The rise and continued rise of Envy post, especially in a recession, has been witnessed by the UK production industry, and its latest building on Rathbone Place has got everyone talking.

Envy launched itself in 2006 with big, beautiful, stylish suites, an unrivalled service provided by the best creatives, technical experts and producers, plus a bar for its clients and friends. The concept worked so well that it wasn't long before new premises were opened in Margaret Street, primarily for short-form work, and Foley Street, adding 35 more suites and a 750ft2 roof terrace overlooking the London skyline.

An Envy programme greets TV viewers most evenings and sometimes on multiple channels: Grand Designs, Britain's Next Top Model, Four Rooms and The Choir That Rocks are just a few.

Demand for the Envy way of doing things has been high and at the start of 2011 the company directors, Dave and Natascha Cadle and Dave Bocarro, started searching for more space. They found it just next door to their first building in Rathbone Place and with an aggressive schedule they started work in June and finished in August, with clients getting to work straight away.

This extra 10,000ft2 has added another 23 offline Avid suites, an additional Flame Premium Suite for the VFX department and another online room with an Avid Symphony. The Media Composers are on HP Z800 workstations connected to a 64TB Isis 5000 shared storage system, and infrastructure services were provided by Robin Howell of Wire Broadcast.

Fineline was delighted to finance the equipment part of the £2million investment, especially as Envy had not gone down this route before. The finance was primarily required for the Avids, monitors and storage, provided respectively by Tyrell CCT, CVP and ERA, and Gareth Wilding worked with all resellers on the purchases.

Dave Cadle, Managing Director, Envy, comments, "Having had a long relationship with Gareth we knew he could get things done quickly, which was key as the build time was so short. It was so easy to deal with him, especially as he knew our team, our business and all the equipment we had to install, which was totally different from other lenders."

So what next for Envy? Natascha Cadle says, "We will grow as the client base demands it and that may be within London or outside." Wherever it is, it is sure to make its competition envious.

www.envypost.co.uk

When hire costs began to bite at audio post production specialist Fitzrovia Post, the company turned to Fineline to finance the purchase of its own Sony SRW HDCAM SR recorder.

Fitzrovia required the recorder in particular for existing work laying audio back as the industry embraces the SR format, explains Rob Butler-Biggs at Fitzrovia Post. "We chose the SRW 5500 specifically, because we need to be able to lay back up to 12 channels of audio. More of our clients are delivering on this format, which accordingly, drove our decision," he adds. "Also, with the increasing demand for 5.1 surround mixes and various deliverables, we really do need all 12 of those audio tracks."

The finance deal for the HDCAM recorder was taken from inception to completion in an exceptionally tight timeframe, as Butler-Biggs explains. "We had a couple of names [for the finance] in line and have leased in the past. However, the supplier Top Teks knew Fineline, which made the choice easy. It was an incredibly quick turnaround once the decision had been made." Which was good news for Fitzrovia's bottom line, considering that Butler-Biggs recalls "it was costing us a fortune to hire a machine in."

Fitzrovia Post has wasted no time in putting the kit to work on a variety of children's programming series for the BBC, including the animated production Rastamouse and the history series Horrible Histories. "Both are quite high profile at the moment," explains Butler-Biggs. "We've also just completed another episode of the Only Fools and Horses prequel, Rock'n'Chips."

As for the rest of 2011, Fitzrovia plans to make good use of its Fineline-funded kit. "Things are looking generally quite positive," states Butler-Biggs.

www.fitzroviapost.com

The rise in popularity of televised poker has been nothing short of phenomenal in recent years as enterprising producers have lifted it from a niche attraction on niche channels to something approaching ubiquity in multichannel homes worldwide.

With over 500 hours of poker programming under its belt, Emblaze Productions is widely recognised as the game's leading production and distribution specialist. Its flagship is The Million Dollar Cash Game which features an all-star cast of the world's best poker players, each of whom must put up at least $100,000 just to compete.

Emblaze is headed up by James Hopkins, formerly the Head of Programming at The Poker Channel of which he is a founding member. Since launching Emblaze Productions in 2007 James has continued pioneering televised poker with Senior Producer Adrian Mackenzie. To date the Emblaze Productions team has launched a wide range of poker events including The British Poker Open, World Speed Poker Open, European Poker Masters and more recently the Cash Game Battle.

Faced with syndication requirements from international broadcasters, and one of its main clients BSkyB, for high-definition delivery, Emblaze decided to up the ante with a financial package arranged by Fineline.

"The majority of what we do is sponsor-funded TV production of sports, gaming, poker, and live events," explains Hopkins. "We put a lot of emphasis on set design, lighting and the look of our shows to create production values that puts the brand's qualities in the best light. It was logical to progress to HD."

Two Avid Media Composer suites at Emblaze's post production arm were upgraded to the latest version 5.0, and a Sony PDW-U1 XDCAM HD recorder has been added as a complementary workflow to the producer's existing XDCAM HD and Z1 camcorders. The recorder was sourced from Edit Heaven.

"We don't want to gamble with our investments," says Hopkins. "Fineline was recommended to us, they proposed a few options and we chose one because it just made sense. The deal was uncomplicated, straightforward and we're very happy with the outcome."

Emblaze Productions also has a creative services team specialising in title sequences, stings, idents and sponsorship bumpers.

"We're very positive and always on the lookout for new opportunities," says Hopkins, referencing recently completed work for new client, the Rugby Football Union, including large screen montages at Twickenham and a series of viral films and TV adverts.

"I'm not ruling out further enhancements to our facility this year," he says. "If one or two of the things we have recently pitched for come in then we'd have to expand to be able to cope with the work. That's a healthy position to be in."

www.emblaze.com

A fully file-based workflow is at the heart of how Splice Television works, with many of its key clients choosing to shoot on varied formats including RED, EX, P2, XDCAM and Canon. The company also has Baselight grading, DS suites and multi-channel audio, and works with many of the UK's leading independent production companies, as well as advertising agencies and corporate sectors.

