Dirty Looks Belgium grades SF Studios’ Avgrunden

Brussels facility relocation

Dirty Looks Belgium has opened the doors of its relocated facility in Brussels.

The facility boasts Baselight 4K capabilities for remote and onsite grading, with HDR imagery on Sony x310 and theatrical SDR grading on a 6m screen. The facility has direct, high-speedsecure and encrypted connectivity to the London facility, to enable real-time streaming of work between the sites.

Operating since 2017, Dirty Looks Belgium, specialises in EU-Schengen co-productions and is strategically located and equipped to streamline the creative process between countries for film and TV projects using the Belgian Tax Shelter system.

Picture post on SF Studios’ large-scale, disaster movie Avgrunden (English title: The Abyss) was recently completed at the new facility. Colourist, Gareth Bishop, worked closely with cinematographer Anssi Leino to unify the footage shot across 3 countries (Sweden, Finland & Gran Canaria) and over 320 visual effects shots created by Brussels-based UFX. The post production was skilfully supervised by Marcus Bjorkman and Johanna Lindhé.

Avgrunden Team at Dirty Looks Belgium

SF Studios’ Marcus Bjorkman praised the Belgian post facility Dirty Looks for their work on the VFX-heavy film The Abyss, saying, “This is our second collaboration with Dirty Looks, following our 2020 production Horizon Line. We trusted them completely, and they delivered!”

Managing Director, Tom Balkwill said, “We look forward to welcoming more clients into our new facility. Our common spaces are flooded with natural light with views of the city skyline offering clients an environment where they can relax and rejuvenate between sessions.”

Balkwill continues “Sustainability is a key issue for us so it was important to minimise our environmental impact at every step of the relocation. The facility is located in a decommissioned squash court which gave us a great theatre space without the need for structural changes. Most of the furniture was sourced locally and some repurposed steel was brought over from the UK using an electrical vehicle.”

The company has a number of EU co-productions in progress including 8-part TV-episodic Fallen for Silver Reel. 

Avgrunden, was released in Cinemas in Sweden and Finland on 15th September and will premiere exclusively on Netflix in the UK from Friday 16th February