Schedule 2 can negotiate with production, financiers and sales companies in order to finalise a film delivery schedule for your project. We are the conduit between production, finance, the bond and sales and distribution. By being there at the earliest production stage we have found that the film journey can run more smoothly for all parties.

We believe that Schedule 2 provides a cost effective solution for film makers. We give honest advice that includes the wider considerations to take into account the global potential for the theatrical release of a film and the international technical standards that must be met. By realising these at the production stage, creative decisions can be made in time to avoid costly ‘mistakes’ or oversights later. We will do all that we can to ensure that all elements of a film can be met and met within budget.

Working hand in hand with production and sales companies and by offering a bespoke film delivery schedule, you can be confident that Schedule 2 can provide the technical services that your film or TV production requires. For micro budget films, we are happy to offer solutions for getting your film seen and can provide a choice of package options to ensure this happens. Contact us for more information on our film delivery and production service.

During this stage of your film’s journey, we are on hand to share our expertise and knowledge. Schedule 2 will liaise with your Post Production Supervisor to provide advice and guidance safeguarding quality control. If required, we will remain in contact with them until the start of delivery. We have successfully worked with most of the Post Production Supervisors in the UK and many internationally to-date.

If you don’t have a post supervisor, we can become one for you and suggest post production facilities and negotiate with them directly in order to keep everything within budget. We have long-established and excellent relationships with all key laboratories and facilities companies both in the UK and internationally. All of this is carried out whilst ensuring you receive the elements that your content requires for the delivery schedule at the highest quality possible.

Our post production contribution keeps everything in line with the post production and delivery schedules and your budget. We understand the international technical standards required by sales companies and distributors and assure our clients of a secure and quality post production service to avoid inadequate delivery scenarios or costly broken delivery schedules.

If you’d like any further information regarding our contribution to assist during the post production period, please get in contact with us.

Achieving technical acceptance is no small task. The role demands great attention to detail and Schedule 2 is meticulous and dependable in its approach. We will check all paperwork and elements that come in against the delivery schedule. This is includes items such as publicity, key art, press kits, legal paperwork and music licences.

Schedule 2 can offer advice and guidance on the preparation of any required documentation at this stage.

Make sure your documentation is ready for distribution and release avoiding any potential expensive last minute hiccups. Theatrical release cannot happen without successfully completing these stages of the film’s journey.

We have worked with many of the world’s film distributors and pride ourselves on our strong relationships with them; we understand the crucial role that the technical department plays in terms of customer services and keeping your distributors happy.

If you’re unsure of any paperwork required or unfamiliar with the technical standards expected at this stage, just ask us.

We pride ourselves on our ability to keep standards high and ensure that technical delivery is not only acceptable to all parties, but is excellent. Throughout this process in particular, where deadlines are imperative and late delivery is costly, we will liaise with distributors to keep them informed of expected delivery dates etc. On behalf of producers, we monitor everything and can be relied upon to be everyone’s fail-safe, producers, sales companies and distributors. We will look after everyone’s best interests.

We will co ordinate the production and manufacture of all required materials, regardless of platform, and will keep film content secure until release – we use the latest in kdm security (key delivery message). Our customer support is exemplary and continues throughout the sales and distribution period.

Contact Schedule 2 to discuss any aspect of our business and how we can help your content make it onto screen.

You own a film, but do you physically have the master copy or film negatives and all of the associated material? Do you know where they are? Finding what exists and where it is located can be an art form in itself but it’s one that Schedule 2 prides itself on its success in. Once all the materials are found, they can be cared for and presented in any format, including foreign language versions if required. The repatriation of a film is our priority as it is the first stage in our Restoration and Film Archive service.

Waking Ned

Following an extensive search and find process Schedule 2 worked together with the producers to identify the very best elements available and then set about using a combination of various materials to undertake a new telecine transfer to high definition video.

The telecine was supervised by Schedule 2 and the film’s original Director of Photography, Henry Braham, to ensure that the grade was true to the filmmaker’s original intended look and vision.

The team at Schedule 2 then applied restoration tools to the picture and sound to remove dirt, scratches and other imperfections to bring the quality high definition transfer up to modern technical standards. By delivering excellence and expertise, Schedule 2 made the successful conversion of Waking Ned possible.

