MANCHESTER, UK — Nu Boyana Film Studios (https://nuboyana.com/nbuk) has added two Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio color correction suites at its new UK facility. Owned by independent studio Nu Image in Hollywood, Nu Boyana has serviced hundreds of big budget blockbusters from its headquarters in Sofia, Bulgaria. The studio’s credits include work on Hellboy, T
he Hitman’s Bodyguard,
300: The Rise of an Empire and
The Black Dahlia.
The first feature to be completed in the new studio is the upcoming action comedy The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, starring Salma Hayek, Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson. The film was lensed by Terry Stacey and graded by colorist Vanessa Taylor.
“Alongside CEO Yariv Lerner, we made the decision to expand into London as many of our projects are filmed here in the UK, and we wanted to be able to service films in a big physical space that allows directors freedom to choose their post production talent,” explains Paula Crickard, head of post production at Nu Boyana UK. “In building this new facility, we chose to reflect the workflows that have afforded solid and consistent results time and time again at our HQ in Sofia, led by head of post Jivko Chakarov. Running the same system also allows the opportunity to collaborate remotely across the two locations.”
The main grading theater at Nu Boyana features a DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel, Eizo monitor and 4K Christie projector, and is powered by the latest generation Mac Pro hardware. A second online grading suite is built to the same specification, but features a DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel.
“Our theatre is quite unique, featuring a 24-foot cinema screen, 7.1 and 5.1 surround sound, with room for 16 socially-distant attendees,” Crickard adds. “It’s a big space with a big screen, and we find it helps when working with blockbuster action sequences.”
All grading work feeds into two G-Technology G-Speed Shuttle SSD devices.
“This keeps the suites airlocked and provides us with the highest security for our clients’ IP,” she explains. “The drives each hold split reels, which can only be updated by one machine at a time, meaning the team never has any conflicting project files.