After two and a half years as Phactory, Scott Sindorf and partner Damijan Saccio joined forces last summer with Jeff Linnell, Beat Baudenbacher and Claire Plaskow of Ultraviolet in order to form UV/Phactory.

While Phactory was known for its 3D design and animation, Ultraviolet (formerly the Liquid Design Group) made its name from broadcast design and live action work. The goal for the new company was to create a streamlined design/production entity capable of producing entire jobs in-house. Sindorf maintains the reasons for the merger were essentially two-fold: "It's easier to make money, and the creative possibilities are more rewarding because we're allowed a larger range of exploration."

The redundancies usually associated with corporate marriages were largely avoided in this case. Where UV was known primarily as a creative house working with a staff of freelancers, Phactory had their artists and designers on staff and was strong in production and 3D.

Both companies now bunk in the former Phactory space a few blocks south of Ground Zero. Combining overhead helped them stay profitable in today's market, because as Sindorf explains, "budgets are half of what they were last year, but the clients expect twice as much."

The studio has eight full- and two part-time staff and they bring in freelancers when needed. The team works with SoftImage, Affect Effects, FinalCut Pro, Photoshop and Illustrator running on Macs and NTs. The company's 3D jobs are kicked into shape on a 16-box in-house render farm.

In lieu of a comfortable lounge area in the studio, UV/PH have built a thorough online site where clients can get regular updates on their work.

Further evidence of their pledge to keep overhead down: UV Phactory has no in-house sales or marketing, relying instead on word-of-mouth, PR and existing relationships. They also have handshake agreements with creative rep companies Blah! Blah! Blah!, and Creek and River, both of New York.

Recent assignments include design and production work on the theatrical trailer for The Ring through Stun Creative in LA, as well as work for SciFi Channel, MTV, Showtime, Miramax Films and VH1.

WEBFILES:
UV/Phactory> http://www.uvphactory.com