Stephen Sukowaty

🐎 How did Veikkaus take their TotoTV experience to the next level with Dolby OptiView? By improving video quality and reliability, they’re setting a new standard for low-latency, high-quality streaming and interactive viewer features. Read the full story here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eNZ3TbPd #horseracing #livesports #livebetting #livesports #streamingmedia

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Between writer strikes, tech layoffs, budget freezes, and a global pandemic, our industry’s been in flux. But here’s what I’ve learned: Volatility = opportunity. For me and the 9iFX team, that meant expanding beyond our traditional VFX and motion graphics wheelhouse into things like: - AR experiences & interactive installs - Live event visuals & projection mapping - Experiential campaigns with digital + physical touchpoints We’ve always been obsessed with the craft. But these shifts pushed us to stretch our creativity and lean into new formats we’ve always wanted to explore. What started as “just VFX” has grown into: - Spatial design - Event activations - Product visualization - Immersive storytelling Sometimes, industry volatility creates the perfect conditions for evolution. How has your creative practice expanded during recent industry shifts? Have you discovered unexpected opportunities in challenging times?

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I've been thinking a lot about this idea that we need to resist tech's "takeover" of our industry. For me, when we frame tech (Al) as an invader, it positions Hollywood purely as a victim/defender, rather than as an agent of its own transformation, which in turn limits our agency. Hollywood could co-create integration terms. But, the reality is that Hollywood isn't yet fluent enough in Al to meaningfully participate in setting terms (on the whole). To claim authorship over Al's role in entertainment, we must first become fluent in it. For me, this continues to remain a literacy issue. You can't make sense of a thing you simply don't understand.

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After 18 years of mixing sound for television and film… I didn’t think a noise reduction plugin could surprise me anymore. Then I stopped by the CEDAR Audio Ltd booth at NAMM this year… and yeah — I was wrong. Two knobs. Noise. Voice. That’s it. And somehow… it just works. This week on the Mastering Post-Production Sound YouTube channel, I partnered with CEDAR to put VoicEX 2 to the test on some pretty terrible audio. Not the polished stuff. The real-world, “how do we even save this?” kind of audio. Whether you're a seasoned post-sound pro or a content creator trying to clean things up… This one’s for you. BUT HERE’S THE FUN PART 👇🏾 CEDAR (the inventors of digital noise reduction) hooked us up with: 🎁 A full perpetual license of VoicEX 2 (No subscription. You own it. Forever.) How to enter: ✅ Subscribe to the YouTube channel ✅ Enter through the link (I’ll drop it below) Drop a comment that says “CEDAR” and I’ll reply with the link 👇🏾 (Or grab it in the first comment) Winner announced May 1st. #cedaraudio #audiopost #postproductionsound #noisereduction #dialogueediting #rerecordingmixer #filmsound #tvpost #contentcreators

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Very excited about this news because it's a step in the right direction towards rebuilding California as a hub for animation production. But, I'm very disappointed at the choice of shows being supported. It's not that Adult Swim’s President Curtis(Adult Swim), a Rick and Morty spinoff, and 20th Television Animation’s Stewie, a Family Guy spinoff aren't great shows. It's that they're already funded and supported by a distributor. These aren't the projects that actually need help! This is just an acceleration of the K-shaped animation economy where fewer and fewer are getting all the work, while the middle and independent efforts careen to the bottom and to bankruptcy. I hope subsidies continues because Cali really needs it. But, I hope they choose a more diverse set of recipients going forward. #animation #cartoons #survivinganimation

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The age old debate: Lumen vs. Path Tracing Path tracing offers stable depth of field and anti-aliasing, but at the cost of EXPONENTIALLY longer render times, so we opted for Lumen. And while it is amazing to work in real-time, it still presented depth of field challenges. To combat this, we rendered shots out of Unreal with no depth of field and a depth pass which was passed on to our Nuke compositor Joe Forder. Joe was then able to add depth of field and various lens effect to bring the image together. An alternative workaround involved rendering with no movement, over-scanning, and applying camera shake in post-production. #unrealengine #VFX #Rendering #Compositing #Lumen

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Incidents like this are a strong reminder of how essential real, human QC is — even on rush jobs. A proper review on both sides would have caught this instantly. But in an age of automation and AI-driven workflows, mistakes like these can slip right through and derail all the hard work that should be the focus. Instead of celebrating the restoration or the quality of the show, everyone ends up talking about what should never have been visible in the first place. https://lnkd.in/gkX9SaPf

