Light Iron, the postproduction creative services division of Panavision, has added colorist Sam Daley to its roster of creative talent. Daley joins the team as a sr. colorist and will work out of the company’s New York facility, supporting clients in both feature and episodic projects.
Light Iron co-managing director Seth Hallen said, “Throughout his career, Sam has developed incredibly strong relationships around the industry, particularly in the New York community. Sam’s artistry and passion for creative collaboration are evidenced in his tremendous body of work in both features and series. His credits are second to none and represent the caliber of work Light Iron is known for. Sam’s arrival reflects our commitment to the New York market and to supporting our clients everywhere with access to the very best talent. We expect to make more announcements throughout the year about our expanding roster.”
Daley brings more than 20 years of experience in the New York post-production community, joining Light Iron from Company 3. After getting a start in commercial dailies at DuArt, he developed his skills at Tape House and PostWorks before joining Technicolor. There, he graded dailies on some of the biggest New York productions at the time. Encouraged by the cinematographers with whom he partnered as a dailies colorist, he transitioned into final color.
Daley’s early finishing credits included the HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce and the acclaimed indie feature Martha Marcy May Marlene. His television credits include the series Smash, Girls, The Deuce, The Sinner and Succession, and the miniseries I Know This Much Is True and Show Me a Hero, the latter of which earned him an HPA Award nomination in 2016. His feature credits include The Florida Project, Sorry to Bother You and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.
“The Light Iron team is incredibly collaborative and forward-thinking, and that’s how I work,” Daley said. “Helping directors and cinematographers cross the finish line is a thrill for me. All the labor and the love they spend comes to fruition on the screen in front of us. It’s the most rewarding part of my craft.”
Daley added, “Working in the Panavision family is a big bonus for me. My first job in the industry was in the camera-rental department as a work-study in film school. That experience allowed me to better communicate with cinematographers when I worked at laboratories earlier in my career. Now, the collaboration can begin at camera prep!”
Light Iron’s artists provide collaborative, creative expertise on feature films, episodic series and short-form content. Daley will be based alongside fellow senior colorist Sean Dunckley in New York, with the ability to work remotely with filmmakers worldwide. The company’s bicoastal roster of final colorists also includes Ian Vertovec, Jeremy Sawyer, Scott Klein, Corinne Bogdanowicz, Nick Hasson, Ethan Schwartz and Katie Jordan. These artists partner with filmmakers beginning in preproduction, helping cinematographers craft their looks for principal photography and providing a trusted resource from capture to finish.
In addition to Light Iron’s New York and Los Angeles facilities, each of which offers the full breadth of creative finishing services, the company has locations in Atlanta, Albuquerque, Chicago, New Orleans, Toronto and Vancouver offering dailies services and remote sessions. Light Iron’s remote capabilities — including solutions for dailies, offline editorial rentals, and color and finishing — open the doors for filmmakers working anywhere in the world to partner with the company.
“Light Iron’s history of pioneering file-based workflows laid the foundation early on for our remote capabilities,” Hallen said. “Over the past 12 months, as the industry has navigated through the pandemic, our remote solutions for dailies, editorial and finishing have proven to be truly game-changing. Rather than having to centralize at one particular location, our clients can choose to work at multiple Light Iron offices–and from their own offices and homes–concurrently. Wherever filmmakers are working, they can collaborate with the artists at any of our facilities.”
