Founded in 2015, the Georgian company „Postred“ has launched collaborations with two Hollywood studios, Paramount Pictures and A24. The company has already voiced two new films from the distinguished world film industry representatives, including „Scream 5“ and „C’mon, C’mon“, starring Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix. The success of the company was revealed only after the official teasers for the films were released. On the company’s achievements, future plans and other interesting issues, we talked with Beso Kacharava, the founder of Postred.
As reported, you have signed a contract with two Hollywood studios. Does this contact entail working on specific projects or is a long-term collaboration planned?
It does not represent a content-specific agreement signed directly with the film studios. Since these companies have commissioned us to work on certain projects, it means that the collaborations have already kicked off. Numerous projects are planned not only in collaboration with Paramount Pictures and A24 but also with other major Hollywood film studios. The partnerships will certainly continue in the future.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has made a significant contribution to your achievement. What did the organization help you with?
USAID assists us in obtaining the Trusted Partner Network Certificate. With their support, we were able to further protect our IT infrastructure and strengthen information security. This allowed us to work with large companies such as Paramount Pictures and A24.
What is needed to have access to projects of such scale as Hollywood movies?
First of all, producing a quality product is required. When working in the film industry and offering creative services to companies, one definitely needs to gain their trust. This takes a lot of time and energy: meeting, talking, and convincing them that one can actually complete the project. The company also needs to have implemented safety standards. This enables film studios to securely send their valuable product to countries such as Georgia.
Apart from Paramount Pictures and A24, what other studios are you working with on voicing films?
Netflix is one of our main clients and we collaborate on a lot of projects with them. We recently voiced the film called Intrusion. We are also actively collaborating with the BBC and many other well-known companies in the film industry. We will be able to reveal their identities once their films are officially announced.
Do tell us about the last project you worked on.
One of the biggest projects we’ve been working on lately is “Scream” by Paramount Pictures. It was a delight for us to voice that movie. Other than that, I would single out “C’mon, C’mon”, which I think is a great movie. In general, our team loves A24 products. I would also name the Georgian film, “Brighton 4th”, shot by Levan Koguashvili, which is now nominated for an Oscar. We are honoured to be part of this project and to have the opportunity to work on it.
Which movie has been special for you to work on and why?
I would single out the movie “Brighton 4th” once again. First of all, Levan Koguashvili has been a favourite director of mine since early childhood. I really wanted to work on his film and I am glad that this collaboration happened. The second reason is that it is a very powerful film. Even though the film takes place mainly in New York, in its essence, it tells a Georgian story, which is very interesting to me. It is always a big pleasure to work on Georgian projects. I would also name “Scream”, seeing as working on horror films in our industry requires a lot of hard work. Projects like these are complicated but at the same time extremely interesting.
What are the challenges for your industry?
A lot of interesting products are created nowadays. Standards and quality levels shift and change constantly, hence the pace of development is extremely high. Here, I am referring to the international market. Therefore, you have to be quite active and keep up with that pace. One should not be bound by the limits of ones’ country. Having modern approaches and constantly reinventing yourself, as well as taking a leadership position in terms of technological development is needed. It is a great challenge to keep up with all of this. Our company has the ambition to be the best in the world. This is possible through meeting all the requirements, which tends to be quite difficult.
How many people are currently employed in the company and are you planning on expansion?
Our company is international but staffed entirely by Georgians. We currently employ more than 30 people. We plan to expand, but we do not want to lose the so-called “boutique” feel the studio has now. However, since gaining traction in Hollywood, we will probably be obliged to increase the number of employees in the company. This will enable us to take up and complete even more projects.
What can you tell us about Postred’s future plans?
In the future, we plan to offer more services to Hollywood. We would like to reach even higher levels in the industry. Working on big movies, for a large part, is our priority. We now export 95% of our projects, which is the number of non-Georgian products that we are working on. This is a kind of business where working on a lot of projects simultaneously is not feasible. Therefore, you are faced with a choice. Gaining more popularity allows for having a lot more free choice and focusing on high-budget movies. Our desire in the future is mainly to work on such big projects.