Splice's file-based set-up has been invaluable in producing shows featuring the well-known TV chef Jamie Oliver. Splice has three studios on the top floor of its building, which can be set up in kitchen mode, allowing Oliver's shows to be shot, with footage sent straight to Splice's Isilon storage, then proceeding to post and grading: all without a tape in sight.

When Splice recently secured a new contract with Warner Bros.,"it meant we were going to be using a Sony SR deck on a 24-hour basis," explains Splice MD Damian Dolniak. The company opted to purchase a Sony SRW-5800 HDCAM SR VTR and upgrade to its current Evertz Quartz router. "Due to Sony SR becoming the preferred delivery format, adding more machines to our MCR became our priority, so we took advantage of Sony's current 0% finance scheme through Fineline," Dolniak adds. "This was an attractive opportunity in the current financial climate."

Splice was, however, in a strong position, as it possesses all the credentials Dolniak believes are crucial when securing finance in a risk-averse market. "We generally have a good credit rating, strong trading accounts, and the company owns its own property, so getting finance has never been an issue. However, receiving finance at a competitive rate is becoming more difficult," he admits. "Nevertheless, Fineline offered us a deal we couldn't refuse."

Splice was introduced to Fineline by WTS Broadcast, who supplied the kit, "which made the transaction a lot faster than it might have been," says Dolniak. "I found Duncan Payne really easy to work with, and he put a very compelling deal together for us." The Evertz Quartz router is already hard at work, allowing seamless integration of all the decks and systems at Splice, "and the SR deck has more than lived up to my expectations," Dolniak adds.

www.splicetv.com

It is fair to say that the current economic climate has probably hit the post production sector harder than any other part of the industry, which means that, the days of of companies buying kit on the off chance that their clients might be interested in what it does are long gone. Investment now has to be in the right kit at the right time, which is exactly what JCA TV's purchase of a Pandora Revolution Basegrade colour correction suite is: bought to satisfy specific customer demand following JCA's recent move into film restoration.

"The Revolution supports both our digital and linear workflows. The powerful grading system supports all the functionality required for film based grading, ie telecine well as realtime data colour correction up to 4k and beyond," states Nick Pannaman, co-MD.

The Revolution was bought via Fineline ("We have strong relationship over many years with the Fineline team who are always responsive no matter how much we pester them," says Pannaman) and has already been hard at work.

"The primary use is focused in supporting the restoration and archive markets although we are doing the odd DI for our sins," he says. "We have delivered a number of fully restored feature films for Blu-ray release, fully graded on the Revolution and restored using our multiple restoration suits. All passed QC on first submission which is testimony to the quality of the team and its resources."

As one of the companies managing to not only keep it's head above water in the tumult but thrive as well, JCA's Commercial Director, Matt Bowman, unsurprisingly has views on what a modern post company needs to do to remain successful.

"Traditional post has changed dramatically over recent years with moves towards cheap standalone products rather than expensive post builds," he comments. "Whilst this has placed huge constraints on companies with ongoing costs associated to traditional systems, JCA has found that our quick and professional response, and an agnostic approach, has delivered new opportunities to strengthen relationships with both existing and new clients. We are service providers and, as such, must listen to the market and respond rather than trying to force square pegs into round holes."

And the company's new Revolution is a perfect example of a round peg very much fitting into a round hole.

www.jcatv.co.uk

Without doubt the post production industry is having one of the toughest rides of any broadcast sector in the current recession. It is here that production companies are exerting the greatest pressure on rates and competition for that reduced overall pot is fierce.

That means investment in the right technology is all the more crucial. The first criteria obviously is that it has to work and be reliable, but beyond that it also has to be future-proof, which is exactly why Soho-based duplication specialist TC Soho recently purchased a Sony SRW-5800 HDCAM SR VTR.

"The choice to purchase was made in order to future-proof the business in terms of HD duplication," explains Business Development Manager, JP Dash. "Having the HDCAM SR means that we can playback HDCAM SR and HDCAM, making the machine multi-purpose and adaptable to different types of work."

It has also meant that the company can upgrade its new digitising service to include HD material as it looks to diversify its offering to its clients.

"We have decided to widen the scope of the work we do and expand our services by repurposing the existing technical kit to be used for multiple workflows," comments Dash. "For instance our Final Cut Pro suite is mainly used for edits and as a support for some of our DVD authoring work. We now also use it for our digitising service, as well as offering a playout service for companies or individuals that have file-based work that they need on tape."

It's a strategy that is working well for the company so far too. "Doing this we have found that we are able to service more of our existing clients needs under the same roof and have also had some new clients in the door as a result," says a pleased Dash.

He is also pleased with the service he received from Fineline, who financed the purchase of the new deck.

"Over the 30 years TC Soho has been in business, we have used several leasing companies but have found Fineline, particularly in this difficult economic climate, flexible, quick, and excellent value for money," he says.

www.tcsoho.tv

Television and video production company Tilling Productions specialises in supplying services and facilities for the corporate and broadcast television markets. Based in Middlesex, the company has gained an enviable reputation with a wide range of blue chip clients over the past few years, and is a preferred supplier to the likes of Sky Sports and BP (for whom it supplies everything from internal communications to brand and product launches, conference filming and training materials), as well as a host of others.

The company's impressive operation has become more efficient in recent months with the addition of two Apple Xserve machines via Fineline, one controlling the delivery of video files from the storage area network (SAN) and one running Final Cut Server, Apple's new media asset management and workflow automation software.

"We approached Fineline for the finance to upgrade one of our five edit suites to full HD and also install Final Cut Server, which needed some additional investment in a fairly robust infrastructure behind it to work well," explains the company's Nick Tilling. "Twenty people throughout the building now have access to low-res proxies on their desktops: they can look at all projects in progress and check their status, and that removes the bottleneck of having to go into an edit suite to see material."

