Evolutions 'Creates Earth'

A large independent post-production facility, Evolutions, has announced the launch of a new boutique, digital studio dedicated to servicing the commercials, design, promos and VFX market.
Called Earth, the company has recruited some of the industry's top talent to helm the new facility, namely ex-Smoke & Mirrors staffers James Niklasson, Senior Producer; Mike Capon, Executive Producer; and Nico Cotta, VFX Supervisor.
Evolutions' design arm Sprout will also be merged into Earth, and its head, Bryony Evans, will join the new facility.
Earth represents a £750,000 investment by Evolutions, underlining the recent successful, multi-award trading period for the company that has bucked the general downturn in Soho.The company's Wells Street premises will be completely remodelled from December onwards to house the new equipment and staff for the venture, with the facility's official opening slated for January. The company will launch with 14 full-time staff, augmented by a talented pool of freelancers in the short-term.
Niklasson commented: "In the current climate, the industry has to re-evaluate post production. You now need to deliver high-end creative work in multiple resolutions and at a competitive price.
"We have put together a collective of artists, designers, animators and producers and we're all looking forward to working in a creative environment, which focuses on clients' needs. An environment where we can properly engage with our clients and offer solutions based around talent, not kit."
The new team brings an impressive track record to Earth. Niklasson was a company director at The Hive and founding director of Lime Ltd before joining S&M, while Capon has been a producer for the past eighteen years, during which he was on the board of directors for VTR and Executive Producer at Smoke & Mirrors, producing and post producing prominent campaigns for the likes of Panasonic, Coca-Cola and many others. Cotta meanwhile is one of the country's top Flame Ops and has worked with leading commercial directors such as Frederik Bond, Nick Gordon, Pleix and Traktor to name a few, on spots for Adidas, Audi, Bacardi 'Sun', Big Yellow Storage, Drambuie, Miller Beer and ITV.
The talent is backed by three fully-featured hero suites based around Flame, Smoke and Avid DS Nitris HD, with an additional 20 supporting workstations for CGI and VFX work.
Simon Kanjee, Evolutions MD, commented: "At Evolutions we recognise that the future of post is not genre-specific.
"Post production is about providing services and creativity to our clients to assist them in producing compelling content, no matter what genre or platform they're creating it for. We have set up Earth with the best kit and undoubtedly the best people in the business to ensure we can just do that."
(KMcA/BMcC)