Nice Shoes Colorist Maria Carretero Returns to Her Roots with a Trio of Award-Winning Films

Nice Shoes Colorist Maria Carretero Returns to Her Roots with a Trio of Award-Winning Films

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Brie Clayton April 29, 2021

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In a year of challenging workplace transitions and changing workflows, creative production studio Nice Shoes has been quietly collaborating on a slate of critically acclaimed long-form projects that mark a new direction for the studio. Chris Kahunahana's debut feature, Waikiki, the first full-length narrative film to be written and directed by a native Hawaiian, takes a breathtaking, dream-like look at the seamy underside of paradise; it continues to wow judges and audiences across the festival circuit. In January, the experimental film All Light, Everywhere, directed by Theo Anthony, won a Documentary Special Jury Prize at Sundance. Two months later, Introducing, Selma Blair, directed by Rachel Fleit, took the Special Jury Award for Exceptional Intimacy in Storytelling in SXSW's Documentary Feature Competition. All three were graded by Nice Shoes Colorist Maria Carretero.

It's a return to form for Carretero and a conscious move by Nice Shoes to collaborate with documentary and narrative filmmakers delivering unique points of view.

data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/29194356/Introducing-Selma-Blair1200-1024x640.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2409196 data-srcset=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/29194356/Introducing-Selma-Blair1200-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/29194356/Introducing-Selma-Blair1200-300x188.jpg 300w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/29194356/Introducing-Selma-Blair1200-768x480.jpg 768w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/29194356/Introducing-Selma-Blair1200-624x390.jpg 624w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/29194356/Introducing-Selma-Blair1200-50x31.jpg 50w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/29194356/Introducing-Selma-Blair1200-100x63.jpg 100w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/29194356/Introducing-Selma-Blair1200.jpg 1200w data-sizes=(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px /> The direction that we're going as a company is to work on a diverse range of projects with a very diverse range of stories, particularly those that haven't been told enough, says the studio's Executive Producer of DI and Dailies, Katie Hinsen, who has been expanding the digital intermediate team since her arrival at Nice Shoes in 2019. Films like this keep our creatives challenged. No matter how much we grow, we're always going to be about bringing in projects our colorists, like Maria, can get as passionate about as the filmmakers.

Trained as a painter and plastic artist in Spain, Carretero began her digital career as a matte painter, earning credits on celebrated films by Pedro Almad var (Bad Education) and Alejandro Amen bar (The Sea Inside). When a friend suggested she try color grading, she soon landed at Deluxe's Madrid office, becoming the sole female colorist, save for another female assistant, in the entire country. I didn't know anything about grading at first, and it was really hard for women to get into the industry, she says. I had to grade my first movie in 15 days without any training. It was very stressful, a crazy experience. For three years I was sweating every day-literally I was in a panic! But I knew I could get familiar with the practice. Luckily, her timing was perfect. Spain's expanding film industry was creating bigger budgets that brought in well-known DPs and actors from Hollywood and elsewhere. After grading Carlos Saura's acclaimed documentary, Iberia, which won a Goya, the Spanish equivalent of an Oscar, her career took off. I started collaborating with really good Spanish DPs who supported my work and saw potential in what I was trying to do at that time, says Carretero. I was really lucky to work with names like Paco Femenia, Jose Luis Alcaine and JL Lopez-Linares, who are some of the people behind the biggest projects in Spain.

A jump in the mid-2000s to commercials, which were just beginning to be graded on emerging higher-res systems like the HD Lustre, took her around the world. It was thrilling to see the technology develop and discover the new tools that gave us as colorists, Carretero says. And I loved the chance to express different visions through other cultures and ideals. Her credits since joining Nice Shoes in late 2019 include several Super Bowl 2020 spots and brand stories for Disney, Jeep, Porsche and Apple. Commercials happen so fast, she says. It has taught me how to really listen to my clients and execute ideas quickly.

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