Color is coming to Bonfire, in the form of a new color grading suite, the addition of color to the remote services that the company offers, and the hiring of Dario Bigi as sr. colorist.

Bigi joins Bonfire from his role as a leading independent colorist in New York, working out of his own Manhattan studio and maintaining a client base that includes postproduction companies, ad agencies and media brands. His showreel runs the gamut from automotive to fashion and beauty, from celebrities to lifestyle spots and from TV series to features, docs and shorts. On the commercials front, he’s graded ads for such brands as American Express, Mercedes-Benz, adidas, Visa, Lexus and Reebok.

Bonfire partner and managing director Jason Mayo said the company’s expansion into color was fueled by its growth. “Building a substantial color offering was a really easy decision for us,” he noted. “We try to be extremely versatile with our resources and talent. Most of our clients look to us to navigate solutions for projects from a holistic point of view--hence our bringing an artist of Dario’s caliber on board. Having access to a high level of skill and capability across all disciplines under one roof has become more of a necessity for our clients, and we responded.”

With Bigi in place, Bonfire has expanded its proprietary Bonfire Remote platform to include color as well as Flame, design and other disciplines. “We’ve worked out an efficient and above all accurate method to do remote grading,” Mayo explained. “Designed in partnership with Streambox, we’re able to set up the client’s screen utilizing a current iPad or MacBook with a retina display, then grade in real time with Dario. Our long experience and expertise with the Bonfire Platform have helped integrate real-time color correction into remote cloud-based sessions. With the coronavirus impacting where people can work, we can even deliver this to individuals working from their homes or apartments.”

Bigi said he connected with Bonfire because “it’s the right size, plus they’ve got great talent, a positive attitude and a really impressive technology for color grading remotely for clients. This is key to generating really high quality work.”

Bigi came to the color suite by way of the edit bay, a career path that is not the usual one for members of his craft. During his time editing he was always dabbling in color, he recalled, from TBCs to NLEs. But when color tools became software-based, he transitioned into a hybrid editor/colorist role. He’s been focusing on color exclusively for the past 10 years.