Festa, Walker, Throw New Hat Into the Ring

Non-linear style Telecine Boutique’s Roster Comprised of Colorists Bob Festa, Beau Leon, and Marcelo Aprile

April 24, 2009 – Founders/Principals Bob Festa and Darby Walker (pict., l.) have officially launched New Hat, a Los Angeles Telecine for commercials and music videos boutique with a roster comprised of colorists Festa, Beau Leon, and Marcelo Aprile.

First work out of the gate includes projects for Cisco (Agency: O&M, Editorial: Lost Planet), Blackberry (Agency: Leo Burnett Chicago, Director: Joseph Kahn, Editorial/VFX: Stardust Studios), and Chase (Agency: mcgarrybowen/NY, Director: Michael Haussman, Editorial: Spotwelders/Robert Duffy).

“We have all worked together for a long time,” said Executive Producer Walker of the principals’ shared history at Ascent Media’s Riot. “The chemistry and common background had all the makings of a great new company, so we decided to build one.”

“New Technology mixed with talented workmates makes for a powerful cocktail,” noted Festa, 2004′s Commercial Colorist of the Year in da Vinci Systems Master Colorist Awards competition. From the original Levis 501 Blues campaign to Alfa Romeo “Hollywood,” for which he was a 2007 HPA Outstanding Colorist finalist, and a 2009 Super Bowl spot for Jay Leno’s new 10pm series, Festa has long been established as one of the most accomplished colorists in post production.

According to Walker, New Hat offers a new level of film scanning efficacy and unlimited color correction. “The industry has moved away from linear color-correction,” she stated. “We offer true non-linear, random access workflow, and since we cater to a tapeless client base, we are poised to service any data based delivery such as web delivery and film outs.” New Hat’s facility is outfitted with Spirit 4K’s, a 300 TB SAN, Pandora’s Revolution and Filmlight’s Baselight, among other specifications.

Leon, who comes to New Hat after a successful run as Partner/Colorist at The Syndicate, is a four-time MVPA Award-winner, who, like Muller, was formerly on staff at 525. At New Hat, Leon is reunited with his Riot compatriot Walker. His latest work is a diverse mix of spot, music video, and longform projects, including HBO (Noam Murro, dir.), Kings of Leon (Florida Sigismondi, dir.), Chase Bank (Michael Haussman, dir.), and the documentary “Sister Corita.”

Aprile got his start at Riot in 2002, becoming a colorist in 2006. He has built a diverse clientele, with projects for Chevy, Coca Cola, LA Times, Mervyns, Toyota, Farmers Insurance, Mercury Insurance, and DTS 7.1 audio. On the music video front, Aprile has lent his talents to an array of artists, including Jakob Dylan, The Shins, Rocco Deluca, Sea Wolf, Jem, Devendra Banhart with Natalie Portman, and Black Eyed Peas.

Walker’s experience began in production and editorial, before focusing on Telecine at Encore Santa Monica. She enjoyed a nine-year tenure at Riot, first as producer, and eventually as Executive Producer. “When the opportunity arose to partner in a company with Bob Festa, I couldn’t resist,” she concluded. “Now Beau and I are reunited after seven years, and we have this brillant team…it’s a very exciting time.”