Johannesburg-based facility Aces Up Post Production is riding high following the launch on 1 September of its new animation division and the news that five commercials cut by in-house editors Zama Jolobe and Lucian Barnard made it to the finals of the upcoming Loerie Awards.
The Loerie finalists are Mineseeker done with Ireland / Davenport and Save the Rhino done with Lowe Bull (both edited by Barnard) and The Walking Dead (a series of three promos done with Ireland / Davenport and edited by Jolobe).
Aces Up’s MD Liesl Lategan notes that the decision to open a specialised animation division was a natural progression for the company. “We’d already done several jobs with animation elements and believe that this is a growing area in the market.
Dave Theron, who recently completed an animation and design course at Gobelins l’Ecole l’Image in France, heads up the division. Dave and the team work with Maya and Adobe After Effects software and are presently busy with jobs for The Core Group, Africa Jones, MTN and Swazi Telecom.’
Situated in the post-production hub of Stonewedge Office Park in Bryanston, Aces Up opened in 2008 and began with a single edit suite, targeted at the commercials industry. Says Lategan: “We now have three in-house editors – Zama, Lucian and Shaun Broude. Shaun is our heavyweight editor and has been in the industry for 13 years. He works a lot with Jason Fialkov of Egg and has just finished the Hollard campaign.’
Lategan is passionate about discovering and nurturing new talent. Jolobe was her assistant when she was a commercials producer at the then Suburban Films. “I saw the opportunity to groom a black commercials editor as there is a serious shortage in the industry. Zama has proved to be a real find, as his work on The Walking Dead shows.
