Although Los Angeles-based Aftershock Digital may exhibit all the characteristics of a solid, practical editorial house- three avid bays, numerous awards and a client list that includes Coke, Pepsi and Reebok- there is, as the name suggests, something rumbling beneath the surface. When editor and founder Fritz Feick mentions casually that the facility’s workstations are propped up in industrial garbage cans, or that he recently suggested using kazoos for sound design, it becomes increasingly clear that Aftershock maintains an unusual perspective on commercial postproduction.

This perspective obviously appeals to creatives such as directors Kevin Donovan of Los Angeles-based Satellite Films, Barnaby Jackson and Rupert Wainwright of Sony’s commercial division in Culver City, California, and Cameron Casey of Santa Monica-based Bedford Falls, all of whom have recently brought their projects to, as Feick terms it, Aftershock’s “post-modern, post apocalyptic” operation. For a recent 7-Up commercial for Ogilvy and Mather/New York, for example, Donovan and Feick collaborated to create an eccentric spot featuring spaceships, monsters, and several rapid chase scenes. In fact, the company’s show reel is bursting with inventive images, edits, and juxtapositions.

Formed two years ago, Aftershock has grown from a one-man shop to a thriving editorial house with a staff of six who create their own sound design and take an unapologetically creative approach to postproduction. “We’re passionate about post,” Feick asserts. “We’re not driven by profit like some nearsighted donkey chasing a dangling carrot. We have an intense desire to stretch the boundaries of conventional editorial - to leave no stone unturned.”

Aftershock’s executive producer, Lisa Allen, shares Feick’s passion, adding, “This is a really exciting time for us.” Fritz’s vision and ability to view a project from several different angles - as well as understand the technology- make this a very exciting place to be. We have an adventurous spirit- and courage. I think that we’re willing to take risks- we leap into the unknown.”

Feick sums up Aftershock’s experimental approach by recalling the words of painter Michelangelo, “You have to be willing to get paint in your eyes,” he concludes philosophically.  “It changes your perspective.”  -Cristina Brooks Clapp

August 1996