‘A Good Day To Die Hard’, the fifth instalment in the blockbuster ‘Die Hard’ franchise starring Bruce Willis, is currently being edited at Screen Scene in Dublin.
The feature film’s editor Dan Zimmerman (Max Payne) and his team of PJ Burch (The Soloist) and Ian Silverstein (Max Payne) are cutting the film at an editing suite in Dublin set up by the Irish post-production house who have been receiving daily rushes since last May from the film’s shoot in Budapest, Hungary. The much-anticipated film is being shot by Dundalk-born director John Moore.
The edit is set to continue in Dublin after the shoot wraps later this summer. The editing team is availing of Screen Scene’s 100 megabyte line which allows secure and easy transfer of dailies to and from Moore’s production base in Budapest. The line has been utilised on many international productions and is now working hard on Die Hard 5.
As previously reported on IFTN, Screen Scene began working with Moore (Max Payne, Behind Enemy Lines) on the hugely anticipated production last November. Back then, pre-visualization for the feature began with Screen Scene director and head of graphics, Hubert Montag working closely with John Moore while Sarah Mooney produced.
Speaking to IFTN, Screen Scene managing director Jim Duggan said: “Our relationship with ‘Die Hard’ started because of our relationship with John who we’d previously worked with during his days directing commercials in Ireland. Although we hadn’t done a feature with John he knew we had the infrastructure and he was comfortable working with us here in Ireland, we were in the right place at the right time, story of our lives."
“We initially got involved with the Die Hard pre-visualisation late last year, pre-vis is a tool to help directors plot out how action sequences might transpire using a 3D, graphical storyboard, which helps to inform their decisions as to how things might get shot on the day, Hubert and John were working together very closely at that stage.”
Of the establishment of cutting rooms in Dublin for Moore’s editing team, Duggan added: “While we were working on the pre-vis John mentioned he was keen to have a cutting room in Dublin during the shoot and for a period afterwards, Fox were up for it too, so we set up a suite of cutting rooms here for John’s editor Dan and his guys Ian and PJ. We helped to find accommodation close by that suited the guys and I think, all things being equal, they wouldn’t rather be in Philadelphia.”
“We are involved in the process of getting dailies in from Budapest each day so the editors can cut them here. Cuts get sent back to John on location and we’re involved in that end of things as well. It’s great we had all the facility and everything needed by a Hollywood studio and its director under one roof here in Dublin, we are really proud of the service we are offering.”
With editing on ‘A Good Day To Die Hard’ set to continue in Dublin over the coming months, Duggan mentions he is hopeful some other aspects of the post might come their way, “there may be some other opportunities for us, if there is a problem, we would love to be a part of the solution.”
‘A Good Day To Die Hard’ will be released in February 2013.
