Partner Spotlight | Company 3
Learn more about Company 3
JAMES FRASER | VICE-PRESIDENT & GENERAL MANAGER, COMPANY 3, TORONTO
Q. You’ve partnered with the Academy on the Women In Post program, what motivated this partnership?
When we first spoke with the Academy about the Women In Post program, we felt that Company 3 was uniquely positioned to partner on this fantastic initiative. With offices in Toronto and Vancouver and services spanning, Dailies, Picture and Sound Finishing and VFX, we have been able to offer the participants a variety of opportunities for learning and mentorship. The program also aligns with our values to foster more diversity, equity and inclusion in the postproduction industry across Canada.
Q. What are your hopes for the program and the impact it will have on the industry?
My hope is that it will provide real opportunities for female identifying or non-binary creatives to accelerate and further their careers in the post-production industry. As we enter year two of the program, we will see it expand with more participants taking part. I hope that the increased awareness of the program itself might also garner interest from people who might not yet have considered a career in post-production.
Q. Company 3 represents artists from a variety of sectors in the industry, including sound and colour – what digital innovations in these fields are you most excited about?
The growth of immersive sound technologies, and advances in image science mean our global group of engineers and artists always need to be at the forefront of these innovations. I think what’s most exciting for us at the moment is that the launch of more streaming platforms and new consumer electronics products have enabled technologies like Dolby ATMOS sound and High Dynamic Range picture to be available to more and more viewers in their homes. This means more people get to experience the sound and picture as our artists and clients have experienced in on our mixing stages and in our colour suites.
Q. What are some exciting projects that your artists are working on?
Tim Burton’s Wednesday releases on Netflix on November 23rd. Our team in Toronto completed sound and picture post for this series. This show enabled us to showcase our remote sound and picture review technologies so creative teams in Toronto, London and Los Angeles could collaborate simultaneously and in real time. Season 5 of The Handmaid’s Tale is also currently airing on CTV.
Our Vancouver studio has been busy as well, the feature film Violent Night releases in theatres on December 2nd and Devil in Ohio is a new series on Netflix.
CHRIS COOKE | SENIOR RE-RECORDING MIXER, COMAPNY 3
Learn more about Chris and his work
Q. What do you love the most about the work you do?
The best thing about my work is that every project is different, yes, I do the same procedure, but each job is always different. One day I’m working on a feature film for David Cronenberg, and the next day it’s a comedy starring Christoph Waltz. How cool is that!?
Q. Do you have any advice for those who want to break into this field?
My advice for someone is to be patient and always put your best foot forward!
Q. What qualities does one need in order to find success in this field?
The qualities needed are patience, good hearing and being a good listener.
Q. What are some of the challenges that you encounter working in your field?
The biggest challenges are when there are last minute changes to the picture. That requires conforming your sessions to the new picture. Another challenge is not having final vfx when we are mixing. That requires another pass to make sure all the visuals match the timing of the sound. But that’s all part of the job.
Q. What has been the highlight of your career thus far?
The highlight of my career so far is being nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA for the film The Shape of Water.
Q. What is a trend/new innovation in your field that you are most excited about?
The trend I am most excited about is that productions are giving us more time to complete projects.
Q. Was there an individual or certain production that made you interested in this line of work?
The individual that made me interested in my line of work is my Dad. He ran a sound studio called Soundmix that opened in 1966. I worked there as a teenager during summer break when one of his employees would take holidays. Then in September 1978, during my last year of high school someone left Soundmix and my Dad asked if I could fill in for a week or two until he could find someone. It’s been a long two weeks 🙂
Q. Is there a dream production or project you would love to work on? What is it, and what about it excites you?
The dream project would be working on a James Bond film. It would be a blast!
JOANNE ROURKE | SENIOR COLOURIST, COMPANY 3
Learn more about Joanne and her work
Q. What do you love the most about the work you do?
Each project is unique & brings its own set of challenges and that’s what keeps it fresh.
I have mainly worked on episodic television over the years, it is very satisfying to put a creative mark on the show.
Q. Do you have any advice for those who want to break into this field?
After learning the software, it takes time to learn what to do with it. Spend a lot of time practicing and exploring new ways of achieving the results you want. Ideally, you are also always looking to achieve your results in a time efficient manner. That will leave time for more creativity and ensure you are able to meet strict deadlines. A mentor would be an ideal way to help break into the field.
Q. What qualities does one need in order to find success in this field?
The main qualities required are attention to detail, patience, diplomacy skills and self-discipline (as you work independently a lot of the time)
Q. What are some of the challenges that you encounter working in your field?
You work alone much of the time, so self-discipline is important. Because the work is not definitive, you need to learn when to wrap things up. You can spend a lot of time trying things. It is challenging to balance the creative side with the ability to meet the deadlines while adhering to the budget.
Q. What has been the highlight of your career thus far?
I would consider the variety of projects I have worked on to be the highlight. I’ve had the good fortune to work with many talented cinematographers and postproduction staff over the years.
One unusual experience I had was working with cinematographer Fabio Cianchetti on a miniseries—he didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Italian yet somehow, we managed to make it work.
As a huge fan of The West Wing at the time, I was very excited to work with its cinematographer Thomas Del Ruth. I believe The West Wing was the first TV series to air 1:85 and it had innovative long meandering “walk and talk” Steadicam shots.
In recent years, with the advent of streaming there has been a steady flow of exciting, high quality projects. I’ve had the opportunity to work with extremely talented cinematographers.
Q. What is a trend/new innovation in your field that you are most excited about?
HDR (high dynamic range) has provided a new challenge. There is now extra detail in the highlights that was not previously seen. It is another tool to help tell the story. Depending on the narrative, I believe it is important to determine when to use it and when not to.
Q. Was there an individual or certain production that made you interested in this line of work?
It was while watching The French Lieutenant’s Woman with Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons that the lightbulb clicked. It is an aesthetically gorgeous film within a film, and I began to understand the power of colour and light to help further the narrative. I was working in a post-production facility when the Da Vinci colour correction system was released, and it was love at first sight. We were encouraged to use the equipment on our own hours in order to learn. So that’s what I did.
Q. Is there a dream production or project you would love to work on? What is it, and what about it excites you?
I hope to continue to work with the great people I do.
About Company 3
Company 3 is an award-winning global post-production company which provides post; color grading; in-house and location dallies and editorial suites; sound mixing; visual effects; and finishing editorial services for feature film, television and commercial work. Known for creative color artistry, pioneering technology and global reach, Company 3 is trusted to consistently deliver high-quality results to its clients.
