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Burbank, CA—The fascination with the planet Mars has captivated audiences for decades. From Hollywood movies depicting Martians as inhabitants to actual scientific space exploration using robotic probes, the red planet has continued to be shrouded in mystery with no conclusive evidence of life ever having existed. In the new exciting documentary Red Planet Rover, new facts and findings will be unveiled with the results of Mars Curiosity rover’s first two years of explorations and finally answering the question “could life ever have existed here?” The documentary will air on The Discovery Channel, Thursday, December 18th at 10pm EST. [7pm or 10pm PST, depending on carrier. Check local listings.)
Independent writer/director/producer and founder of MDTV Productions Mark Davis, was in charge of overseeing post-production. Specializing in science and history films, Red Planet Rover is his 7th documentary on Mars exploration. Davis has spent considerable time at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA over the past 12 years and has been engaged with the mission at JPL since early in the planning stages, years before landing in August 2012 . “It’s exciting to work on shows where the stakes are high, the drama is real, and you don’t know how the story is going to end until it does,” said Davis. There’s a lot of genuine human drama in a Mars mission, and I consider it a privilege to be close to that kind of action.”
Davis and John Beck-Hoffman, editor DP and music composer on the film chose to work with Burbank based AlphaDogs to complete the finish on the film. Colorist Sean Stack worked as a team with Davis under the tight time constraints and last minute changes that included extensive updates just before the air date. Beyond the color correction that was completed at the facility, new video and audio materials were delivered during the final hours that had to be matched with the existing master. Having worked ton over 15 documentaries in just over 2 years, Stack’s skill and attention to detail in creating a look and sound specific to this genre was crucial in telling Curiosity Rovers’ story. “Viewers should be drawn into the story and not distracted by any inconsistencies with the picture,” said Stack. “Whether it’s a person talking, or action in an establishing wide shot.”
Now in their 12th year of business, AlphaDogs takes pride in delivering projects under demanding deadlines, without losing the personal touch and in making clients part of the team. Red Planet Rover was delivered on time and within budget. Davis comments, “AlphaDogs is meticulous in their work and really good at what they do. Beyond that, they are willing to cope with my hectic schedule and grueling deadlines. I’m very happy with the final product. The show looks and sounds great and was delivered on time. I would absolutely recommend AlphaDogs.”
For additional information visit:
About Mark Davis: Mark Davis is an independent writer/director/producer. Founder of MDTV Productions located in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Davis has been making science and history films for PBS (NOVA, American Experience) and National Geographic for almost 30 years with Red Planet Rover being his first film with The Discovery Network. He won an Emmy for the film Five Years On Mars, (NatGeo Channel, 2008) along with several other Emmy nominations and awards over the years.
About AlphaDogs: Founded in 2002, AlphaDogs is an independently owned full service post-production facility located in the center of Burbank’s media district. AlphaDogs gifted team brings a combination of both creative talent and technical expertise paying extra attention to detail in delivering projects with a personal touch. State of the art editing bays, color correction, audio mixing, visual effects, production offices and equipment rentals are available. To learn more visit www.alphadogs.tv
Burbank, CA—Demands placed on post-producers and supervisors in the new world of post-production are now more time consuming and complicated than ever. Having the correct tools and team in place to sort out a plethora of delivery specs while ensuring projects get delivered on time and within budget means partnering with a post- production facility that understands importance of technical quality and integrity associated with network deliverables.
Providing both a collaborative and friendly work environment AlphaDogs has earned a following of loyal clients including producer-director Jordan Kelly Montgomery who has made AlphaDogs part of his production team after working with the company for a number of years. Currently in production on the second season of Hoplite Entertainment’s Stable Wars for Fox Sports, Montgomery faced grueling delivery deadlines when the show suddenly received a lot of interest both domestically and abroad. Taking full advantage of AlphaDogs stringent QC practices and full finishing services using the Digital Service Station not only helps Montgomery prep for the show, but also ensures all pressing deadlines are met while delivering a finished product with no defects or deficiencies. Montgomery comments, “AlphaDogs caught and fixed things that our editorial team simply wouldn't have time to even address and they did so without hurting our budget,” said Montgomery.
AlphaDogs Digital Service Station has been providing an alternative solution for delivering content in both an easy and affordable fashion since its inception in 2004 and has become a valuable tool for the post-production community. “The post-production process is not the same as it used to be,” explains AlphaDogs founder and CEO, Terence Curren. “Just the deliverables alone can become a full-time job in itself making it almost impossible for post supervisors to allot the close attention and time needed to be certain projects are truly ready for broadcast delivery. At AlphaDogs, clients have the ease of a one-stop drop off and the comfort of knowing that a professional team is handling their transfers and conversions.”
Additional media services at AlphaDogs include encoding, DVD and Blu-ray authoring and Teranex processing for frame rate and standards conversions. AlphaDogs also provides full finishing services including, color, audio, and graphics for television, cinema and new media.
Montgomery comments, “Alpha Dogs works with all the top networks and knows what they expect. Their knowledge and experience gives me the piece of mind to know I'm in competent hands,” said Montgomery. General Manager, Paul De Cham and his team make you feel like family while they take your show to completion. I don't go anywhere else.”
Stable Wars is currently airing on Fox Sports. For show info and new listings check out:
facebook.com/StableWarsDelMar and twitter.com/StableWarsDM.
You can find more information about the Digital Service Station by visiting www.digitalservicestation.com.
About AlphaDogs: Founded in 2002, AlphaDogs is an independently owned full service post-production facility located in the center of Burbank’s media district. AlphaDogs gifted team brings a combination of both creative talent and technical expertise paying extra attention to detail in delivering projects with a personal touch. State of the art editing bays, color correction, audio mixing, visual effects, production offices and equipment rentals are available. To learn more visit www.alphadogs.tv.
