Pillar Studios is the latest addition to New England’s film and video community. As the region’s community develops, the demand for high-end, forward-thinking post-production facilities is increasing. By providing support to producers, directors, and editors, Pillar Studios hopes to further the development of a self-sufficient film and video industry in New England.

Studio 21 at Pillar Studios in Waltham, offers New England's newest high-end, post production facility designed for the independent film and video market as well as for the advertising and corporate multi-media market.

Pillar Studios caters both to the independent film and video market and the advertising and corporate multi-media market. The company consists of a non-linear digital video post-production studio as well as a production studio that specializes in creating streaming video for the Internet and operates as an Internet presence provider. The facility has the capacity to handle anything from instructive training videos to promotional and NVR releases to video on the Internet to feature films.

Pillar Studios is outfitted for on and offline editing, graphic and multi-media work, 3D modeling and special effects. Pillar’s editing suite features Discreet’s edit* 5.0 digital video editing program with JobNet. The studio is also equipped with an advanced effect and graphic package including paint* and effect*, 3D Studio Max, as well as Adobe AfterEffects 4.1 Pro, and the latest versions of Illustrator and Photoshop. The editors working at Pillar Studios have extensive experience with edit* and are on-site to work with clients to bring a project to fruition. Freelance editors are also encouraged to use the editing suites and training on the edit* can be provided if necessary.

Advances in media technology are creating exciting new opportunities for multi-media creation, distribution, and broadcasting. Pillar Studios is excited about being able to bring this technology to an already productive and creative environment. As a result, pricing is flexible and budgets are taken into consideration. Pillar Studios is happy to offer the best digital video services available anywhere at extremely competitive prices.

If you weren’t one of the lucky ones that attended NAB in Las Vegas, HB Communications provides this alternative scenario. The New Media department at HB Communications, Inc. is producing a 5-city road tour in the month of May. The event, Digital Daze, is a Post-NAB wrap-up, highlighting key products and upcoming releases for the professional and digital video marketplace. If you have questions about videostreaming, 3D animation, motion graphics, digital video and DVD authoring — Digital Daze is the perfect place to explore and de-mystify the technology. Don’t miss this one of a kind opportunity to network, make contacts, see exciting new product demonstrations and identify the most recent product applications. Product lines to be showcased include Avid Technologies, Media 100, Apple, Sony, JVC, Panasonic, Pinnacle Systems, ICE and Sonic Solutions.

Dates and locations are: May 2 — Burlington Marriott, Burlington, MA; May 4 — Springfield Sheraton, Springfield, MA; May 9 — Burlington Sheraton, Burlington, VT; May 16 — Providence Westin, Providence, RI; and May 18 — HB Communications, North Haven, CT. Reserve your Free Space today by registering for a morning and afternoon session at www.hbcommunications.com or 800.243.4414 ext 7931.

The Boston film scene just got another exciting boost: (that’s not a wrinkle, but this is a new approach). Independent film producer and horror movie king Roger Corman has just negotiated an agreement to produce a feature film in Boston in partnership with an innovative new film school for adults, Cityscape Motion Picture Education.

Cityscape will act as the local producer of a movie partially financed by Corman and then distributed by Concorde-New Horizons, the prestigious Production/distribution Company spearheaded by Corman since the 1970s.

Over the next year, Cityscape Instructors and student-apprentices will complete this low-budget feature film from start to finish. During the summer and fall, the script will be selected and developed; the project will move into pre-production in January, with a shoot scheduled for April/May of 2001. This is an extraordinary opportunity for local aspiring filmmakers to learn the moviemaking methods for which Roger Corman is so famous.

About his collaboration with Cityscape, Mr. Corman says, "I’ve always believed in helping young talented filmmakers get their start. I also liked the idea of participating in a joint commercial/educational project…I met Laura Wilson (Cityscape founder and director) last year in Boston and was impressed with her enthusiasm for the knowledge of filmmaking. With this project, I can help young filmmakers and do so in a way that benefits all independent filmmaking."

Cityscape is a fledgling film school whose mission is to train new and emerging filmmakers by directly engaging them in real film projects. The program is designed to make filmmaking accessible to people from all walks of life. Headquartered at the FilmShack in Roxbury. Cityscape opens for classes in June of this year.

Writer/Director Matthew McIntosh, a product of Boston University’s Master Film Program, has twice won the Sumner Redstone Film Festival, in 1998 with UPHILL DOWN and in 2000 with his film JUNIOR CREATIVE.

JUNIOR CREATIVE, A Matthew McIntosh film, won first place at the 2000 Sumner Redstone Film Festival. McIntosh also won in 1998 with UPHILL DOWN .

JUNIOR CREATIVE is about the corporate malevolence that can underlie the glossy veneer of a prestigious advertising agency on glamorous Newbury Street in Boston. Three "junior creatives," coworkers and friends, are pitted against one another on the same account. Only the hippest will survive.

After winning first place at this year’s Sumner Redstone Film Festival JUNIOR CREATIVE was chosen to go on to a special screening at Paramount Studios in LA this summer. His first film got Matt nominated for the 1998 Princess Grace Award at BU.

"JUNIOR CREATIVE is wicked fun - taut, smart storytelling, sharp visuals and visceral performances." says Charles Merzbacher, Associate Professor of Film at Boston University.

"The characters made me sick with fascination - a knockdown true representation of what goes on not only in advertising, but the corporate world in general," according to Don Packer the President of Finish Ltd., Boston. Attorney Darren Yesser served as Associate Producer for both films. JUNIOR CREATIVE is now on the festival circuit, a film and career to watch.

SPORTING DOG, the short film written and directed by Peter Kelley and produced by Stephen Stapinski has won still another award at the Worldfest-Houston Film festival. This past month SPORTING DOG was exhibited at the Valleyfest Film Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee and at the Bare Bones Film Festival in Oklahoma, the Canyonlands Film Festival in Utah and the Crossroads Film Festival in Mississippi. The filmmakers are currently planning production of a feature film to be made in Massachusetts.