Molinare completes major Picture expansion

Molinare has completed a major expansion of its Picture Department, growing both its facilities and workforce.

First, Molinare’s Online Department has doubled the size of its Flame capacity from five to ten. For all of its Flames, Molinare has partnered with pixitmedia to install pixstore - which is a software defined storage solution that centralises all storage.

There has also been investment in the the company’s colour department, which has recently opened a new state of the art grading suite, with another in the pipeline, increasing capacity to seven rooms. It has also updated all of its Baselight systems to Baselight 5.3.

In addition, the post house has made seven hires across the department. Three new senior editors have arrived to work across scripted and unscripted: Ben North joins from Lipsync Post, where he has spent the past eight years working on the likes of the BBC’s Ghosts and Steve McQueen’s Small Axe; Scott Hinchcliffe arrives with over 30 years of experience from long stints at Halo Post Production, Blue 2.0 and Pepper Post; and Dan Preston joins from Clear-Cut Pictures, where from 2013 he took the role of head of online and in his last year, head of picture. 

Lee Clappison joins Molinare as a senior colourist, coming after stints with Lipsync Post, Goldcrest Films and Suite, and working on Kate & Koji, Two Doors Down, Toast of Tinsel Town and Blithe Spirit.

With this investment, Tom Emptage has arrived in the new role of head of picture finishing, and will use experience from roles at Envy, The Mill and Channel 4 to implement and ensure streamlined and consistent HDR workflows between the company’s grade and online departments. He will also be working with the newly acquired hardware to deliver high framerate HDR content to global platforms and channels.

Working closely with Emptage will be recently appointed head of picture operations, Hannah Mason. Mason joins from Clear-Cut Pictures, where she held the position of technical services manager. Finally, QC and mastering supervisor, Diogo Oliveira arrives from Picture Shop Post. Reporting to Mason, Oliveira will oversee the QC team and be responsible for not only the mastering and QC on Molinare’s internal projects, but all external QC work as well.

Nigel Bennet, Molinare CEO, said: “Whilst it is undeniable that the last couple of years have been tumultuous for the post-production industry, the positive changes I see in the Picture Department make me incredibly excited for the future. Molinare is in the strongest position we have ever been, all made possible with the knowledgeable teams and the cutting edge technology we continue to test and invest in.

“The team our head of picture, Tom Woodall, has assembled, will drive the company to its next stage in growth strategy. More importantly, they all show a passion and love for the craft that makes them the perfect fit for Molinare.”

Tom Woodall, head of picture, added: “I am very proud of what we have achieved in the past year. When a company grows, so too does the pressure on infrastructure and people. As our roster of worked ramped up, it became apparent of the requirements needed for the Picture Department to excel. Now, with a great team supported by a strong tech backbone we can continue to deliver the high standard of work Molinare is synonymous with.”