Operating on a new 2Gb Ethernet network that runs parallel with its existing fibre channel system, Final Cut Server has improved workflows throughout the company by, for example, automating the generation of all its deliverables. Along with the Edit 5 upgrade to HD, it has also made Tilling's facilities even more attractive to production companies, for whom it is a popular choice on the outskirts of London. But it is removing those bottlenecks that is the key.

"Being able to find specific material or shots and reacting quickly to a client's needs is one of the main challenges in working on the corporate side of the video business," says Tilling. "And this system allows us to do just that."

The links to Fineline go back several years – indeed, the original fibre channel system was financed via the company – and as a result Tilling was more than happy to use its services again. "We had to be able to guarantee payment to some suppliers before we'd signed all the paperwork, and they were happy to accommodate that," says Tilling.

"At the moment, financing purchases is a no-brainer," he concludes. "You want to hang on to your cash in the current climate, and using companies such as Fineline is the obvious route."

www.tillingproductions.com

Prime Focus is one of the global industry success stories of recent years. Set up as recently as 1995 in India – when it initially traded out of a garage with a single NLE system and four core team members – it now employs over 1000 people world­wide and is one of the most powerful post production groups on the world stage.

It has achieved its position by sound investment at the right time, establishing an impressive list of Indian firsts along the way. It bought a Discreet Fire, then India's first high end finishing system, to establish itself in the commercials market in 1997, then started telecine and high-end film scanning and recording in 2000 and 2001. 2003 saw the first Spirit arrive in the country courtesy of the company, then it pioneered motion control in India and introduced the Varicam to the market for the first time in 2004. Little surprise then that it started expanding outside its home territory in 2006, purchasing two of London's top post facilities, VTR and Clear, to create Prime Focus London.

The company has roughly 75% of the DI, grading and effects market for the Bollywood film and advertisement industry, and the VTR purchase was completed with the express aim of expanding aggressively into the colour grading and effects market worldwide. Now owner of Post Logic Studios in Hollywood as well, it recently approached Fineline to help it finance the purchase of two new Baselight Eight colour grading systems.

"We run Lustres in India, but Post Logic uses the Baselight," explains Anshul Doshi, Group Operations Officer for Prime Focus. "As the UK is closely tied to Hollywood, we decided it made sense to bring what we have in London in line with what we offer internationally."

The company also bought two Snell & Wilcox Alchemist phc HD systems via Fineline at the same time, one of which is currently in London, one in New York. "Mastering, transfers, and making international deliverables is a very big line for us in the US," explains Doshi.

Why use Fineline? "I met with Gareth Wilding a few times and was always impressed that he understood the industry – he knew the products and he knew the vendors. The rates they offered were similar or better than what we could get with major banks, plus along with that I didn't have to explain what a Baselight was. It's the ease of working with them that makes them special."

The company's strategy of investment is unlikely to change in the face of the worldwide credit crunch either, with Doshi stating that Prime Focus London might well make a few more significant technology purchases to redefine the art of creative post production.

"The challenge is to be the number one in commercials, features, DI, effects and the broadcast spaces in the next two years," he says. "That will need investment in both talent and technology. We'll continue to invest and scale up our operations – the group already has one of the largest technological asset pools of telecines, non linear grading consoles and effects suites such as Smoke and Flame. It is ambitious, but we have the best technology and the correct people on board to make that happen."

Tide is a recently established post production facility based in Broadwick Street in Soho set up by Mike Brook, Tom Merrin and Richard Taunton. Currently running six Avid Symphony suites across an Avid Unity version 5, with a host of different dubbing and encoding options also available, it's a facility that has benefited from three separate tranches of finance arranged through Fineline since it was established.

"The original investment was in an Avid Unity LANshare and machine room build," explains Richard Taunton. "Then we bought a subsequent Digital BetaCam recorder."

At the time the company was operating out of two suites in Kingly Street, but was rapidly finding that two was not nearly enough to cope with demand. "We were overflowing into other facilities so it made sense to grow; in effect we tripled in size," says Taunton.

The relocation into the new building inevitably meant new investment, again accomplished with the help of Fineline. "Increased demand placed on the workflow required a move from the existing Avid LANshare to an Avid Unity 5, which also required all existing work­stations to be upgraded," explains Taunton. "We do a lot of onlining using the same media, so it was important to us to be able to online in any suite using the Unity."

The project was handled by John Bartlett at Fineline, who Taunton says, has an enviable amount of industry knowledge. "He was also able to provide finance that not only covered the Unity upgrade, but which also mopped up all the other little bits and bobs that were required to make it all work. There is no sales spiel, just a quick response when required."

In the current economic climate Tide remains steadily busy. Taunton reckons the company's formula is simple. "We invest in new kit carefully, we have a loyal customer base and our small size allows for a friendly environment they appreciate," he concludes.

Pilot Film & Television Productions has spent nigh on two decades at the forefront of international travel programming production and has built up some serious Air Miles in the process. Set up by Australian Ian Cross in 1989, it now has over 300 hours of material in its archive, its award-winning Globe Trekker series (also known as Pilot Guides) is now approaching its 13th series and broadcasts to 30 million viewers in over 40 countries, and it has a burgeoning plethora of other travel-related titles on the go too, covering everything from world food to festivals to golf.

Director Bob Baker is, understandably therefore, a regular on the Fineline golf days, but the links with the company go much deeper than that.

"We spend something like £100 to £150k every three years or so on upgrading kit and we've always said to Fineline, 'Give us a good deal and we'll stay with you'. And they've always given us a good deal; in fact a better deal than anyone else."

The latest round of upgrading has seen the company spend a six figure sum in switching to high def, which is critical if it wants to remain a front-runner in the global marketplace. Top of the list was a Sony HDW 790 camera, but Pilot has also backed this up with monitors, decks, a Sony Z1E HDV camcorder, and an HD upgrade to its existing Final Cut Pro edit suite.

"Bringing the online edits in house not only helps us to reduce costs but also keep a greater control over the output. By having these facilities in the building we are able to monitor all aspects of the format and keep things totally consistent," says Baker.

The cameras have already been used successfully on three shoots, which are currently being edited.

