Color Grading & Finishing — Los Angeles & Remote
The best color work is invisible.
Based in Los Angeles · available remotely worldwide.
I'm Jason Bowdach, a Los Angeles colorist and finishing artist. I take a small number of clients at a time for long-form narrative and commercial work where color is central to the storytelling: bespoke look development and final finishing for productions here in LA, and remote grading for projects anywhere in the world. As a Dolby Vision certified colorist, I deliver HDR and SDR masters held to the standards of major theatrical and streaming distributors, from input to final display transform.
Credits span Netflix, Amazon, Fox, Disney, Google, and Adobe, alongside independent films bound for festivals like Sundance and Tribeca.
What I grade
Color grading is most powerful when it's embedded in the storytelling process from day one. I work across formats and genres:
- Feature films — from independent productions to studio releases, with full finishing and delivery to theatrical and streaming specs.
- Episodic series — consistent show look across episodes, including HDR and Dolby Vision pipeline management for streaming platforms.
- Commercials & branded content — fast-turnaround color correction and finishing for agencies, brands, and in-house creative teams.
- Music videos — look development and grading for artists and labels, from naturalistic grades to stylized, heavily-crafted aesthetics.
- Finishing — conforming, VFX integration, color correction, and quality-control passes ahead of deliverable creation.
Local deadline or remote team — the process and the standard don't change. See recent work →
HDR & Dolby Vision delivery
HDR mastering isn't a checkbox — it takes a calibrated, reference-grade monitoring environment and a colorist who understands each platform's artistic and technical demands.
As a Dolby Vision certified colorist, I deliver HDR10 and Dolby Vision masters to the spec of your platform — Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, and theatrical release. This includes tone-mapping decisions, trim passes for SDR simulcast, and metadata QC before the deliverable leaves my suite. Color science is handled within a fully color-managed pipeline (ACES or project-appropriate color space), so grades hold across every delivery format.
Remote color grading workflow
The remote workflow I use matches what you'd expect from an in-room session — with the flexibility of working across time zones.
- Live review sessions — using Streambox or a comparable low-latency video streaming solution, you watch the grade in real time on a calibrated signal, call color notes live, and see changes applied immediately.
- Secure media delivery — camera originals and project files are exchanged through a secure pipeline; nothing moves over consumer file-sharing services.
- Color-managed pipeline — regardless of your camera package or delivery target, the grade is built in a color-managed environment so SDR dailies, HDR masters, and streaming deliverables all come from the same source of truth.
- Round-trip with picture editorial — I conform from EDL, AAF, or XML and return a conformed, graded timeline with full round-trip notes for your editor.
Remote clients span the US, Canada, Europe, and beyond. If you have a project and a reliable internet connection, geography is not a barrier. Start a conversation →
Beyond grading
Color is one part of a larger pipeline. For studios and teams that want to keep production in-house, I also build the systems and skills that make great color repeatable.
- Post workflow & pipeline development — I design and implement custom color and finishing pipelines your editors, colorists, and VFX teams all work from, so output stays consistent across broadcast, streaming, and social.
- Look development & custom tools — need a signature look or a specialized color tool your team can run without me? I handle the look dev and tool-building myself — the color-science work most productions outsource — then hand your team something they can execute in-house.
- Training — I train artists and teams on color correction and grading in DaVinci Resolve, from fundamentals to advanced finishing, so your in-house skill set grows with your work.
Experience & credentials
I'm a Los Angeles–based film colorist with over a decade of experience on narrative, commercial, and documentary work. A few touchpoints:
- Colorist Society International (C.S.I.) — Board member of the Hollywood chapter — the primary professional body for working colorists. Active in the community locally and industry-wide.
- Mixing Light — Certified Trainer — As a certified trainer at Mixing Light — the leading education platform for professional colorists — I contribute tutorials and deep-dives on color science, DaVinci Resolve, and HDR workflow.
- PixelTools — Founder — I built PixelTools, a suite of professional color tools and DaVinci Resolve DCTL plug-ins downloaded more than 30,000 times by colorists worldwide. Building tools for colorists keeps me close to the craft at a technical depth few get to work at.
- Education & speaking — a published author on the Frame.io blog, a speaker at NAB and SIGGRAPH, and host of the Color & Coffee podcast.
- Broadcast & streaming credits — Custom pipeline design for Fox; in-house color and finishing workflows for Netflix's behind-the-scenes content teams; commercial and branded work for Amazon, Google, and Adobe.
FAQ
- Do you offer remote color grading?
- Yes. Remote sessions run via Streambox or a comparable low-latency streaming solution so you can review a calibrated, color-managed signal from anywhere in the world in real time. Media is delivered and returned through a secure pipeline; no quality is sacrificed versus an in-person session.
- Where are you based?
- Los Angeles, California. I work with local productions in person and take on remote color grading projects from clients worldwide — studios, independent filmmakers, and agencies across North America, Europe, and beyond.
- Do you deliver HDR and Dolby Vision?
- Yes. I deliver HDR10 and Dolby Vision masters to streaming and theatrical specs, including Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, and Apple TV+ delivery requirements. Tone-mapping and trim passes are done on a calibrated, reference-grade display.
- What kinds of projects do you grade?
- Feature films, series, documentaries, commercials, music videos, and branded content — long-form narrative and commercial work where color is central to the story.
- What software and pipeline do you use?
- DaVinci Resolve is my primary grading tool. I work within a fully color-managed pipeline (ACES or a project-appropriate color science), use hardware reference monitoring, and conform from EDL, AAF, or XML with round-trip back to picture editorial.
- How do I start a project?
- The best first step is to reach out via the contact page with a brief description of the project — format, deliverables, and timeline. I take on a small number of projects at a time, so early outreach is appreciated.
Got a project? Let's talk.
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