND FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW, FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDENWALD, WANDAVISION and LISEY’S STORY. He also shared some thoughts on using practical camera angles when possible and how the company manages render times when a project involves a large number of complex shots. 

Adam Pere is a VFX Producer in the LA office of Crafty Apes. In a wide-ranging conversation with us he explored multiple facets of the visual effects profession. He discussed how he joined the company and the differences between a Visual Effects Coordinator and Visual Effects Manager role. He talked about his work for feature films including LA LA LAND (2016), SPIDERMAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019), FAST & FURIOUS: HOBBS AND SHAW (2019), PALM SPRINGS (2020) and DEADPOOL 2 (2016). In television his credits include THE ORVILLE and WESTWORLD. In 2017 he transitioned into the role of VFX Producer. He explains how this role involves bidding, budgeting shots for clients and managing successful relationships that can lead to future collaborations. He also walks us through building teams for each project, how the experience of producing visual effects work differs on a television show versus a feature and how often he interacts with the director.

Andy Williams is Managing Director of the newly opened LA Office at Outpost VFX. He joined Zef Cota to discuss his beginnings in the visual effects profession, starting at DIVE Post Production, supervising digital intermediate workflows of features. As part of his responsibilities now at Outpost he describes how work is divided among the company’s offices in the UK, US, Canada and India. He also describes how production tax rebates largely determine which Outpost location becomes the lead site on each project. The conversation concludes with some general thoughts on the kinds of future technologies and talents the company is investing in.