Written by James Peak on Jul 30, 2009. Posted in Interviews

Antonio Rasura in interview

If there's one thing that will chill a stressed producer out, it's evidence that the shoot is producing consistent, clean, and well-developed dailies that crystallize the director's vision. With this in mind, The Location Guide looked up Antonio Rasura. He's the man who decides whether labs in Europe get the globally renowned Kodak Imagecare seal of quality.

The advent of newer, higher quality origination has seen motion picture labs come under renewed pressure for quality in recent years. A little over a decade ago, Kodak kicked off the Imagecare programme, which allows cinematographers and producers to rest easy, safe in the knowledge that their dailies are being processed at a trustworthy, secure and conscientious lab no matter where in the world their shoot is.

Antonio Rasura is the Imagecare Programme Manager for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, covering 20 labs in all. Nobody is more familiar with bringing labs up to scratch, so they can meet Imagecare's stringent quality standards.

"I've been the Programme Manager for five years now, but I used to operate, and then manage an independent motion-picture processing lab myself. Within that lab I managed the Imagecare programme, and maintained the accreditation for over eight years, so can make sure every bit of celluloid processed through Imagecare is the best it can be."

Accreditation to the programme is no mean feat. Antonio is kept busy by the rigorous evaluations every potential Imagecare lab must face. The process involves site visits, assessment of the lab by auditors, the recruitment and training of an on-site programme manager, and the preparation of operating manuals and new procedures - from scratch if necessary.

In addition, challenging health & safety, environmental conscientiousness and record-keeping standards must be met. Meeting these tough standards takes many labs up to a year before the seal is awarded. The lab will need to achieve a minimum score of 95% in order to be accredited. And even then:

"A re-audit then occurs once a year, every year. There is no room for slipping standards."

Antonio is convinced that Imagecare does the whole industry good, explaining that the process provides new levels of transparency and piece of mind for producers juggling quality control, shoot efficacy, and the bottom line.

To date there are 51 accredited labs around the globe, with 20 in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Imagecare is so popular with producers that Kodak are growing the programme significantly in the 5 years ahead, meaning soon there will be an Imagecare lab near you, where ever you decide to shoot.

If you would like to know more about Kodak's Imagecare programme, click here.