We are often presented with classic films and asked to restore them. Before this can happen, Schedule 2 will carry out a technical assessment of the film and its associated elements. This can be a lengthy and involved process and sadly, not all films can be exploited in this way as their condition will never meet the technical standards of today’s platforms. However, for many we will make recommendations on what is required in order to re-release the content. As part of this, we will also take into consideration your budget and the commercial prospects for the restored film. If there are any elements missing (that cannot be located), we will suggest ways those gaps could be filled. Our attention to detail will make sure that nothing is missed. If everything is acceptable, then you have a film that we can restore and can be enjoyed by future generations.

RPC Library

The Criterion Collection expressed an interest to release The Last Emperor, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, The Hit and Insignificance as restored Blu-rays. Jeremy Thomas sought the services of Schedule 2 to source the original elements and to undertake a technical assessment. Working in conjunction with Criterion, Schedule 2 sourced the best sound and picture materials to create a newly restored digital transfer of each film with uncompressed soundtracks on the Blu-ray editions. Nicholas Roeg, (English Film Director and Cinenatographer) personally approved and supervised the transfer of Insignificance, whilst Vittorio Storaro, (award winning cinematographer) was consulted on the grade and transfer of The Last Emperor.

Once we have located your content and associated elements and they have been through our technical assessment stage, then we are ready to apply our own alchemy to the restoration of your film. Schedule 2 are highly skilled at restoring both the picture and audio of a film and we will create the best possible elements from the materials found during Search and Find to preserve it. When we carry out digital film restoration, Schedule 2 will also update documentation, such as dialogue lists and music cue sheets and any other supporting materials to ensure your film is ready for delivery and distribution.

The Last Emperor – 3D

Our goal was to deliver a sensitively managed restoration and conversion for this original Academy Award winning film. Schedule 2 began the conversion with a full 4K re-master and restoration from the original negative, held at Technicolor Rome creating a 4K scan using the best technical resources. This allowed us to reveal the detail required for the 3D conversion process.

As the conversion from 2D to 3D is very artist driven we used the 3D service provider Prime Focus using View-D™, perfect for this kind of conversion project. The conversion process involves breaking the 2D image down into individual elements and then placing these into the new dimension. Challenging work!

A further challenge to this 3D conversion involved the size and scale of the scenes captured, including armies of thousands dressed in ornate costumes. Justifiably, these scenes required lots of attention to detail and heavy rotoscoping in order to allow the View-D™ artists to create the necessary depth in the battle sequences.

Bernardo Bertolucci and Jeremy Thomas were both closely involved in the conversion process. Speaking of the project, Thomas commented “I’ve done a beautiful 4K 3D version of ‘The Last Emperor’ under the tutelage of Bernardo (Bertolucci) and (cinematographer) Vittorio Storaro. It’s perfect, beautiful, and it makes the film look incredible.”

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

The completion of a technical assessment by Schedule 2 indicated that the 35mm interpositive was the best original material available for scanning to a DPX 2K image sequence. From this, the frame for frame restoration work commenced, which included dust, dirt, and scratch removal, re-grain and advanced grain management, image stabilisation, image de-warping, de-spotting, de-staining and de-fogging. The restored digital image then went through a rigorous QC process before the digital intermediate grade.

The aim of the grade was to restore the colours and ‘look’ of the film back to the original artistic intent of the director at the time. This included primary and secondary grading at 2K to match the original graded film elements.

Alongside all this activity, the audio was digitised from the best available sound element. Our ongoing QC process revealed that glitches, distortion, and dropouts would require fixing and restoration to the original audio specification.

The picture and sound were then married and exported out to a final restored master. This master has been used to create a DCP (Digital Cinema Package) and HDCam SR. Contact Schedule 2 to learn more.

Inbuilt in the Schedule 2 Restoration and Film Archive service is a thorough understanding and forward looking knowledge of today’s platforms required to meet the distribution and delivery requirements in this area. From broadcasters, digital downloads or DVD and Blu ray, we are experienced in the technical specifications for film conversion and technical delivery demands for them all. Once your film has been restored, converted, delivered and is ready for distribution you can now focus on the final stage of the film journey and consider digital film storage or another appropriate film archive for your material. Protect your investment and don’t become a victim of lost or damaged elements. Contact us for more information.