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Featured Corp Member: The Colour Closet
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October 20, 2022
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October 20, 2022The Colour Closet
AN ALTERNATIVE TO HIGH VOLUME FACTORY-STYLE POST PRODUCTION
Interview with Dave Roman (Owner/Founder/Colourist)
"We value quality over quantity and personal connections over market share."
Tell us a bit about your company, The Colour Closet The Colour Closet is a small post production lab offering dailies, colour finishing, online editing, deliverables packaging and archiving services to a wide range of clientele. The Colour Closet is myself on colour and online editorial duties with assistance and vfx support from the wonderful talent pool here in Vancouver. In 2013, after many years (decades) as a camera assistant and DIT I started The Colour Closet with the support of DP’s and Directors I knew from shows like Man in the High Castle, Bates Motel, and Lucifer. We provide the same online, colour, and deliverables services that large labs do but at a smaller volume. It’s an environment where art, technology and commerce exist in balance whether it’s a low budget passion project or an HDR finish for a scripted series.
What projects are you working on right now and/or recently completed?
I’m working on a Fortis campaign called The New Energy and a thirteen part documentary series for Bell media/APTN. I’m also developing looks for two features that will finish early next year. I recently finished a reality TV series, a VR360 art installation, an NFB film, and the short “Never Broken” that was selected to the NY International Short Film festival.
What is a favourite project that you've worked on, and why? Generally speaking what makes me the happiest is the variety of projects I get to work on. Frontier for Netflix/Discovery Canada is at the top of the list as it was my first foray into finishing colour thanks to the support of DP Glen Keenan CSC (Star Trek) who I’d worked for as a DIT many times. I built the dailies lab, trained a local DIT, developed a look for the show and provided the finishing colour. It was nominated for best cinematography at the Canadian Screen Awards that year so a reasonable result!
What percentage of your work is with local vs international clients/projects? Almost all of my work is for Canadian productions or American productions with post roots in Vancouver. Something I know everyone would like to see more of!
Are you a Mac / PC / Linux shop or all of the above? All of the above. The right amount of horsepower where needed to easily meet deadlines and make sessions flow is the goal. Playback and rendering (GPU’s) and system bandwidth are most important to me but some processes just need specific platforms. Keeping up with tech is a big part of being able to compete with other shops so I do my research and settle on components that offer the best bang for buck over the long term and leverage cloud services where it makes sense. However, I would say I’m a little cautious of the Mac ecosystem recently.
What software / hardware / plugins can you not live without? Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve on a dedicated all-powerful PC is my workhorse. I have a 200TB NAS that runs on TrueNAS that I love and it’s rock solid and I’ve embraced the cloud and cloud services for things like 3rd party QC and Tachyon frame rate conversions. Boris FX Silhouette is my favorite plugin. It has tools for tracking, masking/roto, retouching/paint, stabilizing, and object removal and interfaces with Resolve with very little hassle.
What impact did the pandemic have on your business? It has been challenging! Several clients basically shut down mid shoot which meant a loss of work and a need to re-organize on my part. Luckily, I was asked to provide dailies for Pachinko which was a great experience and filled a gap. Small owner-operator businesses with few employees found little support and I’m lucky to still be here but I’m stubborn so that helps! I see the future as more of a remote/ in-person mix and that’s ok although I prefer being in the same room when you screen a show.
How long have you been a VPA Corporate Member? Almost 2 years.The VPA plays an important role in my business staying informed and all the effort is very appreciated.
Is there anything else about you or your company that you'd like people to know about that we haven't yet asked? I started my career shooting film in the French Alps so I’m a pushover for ski movies. The Nespresso is always ready for visitors.