Silver Salt Restoration, the UK facility behind some of cinemas and television’s biggest and
most important film remastering projects in recent years, has joined John Gore Studios.
Silver Salt Restoration is based in London, and has been behind a string of critically and
commercially successful 4K restorations including American Werewolf in London, Don’t Look
Now, Pride and Prejudice (1995 TV series), Lavender Hill Mob, Bruce Lee’s Golden Harvest
boxset, The Deer Hunter, Narc, Flash Gordon, Cross of Iron, Brideshead Revisited,
Watership Down, Get Carter, The Lady Killers, and many more.
Founded in 2017 by industry veterans Steve Bearman, Ray King, Mark Bonnici, Anthony
Badger and Nick Pannaman, the company built up a reputation for its expertise in film care,
film scanning, grading, restoration and preservation. The industry-leading facility boasts the
Hydra film cleaner, ARRI XT film scanner with wetgate, two full Davinci Resolve 4K grading
suites with grade one HDR monitors and restoration software Phoenix, PFClean, DRS Nova
as well as two Diamant film restoration systems.
Bonnici, who will continue to run Silver Salt Restoration as managing director post-
acquisition, said this will open a new chapter and comes at the right time for the company as it aligns with their strategic plan for investment in growth; focusing on increasing capacity
and quality to meet rising demand.
The company’s clients include Apple Corps, Arrow, BBC Motion Gallery, The BFI, Blue
Underground, BritBox, Criterion, Powerhouse, Second Sight, Shout Factory, StudioCanal
and 88 Films.
They have also restored titles including When Harry Met Sally, True Romance, The Wicker
Man, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Conan the Barbarian, Dr Who and the Daleks, Kind
Hearts and Coronets, Prince of Darkness and They Live.
Bonnici said: “We’ve been very proud of our work and our reputation across the industry and
especially with the film fans themselves. We had big dreams for Silver Salt Restoration and
in lots of ways many of these have already been realised. However, we all agreed that we
had probably taken the company as far as we possibly could as a small firm, and if we were
to reach the full extent of our ambitions, we’d need to be part of something bigger. As a film
fan, John Gore was already aware of us from our work on previous titles. So, when he was
looking for a restoration partner, he immediately thought of us. What has made this such a
perfect fit is the realisation that working in such high resolution these films may never be
restored again, therefore quality and film conservation play a big part in what drives us. What
we liked about John was that we shared the same values for excellence and respect
for the audience.”
John Gore commented on the acquisition: “We are thrilled to welcome Silver Salt
Restoration into the John Gore family. Their unparalleled expertise in film restoration and
their deep commitment to preserving cinematic history align perfectly with our vision. The
work done on some of the most iconic films of all time is exceptional, and we are excited to
support their growth and continue delivering the highest quality restorations to global
audiences. This acquisition marks a significant step in expanding our media portfolio
and furthering our dedication to excellence in entertainment.”