By Rosa Waite, Director of Creative Operations
The Georgia Entertainment team was fortunate to have a one-of-a-kind experience at the FotoKem laboratory in California.
FotoKem, with a location in Atlanta as well, is a full service post-production lab that works with filmmakers to cater to the specific needs of motion picture and television projects. Working with filmmakers to serve their needs in creative, production, and post-production areas, they’re equipped to handle everything from 16mm film to 65mm/70mm negative, as well as specialty black and white projects.
Since opening its doors in 1963, FotoKem has been credited on award-winning projects like Oppenheimer, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Euphoria, and many more. The company prides itself on being a place that visionaries, experimentalists, and passionate filmmakers can trust with their projects. They are a self proclaimed “creative hub for filmmakers,” and a collaborative starting point for those beginning their careers in entertainment.
FotoKem’s in-house industry veterans toured us around the film processing and development laboratories to explain the science behind their art. The tour concluded with an introduction to Senior Colorist Kostas Theodosiou. Having worked on over 500 titles, Theodosiou is a critically acclaimed artist who provides color grading and remastering for major films. He holds the trust of world class creatives like Jonathan and Christopher Nolan, having collaborated with them on numerous occasions for projects such as “The Dark Knight,” “Westworld,” and “Interstellar.”
Theodosiou walked us through his signature process of adding a slight “grain” to final edits. Created in part by a SHIFT analog intermediate workflow, this filmout-scanback process has been used on projects like “Dune,” and most recently “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.” This work is a testament to the skill of FotoKem artists, and a prime example of why the company is still regarded as a world class industry leader in entertainment.
To read more about their services and connect with their artists, visit the FotoKem website here.
