I was a History major in college when I took my first photography class. I was immediately hooked, going into the university dark room at night and not realising it was morning until I came out. Later, I wound up as a PA at a post facility thinking I wanted to be an editor. They had a telecine and colour grading system and I was drawn to how the craft combined the elements of the dark room with working from film, while being this bridge between production and post-production.

Mission Film and Design (MFD) is a boutique shop right along the water near the historic Ferry Building in San Francisco. Our focus is colour grading, so we collaborate with a wide range of creative entities who are looking for a grading partner. Being in a relatively small market, what I love most is that I get to work on so many different types of projects. I can go from working with agency creatives one day, to grading a Sundance bound film the next.

I have been on Baselight now for five years. It was easy to fall in love with all the grading tools. Everything is so well thought out and designed. Base Grade is a great example. It is the first primary grading tool I have used which allows for such natural control over the zone system. We were also drawn to FilmLight’s colour science and colour management. As a boutique, we do not have the luxury of having a colour scientist on staff. FilmLight has filled that role for us.

We definitely had our eye on more complex workflows too, such as HDR and Dolby Vision, when we added Baselight. The first time I graded for Dolby Vision was for the Netflix film 7 Prisoners, directed by Alexandre Moratto. That project was a big first for us and working on Baselight provided both the creative and technical backbone I needed.