CURTAINS FOR OKTOBOR

As many in the industry suspected would happen, just weeks after the demise of Geoff Dixon’s TVC company Silverscreen, sister post production company Oktobor will be wound down and close within the next month.

“This is a sad day for the industry,” said Oktobor chief Patrick McAteer, who’s today been handed the task of passing on the news to staff that they’ll be progressively made redundant over the next few weeks as Oktobor trades its way to zero, then closes.

“We’ll finish the work already on our slate, and maybe take on a few small jobs that can be handled in the same time frame,” McAteer told Fastline.

“The closure wil be weeks away, not days. But NZ is about to lose its premium high-end visual effects facility, ranked in the top 20 in the world, and all the uniquely talented people who’ve made it work.”

McAteer believed Oktobor had been capable of trading its way out of the mire created by the collapse of Silverscreen, also owned by Geoff Dixon and his family trust, “but events have overtaken us.” He also said Oktobor had suffered a backlash from the Silverscreen crash.