Not sure if you’ve heard but there’s been quite a lot happening at one of the leading full service post production facilities in the country. You know that little doccie Refinery worked on called ‘My Octopus Teacher‘? Well, it’s been nominated for an Oscar for ‘Best Documentary Feature’ AND a Bafta for ‘Best Documentary’. That’s not the only BAFTA nod. The team was responsible for the service filmography of Oliver Hermanus’s ‘Moffie’ (nominated for ‘Outstanding Debut by a British, Writer, Director or Producer’) and ‘The Mauritanian’ (nominated for ‘Best Film’).  *Insert flash photography here*
Above and beyond getting all of the nominations in the world ever,  The Refinery studios have moved to new swanky premises (we’re talking 12 edit suits baby) AND there’s a new leadership trio steering this fast-moving ship that needs introducing. Strap in and let’s go!

Not only has Refinery been working on the internationally acclaimed My Octopus Teacher (and putting us off seafood platters for life), they’ve pretty much been responsible for the post on everything else we’ve been binging too. From the massive Showmax hit Tali’s Baby Diary (if you haven’t yet, watch the trailer here, no seriously) to Vagrant Queen, a ten-part series on SyFy, Trackers a six-part series for Mnet, HBO & ZDF and Blood and Water (Season 1), a six-part series on Netflix. Not to mention various other projects for the likes of Warner and Universal. But that’s only half of what Refinery does. The team has continued to release commercials working with the likes of Patriot Films, 0307, Sketchbook, we are_, Platypus and Giant Films. We would obvs love to show you all the work but we know you’re busy people so here are two spots that have stayed with us; Castle Lite for Giant Films and the ODC spot directed by Kim Geldenhuys.

Recognise any of these frame grabs from the Refinery reel?

“And the Oscar Nomination goes to Refinery for My Octopus Teacher”

We knew Refinery did full post on My Octopus Teacher, cause we keep seeing their names in the credits every time we rewatch it. What we didn’t know was the full extent of the job. The first South African Netflix original documentary was filmed over an extended period of time on almost 20 different cameras. TWENTY!!

Refinery’s Executive Producer, Ancois Human, puts the gravity of the task into perspective: ‘We ran the colour management from nearly 20 cameras and archive sources shot over many years, formatting it into one timeline and eventually delivering a 4k file to Netflix in their required delivery specs. To the uninitiated, that sounds small, but to make all that footage sync and look like it was shot on one camera and flow perfectly and seamlessly was a huge job.

Rory, Ancois and David team up to lead Refinery

With Refinery’s legendary Lauren van Rensburg emigrating to Australia they decided to shake things up a bit. Refinery’s new leadership collaboration has been a part of the company for many years. Rory Mark (Head of VFX), Ancois Human (Executive Producer) and David Grant (Operations Manager), bring with them a shared industry experience of over half a century.

The team is joined by Kyle Stroebel who leads the charge alongside David in the Colourist Department, while Barry Donnelly handles all things sound from his fancy-pants studio kitted out with Dolby Atmos 7.1.4, BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Rory, who heads up the VFX department, adds: ‘We have a Full Flame Online system, which is your premier online box and finishing system for commercials. It’s a platform that enables our artists to give the best possible product with a superior finish.’

The Refinery facilities include:

• Offline Suites & Online Finish
• Colour Grading
• Sound Post Production
• VFX
• Digital Dailies
• Theatrical DCP
• Mastering, Versioning & Deliveries (Theatrical, Digital and Video)

Refinery’s network of industry experts coupled with Refinery’s high-end technology guarantees work of the highest standard. But why not(s)talk some more? Refinery on IDIDTHAT.