"Shoots for the Caribbean Islands, Utah and Colorado, and the Falklands have all been filmed on HD," says Baker. "The kit allows us to still deliver in standard def to broadcasters who require this, but also futureproof our sales and the quality of the images by shooting HD. Inevitably more and more broadcasters will insist on the better HD quality and so the purchase of this kit was essential to us. Pilot has always kept up with new technology and, with the help of Fineline, we shall continue to do this."

When reseller Altered Images needed to invest in crucial new demonstration kit – an Avid Unity ISIS and Snell & Wilcox iCR – it turned to Fineline to finance the deal

When it comes to buying broadcast equipment, as with any significant purchase one of the most important things that can be done is to try it out first. The kit is all becoming ever more capable but also ever more complex, and it's not always a simple matter to interconnect it to legacy systems.

"You cannot just sell these products like in the old days with a description over the phone," says David Johnson from top UK reseller, Altered Images.

For manufacturers, it's a relatively easy task: just over-run on the production by one or two units and factor that into your manufacturing costs (though for high ticket items, of course, even that's very non-trivial). For resellers, however, it can be slightly more problematic and normally means that, even with special discounts, they have to fork out large sums of money to carry demo stock. And when it's two products in pretty much the same timeframe – Avid's Unity ISIS media storage system and Snell & Wilcox's iCR automated content repurposing system – then even a reseller of the status of Altered Images needs to turn for help.

"In this industry you have to wrestle with purchase decisions quite a bit because of the sums involved," says Johnson. "We have to consider how many we will have to sell, what is our return rate to get back into profit here, and so on. Whether you're making programmes or supplying people who make programmes, we're all in the same boat, we're all doing sums about profitability and productivity. But at the point you've made the decision and you want to go forward and get things done, you want to do it quickly.

"Fineline do that. They're in the industry, they understand the industry, and we trust them."

Having demo kit on hand makes sense on many levels, and indeed Avid specifies it as a pre-requisite before resellers can even carry the product. Tech support is enhanced, as you can replicate exactly what's occurring on your own system, training is easier to control and schedule, and you also have a unit that you can lend to a customer. This isn't just for wavering purchasers either. "The ICR, for instance, is such new technology that invariably we end up loaning it to a customer to try so that they can know it's up to the job," says Johnson.

Ultimately their presence does have an effect on the bottom line. Since acquiring the ISIS late last year, Altered Images has sold two systems, and the ICR has been equally successful for the company.

"From buying this demo ICR we have picked up an order for three more units – two SD, one HD – from the same customer," says Johnson. "If we hadn't had the demo unit we wouldn't have got that order."

Fineline helps Barrie Williams at Essex-based pixelfantastic buy important new film editing equipment.

Serious post production equipment has the unfortunate tendency to also cost serious money, as Barrie Williams, founder of pixelfantastic knows all too well, having just purchased a Quantel eQ with help from Fineline. The eQ is a very capable system with immense image processing power, but it's not cheap.

"I could have bought a house for the same price!" he says a bit ruefully.

A house though would not have helped cement pixelfantastic's reputation as one of the top boutique post houses in the country in quite the same was as the eQ does. A one stop shop which works across programming genres and formats - Williams drops names of recent music clients as if he's deciding headliners for the next Glastonbury – the way he characterises the company's service is with a pragmatic "People come to us with a carrier bag full of assets and walk away with a finished programme," approach.

It is often easier said than done though, and Williams spent a long time picking the right kit for the job. "Over the last three years the industry has had increasingly higher expectations, but not all manufacturers are meeting those demands," he says. "The strongest system we had in in terms of overall capability was also the one that had the highest tendency to crash. This is an intolerable situation for client-attended sessions. So finally, after much discussion, we chose the Quantel eQ because of its pedigree, its ability to do the job, and for me to be able to actually produce beautiful images, rather than spending half of my time trying to work out why my old edit system crashed. What I like about the eQ is that you don't have to be an IT specialist, you just have to know what you want to see on the screen."

Pixelfantastic had dealt with Fineline before and Williams was very happy to work with them again to finance the purchase. "It was a very comfortable, non-pressure situation," he says. "It all happened very fast, we installed the eQ, had two days training, and immediately we were editing a very high profile job for Blink TV producing a James Bond Film style intro for the giant screens on the current Westlife tour. We didn't hear from Fineline while that was underway, even though we still hadn't signed the papers, and they didn't contact us until they knew we'd finished the production. They understood that I couldn't have dealt with anything else that week, so they gave us some space... that quiet professionalism impressed me a lot."

Newcastle-based post group Mere Mortals has invested £80,000 in an Autodesk Smoke system, thus providing a powerful realtime, mixed-resolution machine for all types of creative video editing in the North East.

Last year's winner of the Royal Television Society Award for Moving Image Company of the Year, the Mere Mortals' team has worked on blockbuster films such as Danny Boyle's '28 Weeks Later' and his cerebral sci-fi thriller 'Sunshine'. Beyond those high-profile jobs it's also provided post production facilities for a number of national and international broadcast, advertising and corporate clients.

The company already boasts a well-established and experienced team of editors, sound designers, motion graphics and video FX artists. It will get a further boost as well when a planned upgrade when the new quad version of Smoke is launched means that the company will be one of the first post production houses to take delivery of the new editing equipment.

"This is the first time a system with the capabilities of Smoke has been available in the North East, and the investment puts us at the front of high-end post production facilities," says Mere Mortals managing director, Steve Walmsley.

As Steve and everyone else in the industry knows though, buy the right machine and suddenly you move from competing for work in a regional arena to a national one. Previously, the choice for clients in the area has been to either use standard editing tools or to travel to Manchester, Leeds or even London to use better equipped and more capable editing suites.

"In addition to attracting work from clients in the thriving film and advertising industry here in the region, it also give us the capability to attract a substantial amount of business from outside the North East," he says. "Big budget productions filmed here in Newcastle have traditionally sent their editing work south because the facilities just weren't previously available here."

