Written by Rosie Felice
This blog explores recent film and TV post production work that has been happening in the Hudson Valley during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wyatt Sprague is a sound editor who won an Emmy in 2017 for his work on the HBO limited series The Night Of. Cadence Effects is a VFX house that works in special effects for film, television, and commercial projects.
WYATT SPRAGUE
Wyatt Sprague is an Emmy Award winning sound effects editor whose credits include Little Women, Roma, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and The Big Lebowski., among many others. Based in the Hudson Valley, Sprague has been able to continue working remotely through the pandemic on a number of exciting projects, including The Many Saints of Newark, Dave Chase’s prequel to The Sopranos.
“In January of 2020, I had just finished cutting sound effects for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and was working on season 4 of The Good Fight when covid hit and production stopped after 7 episodes,” writes Sprague. “They had planned on 10 but couldn't continue due to the lockdown. A stretch of nothing followed that until Ma Rainey returned for some final work.”
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is a drama directed by George C. Wolf starring Viola Davis (Fences) and the late Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther). Based on the play by August Wilson, the film centers on the true story of Ma Rainey, known as “Mother of the Blues,” and a recording session in 1920’s Chicago. The film premieres on Netflix on December 18, 2020. Watch trailer.
After finishing work on Ma Rainey, Sprague began work on Ramin Bahrani’s The White Tiger, another upcoming Netflix film that will be available to stream on January 22, 2021.
On The White Tiger, Sprague wrote, “It was done over the summer and everyone on the sound crew worked remotely. The Supervisor, Jacob Ribicoff, and his asst, Eric Strausser, were great at communicating constantly so the job went off without any problems. It takes place entirely in India, where I've been a couple of times. I got married there, so it was a nice challenge for me to recreate locations I was familiar with.”
Wyatt’s current post production project is The Many Saints of Newark, which is a film he has been working on-and-off on since 2019. The Many Saints of Newark is a prequel to the HBO series The Sopranos, directed by Alan Taylor and written by The Sopranos creator Dave Chase. The highly anticipated prequel follows the life of young Tony Soprano and the racial tension of Newark, New Jersey, during the 1960’s.
“After Newark, I have no idea what comes next. Hopefully some films managed to get done during the brief period when they were allowed to shoot again. I saw something shooting in Woodstock last week which is a good sign.”
CADENCE EFFECTS
Cadence Effects is a post production and VFX house located in Columbia County which sports what producer Jeremy Beadell refers to as “an old stone barn on the outside with the latest technology on the inside.” The company is run by founder and FX supervisor Craig Crawford, and head of production / VFX producer, Jeremy Beadell.
Cadence Effects specializes in motion graphics, 2D/3D FX, and look development, among other services. Their credits include Game of Thrones, A Quiet Place and countless other projects.
Recent work includes special effects for Focus Features’ Let Him Go, written and directed by Thomas Bezucha, starring Diane Lane and Kevin Costner. Cadence Effects completed work on 265 shots that ranged from 3D ice cream cones to removing modern day highway signs and lines on the roads to match the time period.
Other interesting projects include Space Force and Outer Banks (Netflix), M. Night Shyamalan’s Servant for Apple TV and The Righteous Gemstones for HBO. Cadence Effects also recently worked with up and coming filmmakers like Sarah T. Schwab on the gripping Life After You, which explores a suburban family struggles with the death of their 19 year old son, following an overdose of heroin laced with fentanyl.
The core team consists of experienced artists who are passionate and technically sophisticated – hand picked for their individual SUPERPOWERS and their individuality. “We are all incredibly lucky to find ourselves working in Upstate New York,” adds Beadell. There is a wonderful wealth of talent in the area and we are only just getting to know who they are!”
For more details about Cadence Effects, visit www.cadence-effects.com
The Hudson Valley Film Commission is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization that helps productions secure local crew, cast, locations, vendors, post production facilities, and more! Since 2000, the film commission has supported and worked on over 500 productions, helping to create thousands of jobs and over $250 million in regional economic development. The Hudson Valley Film Commission is supported in part by Dutchess Tourism, Markertek and the Wood Dock Foundation.
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