When you’ve spent much of your career mastering the art of visual effects with George Lucas’ Industrial Light + Magic, there’s only one place to go: The Orphange. Founded by three former ILM visual effects artists (Jonathan Rothbart, Stuart Maschwitz and Scott Stewart), The Orphanage is focused on high-end VFX services and animation for features and broadcast, original motion picture and television production and digital filmmaking technology development and licensing. Additionally, the guys developed the Magic Bullet digital moviemaking software, which gives DV a “film” look. So, is there anything these guys don’t do? MM spoke with Stuart Maschwitz and Scott Stewart to get the answer.

Jennifer Wood (MM): I know that several of you came from ILM—what were your positions there, and what are some of the films you worked on?

Stu Maschwitz (SM): Previously, as head of Industrial Light + Magic’s infamous Rebel Unit, a boutique within the facility focused on developing “cheaper, faster, better” technology for visual effects, I worked with such directors as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Barry Sonnenfeld, creating many of the most stunning shots from Mission: Impossible, Twister, Men in Black, Galaxy Quest, Deep Impact, Star Trek: First Contact, Congo and Casper. As Rebel Unit leader, I also supervised over 100 shots for Star Wars – Episode One: The Phantom Menace and brought my talents to Star Wars: A New Hope (Special Edition), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition) and Pepsi’s Star Wars/Pod Racer commercial spot.

Scott Stewart was a visual effects artist at George Lucas’ Industrial Light + Magic. There he created visual effects for several blockbuster films, including Star Wars – Episode One, The Lost World: Jurassic Park 2, Mars Attacks, Contact and Mighty Joe Young.

MM: What is the mission at The Orphanage? You engage in both production and post-production work and have developed Magic Bullet. But what is the overall goal of the company? What are some of the services/tasks that you perform on an everyday basis?

SM: Composite the digital wizardry of George Lucas with the resourcefulness of Robert Rodriguez, add in a healthy dose of storytelling passion and you may have arrived at The Orphanage. The firm is built on three synergistic disciplines: high-end visual effects services for features, television and advertising; original digital motion picture and television production; and digital filmmaking technology development and licensing. By leveraging our unsurpassed visual effects and technical prowess to complement, rather than define, a diverse slate of original projects, The Orphanage tries to become a digital studio capable of guiding original motion pictures from concept to distribution. These are projects that have all the production value of big-budget studio features but at significantly lower costs.

Stu Maschwitz

MM: What companies are similar to The Orphanage, not just in terms of the quality of work you do, but the array of services you provide?

SM: There aren’t any.

MM: OK! What are some of the projects that The Orphanage has overseen?

Scott Stewart (SS): On the digital filmmaking front, we’ve overseen the completion of more than two dozen digital feature films. A recent major theatrical release was Jackass The Movie for MTV Films and Paramount Pictures. It was a tremendous amount of work, but it was also an outrageously fun and rewarding experience for everyone involved. Other recent digital film projects include Nicole Holofcener’s Lovely & Amazing for Lion’s Gate, and the 2003 Sundance Best Documentary award winner My Flesh and Blood. A complete list of film projects past and current is always available on our Website at www.theorphanage.com.

MM: So many people equate the terms "digital" and "low-budget." Do you think this is a fair assessment?

SM: It’s true that the indies were the first to embrace digital filmmaking, due in part to their budgetary constraints. But films like Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Spy Kids 2 show digital filmmaking swinging in another direction. George Lucas and Robert Rodriguez aren’t shooting on tape to save a few bucks. They’re creating films digitally from start to finish in a way that bests suits their creative process. Digital post is as much a part of the plan from day one as a good script and talented actors. DV may mean “accessible,” but to us, “digital” simply means technology that gets out of the filmmaker’s way.

MM: In what ways do you think digital technology can be of the best service to a moviemaker on a budget, in terms of all facets of film production?

Scott Stewart

SM: Some types of digital post-production can save you money on the set. A simple composite may be enough to sell a Los Angeles exterior as a New York location. Compare that with the cost of flying the crew out there for what might be a short sequence, and suddenly an indie film is in the position of not being able to afford not to use visual effects.

Working with a baby or a dog—or a non-actor—might be less terrifying if you know you can just roll and roll and roll until you get the shot you need. The money you save in stock and camera rentals may get absorbed into post. The money you thought you saved on a smaller lighting package may get spent cleaning up noisy, underexposed footage. The ratios are changing, and the process is still a little mysterious to people. The best thing you can do is align yourself early with your post partner, and formulate a plan that extends all the way to distribution.

MM: How does The Orphanage hope to change the place of digital technology in the world of film production? What do you want the company to be known for?

SM: Our goal is simply to advance the art and science of filmmaking. To us, that challenge lives as much inside Final Draft as it does in Final Cut. Every technique we develop to make our own filmmaking a better, more creatively satisfying experience has the potential to become a post service or even a product. As we keep making movies, the tools we create along the way are the dividends.

MM: Which came first: The Orphanage or Magic Bullet?

SM: They germinated simultaneously, and converged with the first Orphanage production, my short The Last Birthday Card. No one could believe it was shot on video—and that was exactly our plan!

For more information on The Orphanage, visit http://www.theorphanage.com