Now, thanks to Fineline (who, according to Steve were: "Flexible, adaptable and able to accommodate our specific requirements for what was a complicated package.") those facilities most definitely are and there is Smoke on the Tyne after all.

"I wouldn't have the business I have if it wasn't for Fineline!" Samuel Martin, Decode's founder and Managing Director unequivocally states.

"We have been in business for just over 3 years and without financing we would have never got off the ground. Fineline worked with us in those early days when we had no credit record and very little business to justify their faith in us. We are now a substantial business, but we still need finance to keep us moving forward and keep us competitive."

Decode is a rapidly developing broadcast equipment hire, production and post production company. Fineline has helped them finance a range of production equipment for hire including Zeiss film lenses, grip and production kit (tracks and dollies) and broadcast equipment.

Decode's Account Manager at Fineline, Chris Biggs, explains, "When we first started dealing with Decode, the company was of a very modest size, with a very limited range of financial information available. As such, we had to put facilities together based on our knowledge of the specific equipment being funded, the hire and production markets and the potential of the business to succeed.

We recently helped Decode fund a wide range of film equipment, including a couple of follow focus units and two sets of Zeiss 35mm film lenses. Purchased directly from an American supplier, these presented shipping, foreign currency and importation issues. We were able to accommodate their needs due to the flexible way in which we structured the deal and the bespoke nature of the documentation we put together."

Samuel takes up the story,"We now supply equipment to all the UK's main terrestrial TV channels, the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. One of our most recent projects involved hiring out dollies, cameras and lighting kit for the BBC's Moon Monkeys TV pilot produced by leading indie production company Avalon TV. We have supplied camera equipment to a couple of other pilots from BBC and have recently been involved in an increasing number of TV productions and music videos.

Our production and post production side of the business is getting a facelift in the coming weeks. We are expanding our facilities by taking over the entire building where we are based and renovating a new floor to accommodate a production office and a couple of Avid Adrenaline HD suites.

We are also installing a grading suite to complement our production department, that has recently completed post work on commercials from Unicef and Oxfam's Make Poverty History campaign. On the music video front we have recently finished editing and grading videos for Jamaican artist Luciano, pop artist Vicky Nolan and many more.

There are plenty of interesting developments to come in the months ahead as Decode settles down and all the new aspects of the business take shape. In three years we have come from nowhere. Fineline helped make it happen."

www.decodeuk.com

In just 6 short years Brighton TV has become the 8th largest facilities house outside of London. Jon Lee, Facilities Manager for Brighton TV explains this rapid growth, "There are 5 key ingredients - top of the range equipment, a talented workforce and a relaxed working environment. Add in unstinting customer service and hard work and you have the formula."

And just to prove the point Jon lists some of their most recent clients - Discovery Real Time, Animal Planet, Gallery HD, Ultra HD, Ricochet South, Lambent Productions, E! Entertainment, The History Channel, Electric Sky, BBC, Channel 4 and ITV. One of their most recent projects was Fashion Avenue with Jodie Kidd for Ultra HD.

Earlier this year, Brighton TV completed Phase I of an investment programme by acquiring new premises, new HD online equipment and brought its central Machine Room online. Phase II saw the acquisition of five new Avid edit suites and centralised media storage.

Brighton TV's relationship with Fineline and their Account Manager Chris Biggs goes back a long way. Chris outlines the relationship, "Since the inception of Brighton TV we have been able to provide them with the financial support necessary to help them build the business. Wise investment in the latest technology has been a key element in their success."

Recent acquisitions include 5 Avid Media Composers, an Apple Final Cut Pro Editing System, Sony HVR-Z1E Camera, Sony HDW-730S Hi Def Camera Kit and a Sony HDW-M2000 VTR.

Jon discusses the Fineline relationship: "Fineline has been our finance partner from the outset. They make technology acquisition easy because they understand our business, the technology and the jargon. But at the end of the day they have to be competitive, otherwise no deal."

The last word goes to Chris, "A company like Brighton TV needs to continually re-invest in new facilities and new technology in order to be competitive and provide the high levels of service that have become their hallmark. Fineline has played its part in their success."

www.brighton.tv

On a cold January night at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Simon Kanjee, Managing Director of Evolutions celebrated his birthday by winning Broadcast's Best Post Production House Award.

After a busy year with the acquisition of post house Nats, a major re-brand and providing post production on leading shows such as The Apprentice, Top Gear and Shipwrecked, the award was the perfect recognition from the industry and its clients.

Simon Kanjee looks back on the year; "We took the view that the media business was entering a period of consolidation and in order to continue to provide the quality and flexibility of customer service we would need to expand our facilities and suites. When the opportunity came to make the Nats acquisition we needed to move incredibly quickly. That's when the speed and flexibility of the Fineline team was essential."

Evolutions Television and Nats both offered full post production facilities, but in slightly different markets. When the opportunity arose to purchase Nats it provided the perfect fit for Evolutions. The combined business, operating under the Evolutions Television banner, is now the largest independently owned facility in Soho with over 80 suites spread over four locations.

Simon continues, "The effect of the acquisition was to double the size of the business overnight. Working out the legal and financial arrangements was complicated enough, but at the same time we were determined to ensure that we maintained the friendly and personal service that both companies were famous for."

Fineline Account Manager Chris Biggs outlines the deal, "The key to helping Evolutions achieve their ambition of acquiring Nats was in the flexibility and innovation of the financing scheme we were able to put in place. We created a commercial loan, secured by a Chattels Mortgage, based on equipment already owned by Evolutions. Few banks or finance houses would have the scope and flexibility to create such an innovative deal and turn it around in such a tight time-scale."

Simon sums it all up,"The synergy of the two businesses has been a great success due to the fact that both teams have integrated so well whilst still maintaining their own identity and character. Fineline played its part by putting together a creative funding package at very short notice."

www.evolutions.tv

An ex-MPC creative has founded a new London HD/DI facility based on the eQFX. The facility, The Look, is the latest boutique HD/DI facility to open in London, having recently worked with Fineline on its set-up.

