Hey, I’m Sam, a colorist and the founder of Color Motel...
Before starting Color Motel, I worked as a colorist and DP at the National Inventors Hall of Fame, grading documentary and commercial projects. Doing both taught me how lighting, capture, and color all work together, and it still shapes how I collaborate with filmmakers to get their original vision all the way to the finished image.
Ansel Adams believed the darkroom was the second half of the photographic process, and I think about color grading the same way: it’s the last creative step in defining a film’s look. At Color Motel, I team up with directors and DPs to go beyond technical correction and land on a look that feels intentional and true to the story.