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OpenArt just rolled out WAN 2.5 — a fresh update that opens even more creative possibilities. This version brings improvements in image quality, faster rendering, and better control over your output. It’s about giving creators more flexibility and precision. this is a tool worth checking. #AIArt #OpenArt #CreativeTools #AIinnovation

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Great production isn’t always about having the biggest setup. While we often work with spacious shooting floors, dedicated lighting teams, and high-end camera equipment, the real challenge—and growth—comes when resources are limited. Small spaces, minimal lighting, and basic gear push creativity to the forefront. That’s where problem-solving sharpens, teamwork strengthens, and storytelling truly shines. Because in the end, it’s not the scale of the setup that defines the output—it’s the vision, adaptability, and execution behind it. #Filmmaking #Creativity #ProductionLife #Storytelling #Growth

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Tip for a lead comp. Be a technical problem solver. You don’t need to be the studio’s pipeline TD. Know your way around Nuke gizmos, scripts, and workarounds to fix common issues. This prevents your team from losing hours on avoidable technical roadblocks.

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With Los Angeles production levels in a sorry state, underemployed workers are flocking to a format that’s faster, shorter, cheaper and quite literally overturns film and TV norms. https://lnkd.in/g_TUw6dd

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🎬 Why Film’s “Black Collar” Class Should Stand Up and Stand Apart Walk onto any set and you’ll see DPs, operators, editors, gaffers, VFX leads, sound mixers, production designers, art directors, and make-up artists. These people turn words on a page into images, textures, and sounds that become immortal. For decades, outsiders—and even insiders—have tried to force this work into the old binary of blue collar or white collar. But that box was never built for us. Blue collar implies brute labor; white collar suggests detached decision-making. We are neither. And both. And far more. It’s time to call it what it is: Black Collar. Why Black? Black is the color of the set—black T-shirts, flags and wrap. Invisible tools of control. Black hides our toil and reveals the subject. In post, black is an empty timeline. In sound, it’s silence before the mix. Black is where creativity begins. The Weight of Responsibility “Black Collar” work is not manual labor alone, nor boardroom management. It’s a rare fusion of execution and imagination. DPs sculpt with photons. Operators translate choreography into emotion. Gaffers turn kilowatts into atmosphere. Editors decide if a story laughs, cries, or lingers. VFX leads invent realities. Sound mixers shape resonance. Production designers build worlds. Art directors give tone and identity. Make-up artists turn faces into myth. This work is intellectual and physical. Creative and technical. And among the most skilled labor in today’s economy. Few careers demand apprenticeships spanning years or decades, with ladders of mastery this steep. To reach the top of any Black Collar craft requires survival, mastery, and vision. Rejecting Assumptions Too often, those above the line see this group as support staff. Too often, outsiders assume it’s just button-pushing. Both are wrong. Black Collar work requires relentless refinement, deep apprenticeship, and fluency in artistry and machinery. It is neither expendable labor nor cushy desk work—it is the heartbeat of cinematic storytelling. The public misunderstands us, that’s fine. They see "entertainment," not the thousands of invisible, deliberate decisions that shape it. They don’t see the years of study, the knowledge of physics, culture, or the empathy required to shape performance and emotion. And then there are the tech bros. They mistake computation for creativity; believing AI can replace intuition, taste, and empathy. They confuse output with meaning. Cinema is not an algorithm—it is a human language, more universal than English. A Call to Own the Term We don’t need to wait for studios or critics to define us. We define ourselves. Embracing “Black Collar” isn’t a slogan—it’s recognition. We are not just craftspeople, not just technicians, not just managers. We turn imagination into the moving image. Black Collar isn’t a category. It’s a standard. And it’s time we wore it proudly. Use it in conversation, in writing, on social media with #BlackCollar.