Once he had chosen a Quantel eQ system to sit at the heart of its workflow, founder and Managing Director Thomas Urbye worked with Fineline to build the rest of the facility and finance the HD monitors, projector and audio monitors.

Thomas selected the eQ to enable him to build a business on just one machine."With the eQ I can work on the whole project – conform, tweak the cut, online, grade, do visual effects, even title it, then finally play it all out; it's unique," he enthuses.

Urbye knows a thing or two about HD & DI, having been an iQ colourist & operator at The Moving Picture Company for four years prior to setting up the new company. "I was introduced to Gareth Wilding well over a year ago," says Urbye. "The reason I decided to work with Fineline was simple, they were friendly and professional from the outset, always returning calls, keeping me up to date with developments, and importantly they have a very good understanding of the post production industry."

www.thelooklondon.com

Hyperactive goes Hi-Def in Slow Motion

"Our business is growing at a fantastic rate, across all sectors and across the globe" – is the opening comment of Mark Cox, Managing Director of Hyperactive Broadcast.

Mark continues "Hyperactive was established in 1985 and we are now one of the major broadcast hire companies. We are constantly expanding our extensive range of quality video & audio equipment, covering all formats, analogue, digital and now HD."

Hyperactive stays at the forefront of the hire business by having a comprehensive technology refresh and renewal programme to ensure that the latest kit is always available. We bring on board new technology as soon as possible and provide our customers with access to the latest equipment. Such a strategy is cost intensive and it is important we work with a finance partner that understands our marketplace and way of working. We have partnered with Fineline for some while now and they have helped finance our strategy and growth."

Gareth Wilding, Fineline Director comments "The need to keep abreast of the rapid advances in technology can put pressure on the finances of all organisations. Our job is to ensure that our clients get access to the latest kit in the most affordable way."

Mark adds "We already have a fleet of EVS-LSM Live Slow Motion machines and the time came to add the High Definition versions to our catalogue. We were able to acquire such high cost items because Fineline made it possible. Such significant expenditure needs to be financed efficiently in order for us to be competitive.

Joss Foulston of EVS Global states "Live slow motion replays have contributed significantly to the excellence of sports television, which has already reached an outstanding level. Hyperactive, as one of the UK's leading broadcast hire companies, provides production crews with the technology to present audiences with even better coverage. Today, HDTV allows a quantum leap ahead, including Slow Motion replays of stunning quality."

A final word from Gareth, "Investment in new technology is a constant for all organisations in the media business. For that reason we build long term relationships with all our clients. So when it comes to the next acquisition we understand the dynamics of the company and can quickly put in place the right financial solutions."

www.hyperactivebroadcast.com

Dedicated film post house takes off

Developing a business from scratch takes courage and a fierce determination to succeed. Tony Ray has taken on that challenge and launched Dragon Digital Intermediate Ltd.

Managing Director Tony Ray sets the scene, "The catalyst for starting our business was the proposed £180m project for Dragon International Studios by a group led by Lord Attenborough on an old vacated mining site near Bridgend. They are building a film and TV production facility, together with a 'media village' of independent businesses, to provide low cost, high quality services and offer an alternative to the UK's traditional media centres. This development which is due to open in 2007, inspired me to establish a full- service Digital Intermediate facility".

With introductions from Lord Attenborough and his own significant network of contacts, Tony soon had the momentum to set up Dragon Digital independently.

Tony continues, "It was obvious from our research that the world was crying out for Digital Intermediate and in the end we couldn't wait for the Studios project to get off the ground."

Martin Stanley from Fineline takes up the story, "Tony had obtained the backing of the Welsh Development Agency, and investment from Wales Fund Managers and so had a solid business platform. We were delighted to provide the £1.2m asset finance facilities to cover the new capital acquisitions that include a Quantel iQ system, an Arriscan film scanner, an Arrilaser film recorder, a da Vinci Revival film restoration system and a Lipsner Smith CF 8200 film cleaner."

Amongst the major acquisitions is equipment from Quantel and ARRI. "We are delighted that Dragon Digital has chosen iQ to take them into the digital film laboratory business," said Quantel Sales Director Martin Mulligan. "More than 400 movies ranging from small independents to big budget blockbusters have already been touched by iQ. Its incredible versatility means that iQ is becoming the backbone of more DI businesses worldwide than any other system."

And Allan Fyfe of ARRI adds, "Digital Intermediate has become the buzzword in the motion picture post production industry. The sophisticated task of the DI process is to combine the known advantages of film as the preferred medium for acquisition, archiving, distribution and projection, with the digital post production process. Tony and his new team will be working with the very best technology."

Tony explains about Digital Intermediate, "This new technology provides us with more control and greater creativity which means higher quality and a far better end product. Some of the latest films, from the biggest Hollywood blockbusters to lower budget independents, have been produced using Digital Intermediate technology and the quality is outstanding."

Tony adds, "We have already been commissioned to work on a number of significant and high-profile archive projects one of which involves restoring and grading shots taken from various sources, and compiling a final, restored negative. This is a tremendous endorsement of our approach to using state of the art technology by talented and experienced people."

Martin Stanley concludes, "We enjoy the part we play in the media industry, and helping companies such as Dragon Digital get off the ground gives us a real sense of satisfaction."

The last word is with Tony, "We are the only company in the World solely dedicated to Digital Intermediate. Without the help of people like Fineline we would still be just a dream."

www.dragon-digital.co.uk

Being one of the country's largest TV post production houses means you set the standards for others to follow. And when those standards demand the very best quality then there is no question but to use the best available equipment. Andy and Janet Sumner have built the Sumners business on this philosophy and now have over forty edit suites, five sound suites, graphics and a virtual studio in their Manchester based offices.

A key part of their expansion plans has been the recent acquisition of a da Vinci 2K real-time colour image enhancement system. Andy Sumner comments, "Colour enhancement today is more than just scene matching. Filmmakers want to create their own stylistic 'look'. The da Vinci is the ultimate colour correction tool and for HD production you must have 5:1 surround mixing capabilities."

