PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Imaging Post-Production Assistant position at the Sidney Poitier New American Film School. I worked in a facility in Mesa, Arizona: Media and Immersive Experience (MIX) Center. 

 

Working this job for 16 months exposed me to a professional post-production workflow – guiding teams and carrying out procedures to complete films in editing, color, sound, and VFX. 

 

I worked with the following softwares: Avid Media Composer, Avid Pro Tools, DaVinci Resolve, Nuke, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects. Troubleshooting errors – from offline media to incorrect exports – was a daily task I had to manage. This taught me how to break down technical problems and effectively find the root of the problem; patience is key in the face of technical frustrations. There is almost always a solution (or work around) waiting to be found. 

 

Another big task on my list was DCP (both Atmos and stereo) creation. Using DaVinci Resolve I prepared and rendered DCPs to be played on a projector. I also used a third-party software, DCP-O-MATIC, to create Atmos DCPs that could be connected and played in a theater with 40+ speakers; this process required me to render WAV audio files into MXF files using the Dolby Atmos Renderer application. 

 

I put all of this into practice every semester as I oversaw the post-production workflow for our school’s capstone projects – 10 minute short films created by students. With a goal to deliver around 12 finished films to be projected in Dolby Atmos, I was thrown into a fast moving environment where I had to help lead teams as we (as to be expected with student filmmakers) encountered one error after another. This taught me how to keep a cool head while surrounded by frustration and short fuses; it’s important to control your emotions, especially when working with deadlines that require the utmost focus.