2010 was a great year for Persona. We produced TV spots for some of the most recognizable brands: U.S. Army, DIRECTV and Bulova. We worked with three of the largest advertising agencies in the world: McCann Worldgroup, Grey Advertising and Draftfcb. We were part of some very cool projects, like a secret Black Eyed Peas performance on Times Square shot with James Cameron’s 3D cameras. We doubled our staff. We have (almost) finished our labor of love project, the feature film “Cargo.” And, as we just realized, this October we turned 10 years old. Happy Holidays to all of you!

How do you use your iPhone? We use it as a slate, as a viewfinder, as a depth of field calculator and more. Here’s ten best apps for filmmakers that we tried recently. If you know of other great ones, leave a comment with a link.

Toland ASC Digital Assistant ($39.99)
Developed in partnership with the American Society of Cinematographers and named after Gregg Toland (Citizen Kane), this app is a great set tool for Directors of Photography and Assistant Cameramen. It’ll calculate your depth of field, exposure, field of view, log your shots, etc. 
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/toland-asc-digital-assistant/id377419210?mt=8#

Artemis Director's Viewfinder ($29.99)
This app is a digital director’s viewfinder. Designed for directors and cinematographers, Artemis works in much the same way as a traditional director’s viewfinder but more accurately and with loads more features. (It might seem pricey but considering that optical viewfinders range from $300 to $700, this is a very good deal.)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/artemis-directors-viewfinder/id324917457?mt=8

pCAM Film+Digital Calculator ($29.99)
This Emmy Award-winning app seems to be all things to all people: from depth of field calculator to an insert slate. 
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pcam-film-digital-calculator/id295456485?mt=8

Helios Sun Position Calculator ($29.99)
This app does exactly what its name implies: graphically represents the position of the sun from dusk to dawn, on any given day, in any given place.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/helios-sun-position-calculator/id311648870?mt=8

MovieSlate ($19.99)
This app is an all-in-one digital slate, clapper board and shot log.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id320315888?mt=8

PANASCOUT ($9.99)
This app from Panavision, one of the leading film camera manufacturers, simulates the cinematographer's viewpoint in various aspect ratios used in motion pictures. With extensive use of metadata, Panascout is a valuable tool for location managers and scouts.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/panascout/id361799671?mt=8

Pocket Call Sheet ($6.99)
This simple app will generate a professional-looking call sheet that you can distribute to your crew members straight from your iPhone. Great for a producer on the go. 
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pocket-call-sheet/id371900568?mt=8

Simple DoF Calculator ($1.99)
This app is a simple and effective depth of field and hyperfocal distance calculator. (Primarily useful for HDSLR cameras, like Cannon 5D.)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/simple-dof-calculator/id301222730?mt=8

cineTimeLapse ($2.59)
This app will help you estimate how long you'll need to let your device run in time-lapse recording mode to get the footage length you want. 
http://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/cine-timelapse/id355699705?mt=8

Scripts Pro ($5.99)
Write your scripts on your iPhone. (Why?)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scripts-pro/id348543183?mt=8

Dominick Tavella, who’s responsible for the sound mix of Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” starring Natalie Portman, is joining the team of our upcoming feature film, “Cargo.” Dominick also mixed Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler,” and numerous Hollywood movies, such as “Chicago,” “Mamma Mia!” and “Twelve Monkeys.” [Follow “Cargo” on Facebook.]

We keep growing. This month Marissa Price joins Persona as a Producer. Marissa’s experienced in the last 15 years as a Producer and Production Manager spans from feature films, such as “The House is Burning” by Wim Wenders, “According to Greta,” starring Hilary Duff and Ellen Burnstyn, and Kevin Smith’s “Clerks 2”, to TV shows, including Project Runway, Martha Stewart’s The Apprentice and America’s Next Top Model. Marissa was born in Connecticut and graduated from NYU’s film program.

We have completed a new national TV spot for Bulova, a major US watch brand. The timepieces were shot on RED One camera at 4K resolution (by Director/DP Yan Vizinberg), the ballerina was shot on Phantom HD at 1,000 frames per second. Edited by Abigail Honor at Twitch that also provided all compositing and color-grading services.

Don’t miss our RED One Camera Workshop at The New York City Horror Film Festival. Yan Vizinberg and Chris Cooper will talk about the best practices of shooting with RED One and navigate filmmakers through the minefield of high-end digital cinematography. 

Saturday, November 13th, 12:00pm
ShowBiz Software Store
19 West 21st Street (@ 5th Avenue)

The star of “Cargo,” Sayed Badreya, with Oscar winner Halle Berry on the set of Peter Farrelly’s new comedy “Truth or Dare.”

A quick update on “Cargo.” We’re almost done. Picture is locked. The wonderful Michael Whalen has written a great score. We’ve completed some ADR sessions (photo: our lead Natasha Rinis recording additional dialogue). Heading to the sound design, mixing and color-grading stage.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1561834400693

Shooting several spots with one of the world’s largest advertising agencies for the strongest armed forces on the planet (are we being vague enough?) in the middle of the Arizona desert was quite an adventure. We all got something out of it (full report coming later, after we all get some sleep), but Abby enjoyed it the most. She got to direct a group of spectacular men in full battle rattle who would obey her every breath. To say that she enjoyed it is not to say much. She’s now considering a position with the our client. Preferably, the Commander-in-Chief.

For the next three days Persona will be relocating to the small town of ... in Arizona. We can’t disclose what we are doing here. Just so you get the gist: our crew of 34 are not allowed to have cell phones on set. We’ve signed papers stating that we can be subjected to a search at any time. Not that cellphones would be of any use: all signals at the location are scrambled by the you know who. Stay tuned.