Tinseltown Triumph
Despite the "glamorous" work going on in sound stages right down the hall, the real excitement for Paramount's director of graphic services lies in the print shop.
There was a time when the sight of a Klingon chowing down in the company cafeteria would have made Hector Amaya's jaw drop in amazement.
But these days the executive director of Graphic Services at Paramount Pictures would hardly give such alien tablemates a second glance. It's all part of life at the giant Hollywood, Calif., studio, where dozens of TV shows like Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Frasier and Wings are shot every day.
"It is glamorous...but not that glamorous," Amaya admits. For him, the most exciting part about working for Paramount is the in-plant itself.
"They will not give you a chance to get bored," he says of his entertainment industry clients. "There are different challenges every day."
Those challenges include producing a host of four-color promotional pieces for TV shows and movies—all with tight deadlines. Things get particularly busy when Academy Awards time approaches and the studio puts its promotional efforts into high gear in an effort to make its films known to Academy members.
Amaya, who has been with Paramount for 10 years, has seen a lot of changes in the in-plant, but he feels that his operation, in its current 17-person configuration, can handle anything that the demanding directors and other customers throw at it. And because customers are free to use outside printers, Amaya concentrates on providing superstar-quality service.
"We have to provide a competitive price, service and quality, otherwise we're not going to get the work," he says. "We're competing with some good printers out there. They hear the name Paramount and everybody sees dollar signs. So we have to be very tight on our estimating and at the same time be able to turn things around the way that they want."
Those turnarounds, he adds, are often onerous. Film may arrive at 4:00 p.m. when the job is due at the mailing house by 8:00 the next morning.
"We won't say no to them," Amaya insists. "We'll do whatever it takes to get that printed by tomorrow morning." Because he knows that if he doesn't, someone else will.
"The entertainment industry, because of the clout they have, they can push their vendors a little harder," Amaya points out. "So since they can get all these miracles done by vendors outside, they expect us to do the same thing. Why should they take less?"
Using that Paramount clout, however, sometimes plays to his advantage.
"We do the same thing with our vendors," he reveals. But it's all in the name of providing Paramount with the best service and prices possible.
This attention to service—and speed—has fueled good word-of-mouth advertising for Graphic Services among Paramount's many departments. Because the in-plant has been keeping its customers happy with the wide range of services it offers, Amaya has not been threatened by outsourcing or facilities management takeovers.
"I think that we're pretty safe if we are competitive," he says.
The in-plant's 10,000-square-foot facility includes a copy center, which handles, among other things, the daily duplication of scripts for dozens of ongoing TV and film projects. There are also 14 satellite copy locations.
The print shop includes a four-color Komori press, a two-color Heidelberg GTO and a pair of two-color Hamadas. A DocuTech and two Xerox 5390s reside in the copy center. The operation also has Macs, scanners, an imagesetter, an Imation Rainbow proofer and two Canon color copiers, plus a host of bindery gear, such as a 22˝ Baum folder with a right angle attachment and a 36˝ cutter.
Up until about six years ago, Amaya says, the shop didn't do a lot of four-color work, since it had to use the two-color GTO and do two passes. But once the four-color Komori came on board, everything changed. The in-plant began concentrating on process-color jobs. Today, he says, 60 percent of the shop's work is four-color.
"You cannot be promoting movies that are worth millions of dollars with black-and-white," Amaya declares.
To justify the purchase of equipment like the Komori, Amaya says he must demonstrate to his superiors that the machine will pay for itself, make a profit and provide a new service.
"You have to be very honest with them," he says of Paramount management. "You cannot fudge with the numbers." But if you follow the rules, he adds, "they're very supportive."
Though Paramount Graphic Services is running successfully with its current capabilities, Amaya is always looking ahead.
"As the technology gets less expensive and better at reproducing images without the use of film and plates, we'll be getting into that," he speculates. "The technology's also getting better for some of these copier/printers like the Indigo."
Because the in-plant runs as a profit center for Paramount, and charges back all its clients, there are opportunities to bring in some extra change by doing work for outside customers. Though the money is welcome, Amaya says, "we have to be careful with that, because our primary concern is to provide the best service possible for the company.
"Our mentality has been that we know we are Paramount, but we view ourselves really as an outside service agency for the company, and we try to provide the same service and quality."
by Bob Neubauer
