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From Sundance to Berlinale

2014 is starting out with a bang. Two feature film projects – the Zellner Brothers’ Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter and Richard Linklater’s Boyhood – had their respective premieres at the Sundance Film Festival. Nick completed all visual effects work for both films – Kumiko, which features a total of 16 VFX scenes and Boyhood, which features 7.

Kumiko is the story of a lonely Japanese woman who travels to Minnesota to seek out the mythical treasure from the film Fargo. A dreamy work, full of sincerity and obsession, Kumiko is the Zellner Brothers’ fifth feature film project, and by far their most ambitious. Shot both in Japan and Minnesota, the finishing touches required some set extensions and background replacements to enhance the distant atmospheres of Kumiko’s journey. Nick has collaborated with the Zellners for years, and considers this work to be their finest.

Boyhood, starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette, is Richard Linklater’s groundbreaking film about growing up – shot over 12 years – with characters who age from scene to scene. Some of the VFX work involved greenscreen driving, replacing van window reflections, helicopter shadow removal, and some garden variety touch-up work. This is Nick’s second collaboration with the team at Detour Filmproduction since working on the Hulu Series, Up To Speed.

Both Kumiko and Boyhood were received to great acclaim at Sundance as well as the Berlinale Film Festival – where Richard Linklater was  honored with a Best Director award. Congratulations to both projects and their much-deserved success. Finland Finish is bursting with pride to have worked on these fine films.