The da Vinci system is the first to be installed outside London and supports the range and diversity of projects and services provided by Sumners.

Andy continues, "We are currently using our new da Vinci colour corrector on Bank of Mum and Dad for BBC2, Funland a comedy drama for BBC3 and Inside the Ultimate for Granada and National Geographic."

Fineline not only helped finance the acquisition they were also instrumental in extricating it from customs! The relationship with Fineline is one that has lasted the test of time.

Andy reflects, "When we spent £1.3 million on our new studio back in 1995 Fineline arranged all the finance, so when it came to this latest expansion Fineline were the people we went to first, and they were incredibly helpful in sorting out our requirements.

The breadth and scope of the facilities at Sumners, and their continuing expansion, means they are well placed to meet the ever increasing demand for post services in Manchester.

www.sumners.co.uk

In five short years zero db has grown from a start-up to a major provider of broadcast television facilities. Formed in 2000 by broadcast cameramen James MacDonald, Tom Webster and Steve Green together with editor Chris Shaw, zero db offers a comprehensive range of production and post production facilities from their brand new premises in Queens Park, North London.

Geoff Axtell, Business Manager of zero db states, "Blind Date was our first major project where we did all the location shoots. Since then we have expanded the business and now supply crews, equipment and editing services to a list of blue-chip clients including BBC TV, ITV Talkback, Celador, Tiger Aspect, Pett Productions and Seek. Currently we are editing Bullrun 2005 (10 x 30' for Bravo) and Britain's New Top Model (10 x 1 hour – a Thumbs Up Production for Living)

zero db also handle most of the production work for Queen. Geoff explains, "We've worked closely with Queen Productions over the years shooting new material when needed and editing their hugely- successful DVD collection – including Queen on Fire – Live at the Bowl. As I speak we're just days away from finishing off their exciting new Night at the Opera DVD.

The growth of the business necessitated the move to larger premises. Geoff goes on to explain "Occupying the whole building gave us the opportunity to have it purpose built to our own specification. We have five edit suites, all with the latest equipment, and a separate machine room housing all the hardware. When it came to updating our kit for the new facility we naturally talked to Fineline."

Gareth Wilding from Fineline takes up the story "Fineline has worked with zero db since its inception, financing cameras and Avid editing systems, and we were eager to assist with their acquisition of various routers, switchers, plasma screens and tape decks in the new building."

Jochen Gorth of Fibretroopers, who supplied the equipment comments "Fibretroopers have been supporting zero db's equipment for the last few years and are proud to be associated with their success. For this particular project we had just one weekend to move, install and be operational. Working closely with zero db we met this critical objective, which underlined the value of our joint teamwork. Fineline's involvement with the project was beneficial as their flexible and efficient handling of the commercial issues allowed us to concentrate on the job in hand."

Geoff concludes "Our move to Queens Park demonstrates our commitment to the future and investment in new technology. With over 4,000 sq ft we have the capacity to run our own projects and at the same time provide facilities for other production teams. Whether production or post-production we believe the way to providing the best service to our customers is through first class facilities matched with top class technicians. Fineline has played its part in making our ambitions come true."

www.zerodb.tv

Shepperton production company completes new sound stage

"We provide the complete package, from the original concept to the finished product and then selling in the retail marketplace." says Lyn Beardsall, Director of Classic Pictures, a company originally established to produce programmes for other people.

Lyn explains the transition, "We took the decision to buy all our own kit so that we had the additional capacity to develop our own programmes as well as improving the facilities we provided to our existing customers."

Based at Shepperton Studios, Classic Pictures' facilities include over 4,000 sq ft of recording studio, edit suites and most importantly a fully equipped stage.

Lyn continues, "Having our own facilities means we can turn productions around very quickly, which is important when time and money is so critical. With our own stage we can re-create the feel of a concert or originate a concept. The area of our business developing concept-DVDs has really taken off and we have recently been working on programmes for artists as varied as Bill Wyman, Rick Wakeman, YES, Procol Harum, Nazareth, and Dionne Warwick

Chris Biggs from Fineline adds, "We have worked with Classic Pictures for six years and fully understand their business plan and their objectives. They are a hard working team that deserve their success. Financing their capital expansion has never been a problem."

Recently Classic Pictures has acquired additional kit including Digidesign ProTools for audio recording and editing, Soundcraft Monitoring Equipment, and an Audient ASP510 Multichannel Monitor Controller from Stirling Audio, and Sony DSR cameras and assorted broadcast equipment from Mitcorp UK Ltd. Michael Groom of Mitcorp commented, "The purchase was for ongoing productions and to complete their studio set-up. Mitcorp were able to specify and supply equipment from multiple manufacturers on time and to budget."

Taking a concept and turning it into a product on a shop shelf involves many steps from the original idea, shooting the programme, producing the graphics and sleeve design, authoring, marketing, retailing and distribution. Regularly being in the top ten of the UK's Music Distribution Companies has demonstrated the success of Classic Pictures.

Lyn says,"Fineline makes my life easy. When I want to invest in new equipment I make a single call and it is done. I can get on with my business. Other finance houses have approached us but inevitably require answers to a lot of obscure questions. Being busy people, we have better things to do."

www.classicpictures.co.uk

Spotting an opportunity in the marketplace and then taking advantage of it requires foresight and finance. The Hiring Post provided the foresight and Fineline the finance.

Early 2004 saw the launch of The Hiring Post, a new facility based in Shepperton specialising in the hire of post-production technology. It has quickly become established as a major source of hire technology throughout the UK.

Natasha Smith General Manager of the Hiring Post comments: "Film makers need access to the latest technology to produce the quality demanded by the market, however that is not always affordable when budgets are tight. Our plan is to provide the best equipment available but reduce the costs of hire."

One advantage of hiring non-linear editing systems is that The Hiring Post will alleviate the client's stress about compatibility issues of PC software and board versions, a common issue when various systems are working on the same project.

