Koji is here – thanks to our extended team
It has taken over two years and an amazing team to make Koji a reality. We’d like to thank some people who were very helpful along the way.
Alexis Van Hurkman, for invaluable feedback throughout the development process. Although his public speaking is notable for its clarity and diplomatic grace, in private Alexis does not mince words and on several occasions he set us straight regarding technical issues. We wouldn’t have it any other way.
Paul Schefz, for unbelievably thorough and helpful testing. When we sent Paul a beta to test, his first project involved five layers of 5K RED Epic footage with opacity adjustments. Thanks to his patient problem-solving (and willingness to reinstall all of his software multiple times), we were able to track down some very important technical issues.
TJ Schwingle, for his in-depth knowledge and experience with acquisition on film. It was an amazing stroke of luck that we were able to work with TJ, a creative and highly skilled DP who also seems to actually enjoy shooting test charts. His ability to create carefully controlled shooting environments was vital. He also introduced us to the trick of calling a film lab and asking to talk to the stock room.
Ketch Rossi, for shooting the beautiful RED Dragon 6K footage that you see on the Koji site. This footage, shot by Ketch in Venice and the Italian Alps during another project we were collaborating on, was extremely useful for testing Koji. Ketch went out of his way to get us a very particular “little boat” scene that we especially wanted.
*safe solvent™, for the Death Valley scenes he shot on the Canon 5D Mark III with Magic Lantern. We have worked with Martin for a long time, and these images of his are amazing, as usual. We’re just happy he finally agreed to shoot with a DSLR again.
The film lab stock rooms, for digging up the last remaining cans of print stock. We had the honor of working with most of the major film labs in Hollywood, and benefited from their hands-on expertise and knowledge of their craft. At least one of these labs has since shut down, and that is sad news for film.
Joe Lindblad, Emily Angelo, Dylan Weir, Molly Davy, and Sarah Rose, Brent Boehner, and @celestemakow for modeling for the Koji shoots. They literally became the face of the project and their effortless style was a perfect match for the film color we wanted to showcase.
Finally, we’d like to thank Shawn Grahn, for first connecting Dale and the rest of what would become the Koji team. It was Shawn’s idea that started it all.
