Brian Sherwin: Grand Master Plays Postproduction Chess to Manage Episodic Workflows
Take a selection of hit drama series over the past couple of decades – Salem, Detroit 1-8-7, Pachinko, Ugly Betty, The Haunting of Hill House, Panhandle, Yellowstone. Different studio, network or streamer (Warner Bros, Disney, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Netflix, TNT, AppleTV+, Roku). Different showrunner, director and genre. What they share in common is the post-production expertise of Brian Sherwin guiding them from start to finish as production manager, post coordinator or producer.
Q> Hi Brian. Thanks for taking the time. Can you give us a brief resume about how you broke into the industry?
Brian> I moved out to LA right after graduating college and worked at E! Entertainment Television to kind of get my feet wet. I realised after a point that I really wanted to work in scripted television and that this was my passion. I left there as an associate producer and took a step down to be a post PA in scripted television because that's what I really wanted to do. Over the years, I've just worked my way up from post PA to post producer where I run the department on various shows. I'm hired by the show and work on that until completion. One of the most enjoyable aspects of my job is that every project, every team and every workflow is slightly different.
Presumably, the team that you work is dependent on the scope of the project. The post team on a show could just be myself, a s post supervisor with and a post production assistant, or if it's a bigger project, you may have a post supervisor, a post coordinator and post PA. It all depends on the size of the project and budget. The editorial team will vary in size accordingly.
Q> How have you seen that working relationship change as more of it can now be managed in a distributed fashion?
Brian> Generally speaking, the process itself has remained the same, but technology has evolved and continues to change the location we are able to do it. In a situation like the pandemic, where everyone was forced to work remotely, you're forced to rapidly adopt remote technologies while using the same general process to move the show forward.
If you had a colour correction session, for example, or a session where you're dropping in visual effects and you couldn’t actually go to the post facility, we would use Clearview Flex, the video collaboration software to be able to supervise that from home. The online editor might be working with the media in the post facility but by using Clearview Flex and the client is able to view the same screen online while being able to talk back and forth to approve shots in real time.
Q> When you architect a workflow for a new show now how would you gauge the ratio of remote versus in-person?
Brian> It's kind of half and half. The starting point is dictated by whether the executive producer or showrunner really wants to be in the office or not. That’s the first thing you're trying to figure out.If the showrunner prefers to work in the office, then you find the space. If they say, they want to do some type of a hybrid situation, that's what we’ll do. Or it can be fully remote.
A lot of their decision making depends on where you’re shooting and where you are posting. If you're finishing final colour correction and sound in another geographic location to the principal photography and you need to complete those while future episodes are being shot then you’ll need a very flexible workflow. For example, on Panhandle the crime comedy series for Sony Pictures, all of the finishing was completed in Vancouver in order to access tax breaks for that show. Editorial was managed here in LA. So, the workflow was completely remote.
For AppleTV+ drama Pachinko I was in Los Angeles and the post team was in New York. We had four editors on the show, three in New York and one in London. The executive producer was in New York where I worked for a short period of time. I was flying back and forth for the final mixes.
Q> What’s the biggest benefit of working with Clearview?
Brian> A hybrid workflow facilitated by Clearview has become a positive choice. When we do the final audio mix, if a person can’t physically be there in the room, they are able to fully participate using Clearview Flex. All the producers, studio executives and network executives are able to hear audio playback and give notes in real time.The biggest benefit is the ability to work in real time.
If we didn't have that option, you’d have to have the sound facility send the editor or assistant editor a file, which they would review and give notes and then pass those notes back to the facility. That to and from can prolong the process because you're adding a lot of extra steps. Then adding a producer or executive would be another link in the chain.
Q> How are you seeing AI assist in the post-production workflow?
Brian> Technologies are constantly evolving but the bones of the process remain the same. For example, VFX might use AI to track a shot frame by frame a little quicker. But as far as my role in managing the process and making sure we get from A to B to C to D, AI has not materially impacted that workflow as yet.
Q> Scripted TV is suffering on a number of fronts. From your position on the inside what do you think the future holds?
Brian> I think you can take a positive or negative view on this depending on how you feel about it. A few years ago, it felt like the Golden Age of Television with maybe 600 shows being made a year. Following Covid and the strikes everything's contracted. Studios are now owned by large corporations. The content creation business of the major studios is a much smaller portion of the overall business of a corporation. If the whole corporation doesn't do as well then the entertainment division tends to suffer. That said, I detect things are slowly starting to pick up again. Everyone is trying to figure out what that new normal is going to be.
Q> Can you give us a glimpse as to what it takes to post produce a major episodic show?
Brian> In pre-production I’m working very closely with the director, the director of photography, the producers and the studio or network to figure out technical specs such as what camera is going to be used and what the pipeline will be to get that material from location to editorial. You have the responsibility to make sure that it all runs smoothly and to budget. The footage also needs to be made available for the studio and network to view. Everyone needs to see it. So, there's a lot of pressure to get the footage pipe up very quickly. After all, there's a lot of money involved in these projects.
That's the beginning of the post production progresses. In addition, you’re working with the editors and assistant editors towards finishing and delivery. At the same time as they’re editing, you're shooting more shows while planning many moves ahead. It’s like chess. You're working with production to figure out what's going to be needed for the next episode being shot. For instance, are we going to shoot things practically or in use VFX? There's a lot happening in post during production - and that's before we even lock picture which is when our job really kicks into high gear!
Q> Of all the successful shows you’ve been involved in what is your personal favourite?
Brian> I can't pick one stand out because each part of the process is different. For example, I may have worked with a cast in ADR which was phenomenal. There may be editors on a show with whom you have a particularly great experience. Other times, it’s the entire post team. It could be a show where like I love working with a specific colorist, visual effects house or sound facility.
Pachinko was an extremely difficult project but it was incredible just for the fact that a small percentage of it was in the English language and the rest was in Japanese and Korean. It was such a rewarding challenge. There's so many intricacies that make each project you're dealing with unique and memorable, in addition to the varied subject matter of the show.
