Dailies, online editorial, color, VFX and QC in one pipeline for features, episodic and commercials
From The Pitt, Abbott Elementary and Only Murders in the Building to Digger, Disclosure Day, Love of Your Life and Ava DuVernay's 14th, Picture Shop's online editorial teams are finishing some of the biggest film and television projects of the season.
In film, television and advertising, schedules are always tight. Picture Shop is built for that. Dailies, online editorial, color, VFX and client QC work in one connected pipeline, with teams in Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto and London. A project can move from dailies to editing to color, and even across time zones, without starting over.
Once the production's editor locks the cut, our online editors take over. They rebuild the cut from the original camera media, prepare it for color and VFX, and carry it through to final delivery.
“One thing I've always believed is that by the time a production reaches online editorial, hundreds of talented people have already poured their hearts into making it something special. Our job is to respect that work and make sure all that creativity and attention to detail carries through to the finished picture. We work closely with our clients and finishing teams, finding creative solutions and adding that final finesse along the way. There's a real sense of pride in knowing we've helped bring everyone's hard work to the screen looking its absolute best,” explains Picture Shop Editor Ray Miller, who has been editing for more than four decades and has eight Primetime Emmy nominations and four wins to his name.
For features, that rebuild is the foundation for everything that follows. It gives the colorist every element needed to start work. Recent features include Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Digger, Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day and 14th, Ava DuVernay's new documentary coming to Netflix in December. On Love of Your Life, starring Margaret Qualley and Aaron Pierre, Picture Shop handled both the edit and the color.
At the bid, our producers, workflow team and online editors decide together how each project will be built, from the editing system to storage and delivery specs. Each show's specs are written down, so every episode is finished the same way. Picture Shop works in BaseLight, Resolve, Avid and Flame, so the workflow fits the show, not the other way around.
“On a feature, the workflow starts well before the first frame arrives. We’re thinking through editorial, color, VFX, storage and delivery together so the filmmakers have one connected finishing process. The goal is to anticipate what the project will need and build the pipeline around that,” explains Vanessa Galvez, Head of Features.
“A lot of people at Picture Shop have been in this industry for decades, putting together hundreds of hours of TV and film. That experience helps clients through the process because we can spot issues ahead of time and either fix them in the bay before they get to color, or get them to VFX,” adds Miller.
.jpg)
Fall is the busiest time of year for television. This season, our teams are finishing The Pitt, Abbott Elementary, Only Murders in the Building, Presumed Innocent, Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, Mayor of Kingstown, Bridgerton, I Love LA, The Hunting Wives, Boston Blue, Prison Break and RJ Decker
TV schedules do not stop at night, and neither do we. Our night editorial team works from 7:00 PM to 3:30 AM. They take the day's turnovers and prep each episode overnight. By morning, it is ready for review, a client screening, or to be split between editors. NCIS, one of the first shows we worked on, still uses this workflow.
Because editorial and color sit together, notes get handled fast. On The Pitt and Only Murders in the Building, our editorial and color teams work side by side.
“The strength of the pipeline is that the departments aren’t operating as separate islands. Editorial, color, dailies, VFX, data and delivery are connected from the beginning, so media and decisions can move through the facility efficiently without rebuilding the process at every handoff,” says Todd Korody, Picture Shop’s Workflow and Pipeline Operations Director.
Picture Shop's VFX artists work closely with online editorial and color, handling work ranging from subtle beauty adjustments to complex flashback sequences, muzzle flashes, driving and screen comps, and production fixes. Keeping these disciplines connected delivers the ultimate client experience and beautiful, efficient results.
“On any given day, you may find an artist working on a flashback de-aging sequence, another adding muzzle flashes to a car chase, while two others are painting out crew reflections for QC. Being in the same pipeline as editorial and color means no VFX pull charges, dailies color matching, and efficient deliveries. Throughout the project, all three departments are internally communicating with each other, so nothing falls through the cracks, and the show stays on schedule,” explains Rachel Hanson, Vice President and Executive Producer of Picture Shop VFX.
Commercials have the tightest timelines of all. Our editors work with Picture Shop's commercial team on spots for brands like DoorDash and bring the same care to music videos.
“Commercial schedules move incredibly fast, so the workflow has to be both flexible and disciplined. We need to be able to turn around changes quickly without sacrificing QC or creative intent, which is where having editorial, color, VFX and production working together really matters,” says Matt Bellanger, Head of Commercials and Episodic.
Every project is different. What stays the same is the team behind it: experienced artists, careful planning and the attention to detail it takes to bring each project to the screen. When every second counts, that is what keeps a production on schedule.
Picture Shop is an award-winning global post-production company specializing in color, VFX, and finishing. Its artists have created looks for many of the world's biggest films and acclaimed television series.