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When production teams bring shows into the SF / Bay Area, one challenge always comes up: Finding reliable local video support. Flying a full crew isn’t always practical—especially for roles like E2, playback, or video systems. That’s where having the right local partner makes a big difference. Someone who understands the workflow, shows up prepared, and keeps things running smoothly under pressure. If you’re planning a show in Northern California and need local support, happy to connect. #CorporateEvents #LiveProduction #EventProduction #ProAV #SanFrancisco #VideoSystems

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I built a tool I wish existed when I started working in virtual production. 🎬 One of the most frustrating gaps in any VP or Techviz pipeline — only you know exactly what your virtual camera sees, but there's no clean, accurate, renderable way to show it to the rest of the team. Debug overlays don't render. Manual setups take too long. And guessing is never good enough when production decisions depend on it. So I spent my nights and weekends solving it. 𝗖𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗙𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗺 is now live on Fab — a native UE5 plugin that gives your cine camera a physically accurate, fully renderable frustum in the scene. Driven by real sensor and lens data. One click. No guesswork. No manual setup. Just the exact field of view — visible, accurate, and ready to render. ✅ 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿-𝗮𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 ✅ 𝗥𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 ✅ 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸 This one is for the technical directors, previs artists, VP supervisors, and production designers who are tired of approximating what the camera sees. UE 5.6 and 5.7. Available now on Fab🔗 https://lnkd.in/dfd2XGFM #UnrealEngine #VirtualProduction #TechViz #Previs #CineFrustum #UE5 #FilmTech #RealTimeFilm #Fab #CinematicTools #VFX

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News from our California Film Commission, as reported by Variety this morning! The approval of funding for five studio films and 43 independent features showcases a substantial $94 million in tax credits. This milestone not only signifies progress but also demonstrates crucial support and accountability for our thriving film industry. It's a significant stride forward in the right direction on a complex issue and our industry has shifted away from decades of SOP #FilmIndustry #TaxCredits #CaliforniaFilms. https://lnkd.in/gxJ3AaUZ

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I don’t write scripts for these. I ask questions and listen. The story reveals itself in the interviews - the pauses, the unexpected answers, the moments someone says something they’ve maybe never said out loud before. That’s where the real film lives. This video for WTS Puget Sound was built that way. Real conversations. Real people. Shaped into a story that makes you feel something, and understand why the work matters. Because the most powerful stories aren’t manufactured. They’re discovered. When organizations try to “sound polished,” they often lose what makes them human. My job is to find the human part - and build a narrative around it that connects. If your organization has something meaningful happening inside it, there’s a story worth telling. You just have to be willing to listen long enough to find it.

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The "Trust" Builder (Broadcast Reality)Theme: Mastering is not just rendering. The "Final Export" is actually the beginning of reliability. In broadcast post-production, clicking 'Render' is the easy part. The real work happens in the setup. Are the audio tracks split correctly for international distribution? Is the color space strictly Rec.709? Is the loudness compliant with EBU R128? I’ve seen beautiful edits get rejected by QC because the technical delivery was treated as an afterthought. At Kachna Media, we don't just edit for the screen; we edit for the server. Reliability is a technical discipline. #BroadcastEditing #PostProduction #Television #QC

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DaVinci Resolve 20.1 is live, and it just made immersive workflows real. If you edit, grade, do VFX, or mix audio, this update is worth opening Resolve for. This application provides native Apple Immersive Video support, enabling users to edit, color, add visual effects, mix spatial audio, and deliver content for Apple Vision Pro seamlessly within a single application. Quick highlights you can actually use: - Apple Vision Pro monitoring + Immersive Viewer: Pan, tilt, and roll immersive clips on your monitor or stream directly to Vision Pro for real-time previews. - Spatial audio support in Fairlight: Apple Spatial Audio Format support and 3D panning tools enable true spatial mixes, ideal for immersive storytelling and live performance work. - Fusion & AI upgrades: Magic Mask improvements, a new 3D title, USD-friendly VFX tools, lens-space corrections, and immersive patcher utilities. - Better VFX pipeline for stereoscopic/immersive footage. Newsshooter offers enhanced editor usability and a free version. It includes MultiText character and paragraph styling, CSV import for column-aligned text, improved safe-area tools, clip compositions that respect timeline resolution, and higher-precision timeline support. Why this matters: You no longer need 3 or 4 apps to build immersive experiences. Resolve is stepping up as a single platform to create spatial video and spatial audio, from ingest to final delivery. That changes how teams plan immersive projects and lowers the barrier for creators. #DaVinciResolve #ImmersiveVideo #AppleVisionPro #SpatialAudio #PostProduction #editingworkflow #videoeditordxb #dxbvideoeditor #creativecontent #editingupdates #softwareupdate

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