"We were keen to add the latest AvidUnity LANshare, Media Composer Adrenaline and the new Xpress systems to our hire fleet, due to the powerful features and real time capabilities. Lanshare gives real power to the programme maker saving them money by speeding up the process of editing and allowing several editors to work on a project at the same time.

"We try to ensure our clients can get on with what they do best, making the film or programme and meeting their deadlines. In turn, the only way we could make this plan work was by getting the right finance in place. That's where Fineline came in."

By understanding the business drivers and The Hiring Post's plans, Fineline put together a finance package that made business sense. Natasha adds – "Fineline has a good understanding of the media business, the equipment and how our service operates. Using this knowledge they arranged finance that suits our business model. Finance companies unfamiliar with our market tend to struggle."

"Our success is based offering the right postproduction technology with staff that fully understand the equipment. These days it is important for us to really understand the needs of our customers"

The Hiring Post offers a wide range of Avid nonlinear post-production tools alongside Sony, JVC, Panasonic and Pinnacle systems technology. All products are well maintained and installed by highly trained technicians.

Fineline has helped The Hiring Post achieve its ambitions to give film makers access to affordable modern technology.

www.hiringpost.co.uk

Soho post production facility, blue, worked with Fineline to finance an investment of £350,000 in six new Avid Adrenaline suites.

As part of the ongoing facility expansion, blue has taken over the fourth floor of its Compton Street building, converting it into an area dedicated to the six Avid suites. A digitising station will be located in the machine room on the fourth floor, allowing clients' rushes to be digitised without disturbing the main edit session.

"Now that the Avid's are up and running, we are well on our way to completing our vision to increase and improve the facilities we offer and grow the business," said Dave Cadle, Managing Director.

Expansion

blue is expanding both in terms of technology and floor space, offering a complete end to end post production solution. The additional Avids will provide clients with a more efficient service. "Our ongoing plan to grow the facility extends to taking over the remaining two floors of our Compton Street base and adding a Dolby surround sound audio suite in the basement," said Dave.

"Even before the opening of the new Avid floor over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, we had bookings right through until Christmas. The extra capacity will allow us to accept additional work.

"We are already considering adding more Avids to our portfolio to meet client demand and the increase in project work," added Dave.

Recent credits include BBC2's Pompeii - the Last Day, Carnival's As If and Feltham Sings for Channel Four.

Working with Fineline

"We have worked with Fineline for over four years and they always deliver what they promise and meet tight deadlines without delay. They know the media business and understand what we are trying to achieve. This makes it easy and straightforward to do business with them.

"In supporting our purchase of new technologies, Fineline have helped us to move our business forward and achieve our growth goals," said Dave.

About blue

Founded by Dave Cadle, with backing from the publicly quoted VTR Group, blue launched in March 1995. Its main industry focus has been in the broadcast, commercial and music markets and currently employs 70 people.

Over half of blue's current work is dedicated to broadcast post production and regular clients include the BBC, Sky, Nickelodeon and Endemol.

In addition to the current total of six Avid suites, blue also offers a Spirit telecine, a mastergrade suite, two Flames, three Editboxes, three linear online suites and three audio suites plus a graphics room. The facility was recently voted amongst The Producer's overall top three facility companies in a survey conducted by Broadcast Magazine in March 2004.

www.bluepp.co.uk

Fineline Media Finance helps finance the latest scanning and editing equipment, including the revolutionary Quantel iQ

Since summer 2003, Lip Sync Post has invested £2 million in its "Lip Sync Digital Lab," including scanning and grading equipment. This huge investment has enabled the company to stay right at the forefront of the industry, establishing itself as a premier media service provider.

Fineline Media Finance has provided funds of £950,000, enabling Lip Sync to purchase two Northlight film scanning systems by FilmLight, five Sony DVW-A500P Digital Betacam recorders, two Arri Laser Cine Film Recorders and a Quantel iQ Digital Intermediate system.

Said Norman Merry, Lip Sync's Financial Director: "We have worked with Fineline for over seven years and have an excellent relationship with them. They understand our business and know what solutions we need to grow. They always deliver on what they promise, they provide competitive and solid finance packages and with the backing of The Rothschild Banking Group behind them - I am always completely confident in their range of funders."

The new equipment completes Lip Sync's Digital Lab. The company can now provide either a comprehensive solution to its customers or finish individual sections of the post acquisition process, from the storyboard, through the DI stage, on to the distribution of the finished image.

The Lip Sync Digital Lab is housed in a fully refurbished 2,500 square foot area of their existing Wardour Street premises. Six rooms have been created, including a Despot room, where film is digitally cleaned, an editorial area and a state of the art luxury grading suite with surround sound and cinema screen.

"The "Lip Sync Digital Lab" is an exciting and ground breaking project, and is the way forward for us. Demand for the services has proved strong and projects recently completed already include; Harry Potter – The Prisoner of Azkaban, Terry Gilliam's Brothers Grimm and Five Children and It.

"The skills of the people who work with our Digital Lab enable our clients to get the true benefit from the equipment. We know that more work will be attracted to the Digital Lab as people realise the complete solution capability that we now offer," said Norman.

Peter Hampden, Lip Sync Founder & Director added: "Now that we have the Quantel iQ to complete the Digital Lab, we can provide the complete digital intermediary process. The iQ is a fantastically flexible machine that provides a clean, quick and versatile approach to the modern media world. We looked at the alternatives, but the iS does everything that we require and was the best option for us. Our customers are happy with the end results in terms of quality and cost of production. We are happy that we can provide a first class, cutting edge service to our customers, while attracting new clients and growing our business."

About Lip Sync

Located in the heart of Soho, the awardwinning Lip Sync stable of companies forms a widely respected and increasingly familiar wheel in the UK film and media machine.

From its beginnings in the 1980s, the group has grown into one of the broadest media service providers in Britain.

Lip Sync Post offers a host of in-house equipment facilities and staff, from award winning sound mixing and post production through to 3D animation and CGI.

www.lipsync.co.uk