LOS ANGELES — Hybrid post facility Cognition (www.cognition.la) has appointed Reid Burns president of post production. He will work to build relationships with studios, independent producers, filmmakers and the broader production community, with an initial focus on growing the company’s digital intermediate finishing and color grading business.
Burns’ background includes senior positions with Reliance MediaWorks and Fotokem. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of Mexico City post house Labodigital.
Cognition launched last fall with a new model for film and television that transcends traditional boundaries separating development, production and post. It is nearing completion of a multi-million dollar expansion of its creative campus in Hollywood that will include the addition of two 4K digital cinema finishing theaters, a scalable visual effects pipeline, creative office space and an emerging technologies research facility.
Burns says that the flexibility of Cognition’s approach and workflow will have a great deal of appeal for studios and producers seeking more creative and efficient ways to finish all types of projects. “While production occurs all over the globe, many executives prefer to finish their projects close to home,” he says. “Episodic television production is also on the rise in the Los Angeles area. We expect to benefit from both trends by offering top talent, cutting edge technology, efficient operations and competitive rates.”
Burns cited Cognition’s adoption of SGO’s Mistika platform — it has the largest installation in North America — as one example of its competitive edge. “We are ready for EDR, planning ahead for HDR and using the ACES workflow on our current feature,” he explais. “We are also thrilled with Mistika’s robust stereo tools and look forward to projects that are a good fit in that arena.”
Burns began his career as a color timer and has nearly 100 films to his credit. He later managed laboratory operations at Deluxe. That was followed by tenures at Consolidated Film Industries, Fotokem and Reliance MediaWorks. Among his first tasks at Cognition will be to add to the facility’s DI staff. New hires are expected to include a senior DI producer, DI colorist and a business development specialist.