INTERVIEW

The name Thomas Wilk ­ or trickWILK ­ stands for a wide range of film services. Which is your specialty?

Our specialty is the transfer of transfer of digital data to 35mm and super 16mm (video to film transfer). The original format can be DV, DigiBeta, Beta SP, and many more. HD-data and CG-files can be transferred as well. Another service is title credits in all formats. If the work involves trailers from foreign productions, we try to insert German credits similar to the original and to reach a good HD quality by scanning the intermeds. The editing of trailers, the DigiBeta transfers, the shape of credits, and rendering trailers for the Internet are other areas of concern. We offer a complete transfer service from exposure to finished print.

When did you expand from your home office on Feurigstrasse in Berlin? Do all these offices offer the same services to clients?

I founded my company in 1983 under the name Trickatelier Wilk in Berlin Schöneberg. Early in 2002 we founded the trickWILK GmbH, with branches in Lachendorf (Niedersachsen), Berlin, and, since mid-2003, in Altensteig-Spielberg (Baden-Württemberg). At the end of 2002, trickWILK West GmbH was founded in Schmallenberg (Nordrhein-Westfalen) under the joint management of Thomas Wilk and Jörg Wagner. In all these branches we offer the full range of our services, and clients can make use of film subsidies in respective states.

Where did you receive your professional training?

In 1973, I interned at Thurnau-Film in Berlin. Afterwards, I completed my training as special-effects cameraman at the Berlin Fachschule für Optik und Filmtechnik. From 1976 to 1983, I was employed as a freelance special-effects cameraman for film productions and television broadcasts. In 1983, upon founding my own company, Trickatelier Thomas Wilk, I began making title credits for the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek Berlin, as well as special-effects shots for animation series. The service was extended to advertising spots, trailer p roduction, and credits for hundreds of short and long films. In 2001, I began developing our own transfer system - Pixelprint 3000 HD - which, together with my colleague Jörg Wagner, has been steadily upgraded until we now have five such devices in operation.

Which films and projects did you find personally gratifying?

The shaping of intertitles of old silent films for the Murnau Stiftung, the Bundesarchive, and the Kinemathek was the most satisfying. Also, the work on several trailers for distributors ­ e.g., Tobis, Senator, Ventura, Piffl, Delphi, Basis, X-Verleih, Highlight Film, Prokino, Peripher, AFM, Arsenal, Neue Visionen, Ziegler-Film, and others. Recently we completed the transfer from video to 35 mm for Andres Veiel’s Die Spielwütigen, Andreas Voigt’s Invisible, and Nadya Derado’s Yugotrip. Right now, the first tests are being made on Douglas Wolfsperger’s Die Blutritter, whose Bellaria we also transferred from video to film. More information about TrickWILK projects can be found on www.trickWILK.de.

What is most important in your work? And any wishes for the future?

The contact with so many interesting film professionals. The work with my colleague Jörg Wagner, without whose input the company could not have developed as it has over the last two years. The support of my wife, particularly when my work often drags into the night and over the weekend. Last, but not least, the sheer joy of the work itself. As for the future, I want my work not to be work at all, but my favorite hobby. And perhaps some more time to cook ...

Thank you for the interview, Thomas. And continued success! ­ Editors.