Colorist Mike Sowa with editor Bob Murawski color-timing a scene from Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind. (Royal Road Entertainment photo)
More than 42 years after principal photography wrapped on Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind, a “locked picture” is finally in place. It is being color-corrected with sound work continuing as the movie nears release.
Producer Filip Jan Rymsza offered a production update to Indiegogo contributors on Saturday, noting that it was just a year ago the negative arrived in Los Angeles.
“We’re now out of editorial and into dust-busting, restoration and color-timing … and the sound teams, led by supervising sound editors Scott Millan and Daniel Saxlid, have been hard at work for months,” Rymsza stated.
It was reported earlier this month that automated dialogue replacement (ADR), or looping, was underway.
Rymsza listed the participation of Daniel Saxlid, a dialogue supervisor who has worked on several Hollywood blockbusters. He also noted the addition to the post-production team of colorist Mike Sowa, who has worked on big screen offerings, television series and concert films.
The Other Side of the Wind will be distributed to 117 million Netflix subscribers worldwide, along with a companion documentary from Oscar winner Morgan Neville,later this year.
In his production update, Rymsza wrote:
Dear Contributors,
Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the negatives arriving in Los Angeles. I can’t believe it’s been a year! So much passion and dedication, from so many talented individuals, has been poured into this endeavor.
Earlier this month, we finally locked picture. We’re now out of editorial and into dust-busting, restoration and color-timing… and the sound teams, led by supervising sound editors Scott Millan and Daniel Saxlid, have been hard at work for months.
I’m enclosing a photo from a color-timing session earlier this week. That’s colorist Mike Sowa with editor Bob Murawski color-timing a shot from the ‘film within the film.’
It’s incredible that we’re at this stage – working from a locked picture. It’s nearing nine years for me and much longer for a few others. What a journey!
A few more perks will roll out next week. Again, apologies for the delay. We’ve been keeping ourselves busy!
Sincerely,
Filip
Rymsza and Frank Marshall are producing the completion.
Welles filmed The Other Side of the Wind between August 1970 and January 1976, and struggled to finish the movie until his death in October 1985. He was stymied on a number of fronts and the film’s negative remained locked away for decades outside Paris.
Welles tasked his friend Bogdanovich, who co-starred in the movie and now serves as an executive producer, to complete the film in the event of his death.
Prior Netflix’s involvement, producers turned to crowdfunding to advance the editing of the film. More than 2,800 fans donated a total of $406,605 to the project in 2015.
An early edit of The Other Side of the Wind was shown to a select group of Hollywood insiders in a digital screening room at Ocean Screening in Santa Monica, California, on January 16. Murawski, who won the Academy Award for The Hurt Locker, began editing The Other Side of the Wind in mid October.
The movie takes place at the 70th birthday party of director Jake Hannaford (John Huston), who is struggling to complete his comeback film during the rise of New Hollywood. The party is attended by young directors, like Brooks Otterlake (Bogdanovich), hangers-on and critics. Hannaford dies at the conclusion of the party. Welles’ movie recounts Hannaford’s final hours using a mix of 16mm and 35mm color and black-and-white film shot at the party, along with scenes from his unfinished movie. Oja Kodar, Robert Random, Cameron Mitchell, Mercedes McCambridge, Susan Strasberg and Edmond O’Brien round out the cast.
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