Paula knew Sian’s tastes very well, so it was easy for me to settle on a good approach based on her intentions. Furthermore, the shoot went very smoothly and Paula delivered beautiful and balanced images from the get-go, so to be honest it was easy for me to build on that. Visually, we went for something warm and intimate to reflect the relationship developed in the story.

After (too) many years in the business, Baselight is still my preferred colour grading system. With its reliability and range of tools, I’m always confident I can find a solution for every situation that may come up. Since CODA was a relatively easy film to grade based on the quality of the source material, Baselight simply helped me breeze through the project with ease and peace of mind.

I spent two weeks with Paula on-site, but we had to stop because of the pandemic. Three months later, we prepared a live remote grading session between her and Sian in LA and our Montreal facility for an additional four days to finish the DCP version. The remote session was a first for our team and I, but it was a pretty good experience. After that, I spent two more days creating an HDR Dolby Vision version on my own.

Since both Paula and Sian live in LA, only Paula made the trip to Montreal. Like I said, she had a thorough understanding of Sian’s vision, so she basically represented her most of the time. That said, I also spoke with Sian on a couple occasions to discuss the progress of grading she was reviewing on her end and to get a better grasp of her level of satisfaction. Overall, I had a great time working with both Paula and Sian. They had a clear vision of their project while being great and fun people.

I am currently working on three local feature films, which are probably going to be released this summer if things improve.

I also work on an ongoing restoration project called Projet Éléphant, whose goal is to restore and make available to the public the entire history of Quebec cinema. It’s a very rewarding challenge to regrade all those older films as respectfully as possible and to work with so many of the great DoPs and directors that made history. I’m just a bit anxious for the day I’ll be regrading a movie I originally graded in my early years!