By Christine Bunish
Getting time to color grade a commercial, experiment with it, fine tune it and hone images to look their very best is a luxury these days. But Mark Gethin, creative partner and senior colorist at Santa Monica's TRAFIK, got the rare gift of time last year when he color graded the stunning, three-minute Qantas commercial, I Still Call Australia Home.
The latest spot in the airline's long-running campaign, having launched in 1987, the commercial features breathtaking locations from Western Australia to Tasmania intercut with celebrated Australians and children's choruses singing Peter Allen's eponymous anthem. The spot from The Monkeys, part of the Accenture Interactive creative agency, was directed by Kiku Ohe for Rabbit. It netted Gethin the 2022 HPA Award for Outstanding Color Grading in a Commercial.
I do a lot of commercials but don't always get a lot of time with them, and I don't often see the director and DP, says Gethin. The Qantas spot was a really enjoyable project to work on. We graded it over a few days but spread over a long period of time which allowed us to keep looking at the footage and tweaking it, giving it a lot of thought.
The process was director-led, with Kiku getting me involved early and having us do a lot of experimenting to see how far to push it, he recalls. But we came back at the end to something a bit more naturalistic. A lot of the landscapes [shot by DP Jeremy Rouse] have such beautiful light and colors, so we stayed true to their look.
Rouse captured the footage digitally then the raw images were filmed out and scanned back to achieve a film-like quality for postproduction. We had the luxury of doing quite a few grades: an initial grade, then a film grade, which we thought looked too heavy, then a digital grade using the film as a reference, Gethin explains. The agency allowed me to spend time on this. Kiku was always popping in and out with ideas about trying this and that; there was a lot of back and forth with Jeremy in Australia who sent references but let me do my thing. When I grade I always try to add something to the images.
Gethin is one of the world's most award-winning colorists with British Arrows, a UK MVA, AICP awards, Gold Cannes Lions and a Grand Prix among his honors. He originally wanted to be a musician, then got into photography and lighting bands and theater. He became a runner at Rushes in London and was interested in directing before he even knew color grading existed. I had no idea that colorist was a job, but when I first walked into a colorist's suite and saw someone loading up the film - this was in the early 90s - and start coloring I was pretty much hooked, he reports. It seemed a perfect fit for his talents.
He began grading at Rushes and rose rapidly through the ranks. For the first 10 years I graded solely music videos at Rushes, Gethin recalls. A move to MPC London got him into commercials, and by 2008 he was opening the MPC LA office. He became the creative director of MPC LA and MPC NY until the company's merger with The Mill last year. In August 2022 he and some former MPC colleagues opened TRAFIK, an independently owned creative studio, specializing in color, finish and beauty for short and long-form content.
We're built around a collective of great artists who have worked together for many years, Gethin says. The new company has grown rapidly and now boasts a staff of 40, including four senior colorists. There is a ton of crossover with DPs and directors across all forms of content these days, so we've set ourselves up to grade for our clients across all media. We've been both surprised and grateful by the outpouring of support and excitement from our clients since we opened. In addition to winning an HPA Award, TRAFIK was short-listed for eight AICP awards, the most of any grading company globally.
Since TRAFIK opened, Gethin has worked on several Super Bowl films, including one with director Kim Gehrig and Apple for Rihanna's half-time show. I've worked with Kim for years, so it's been great having her in the studio, he says. Gethin also recently graded Expedia's beautiful Made to Travel spot directed by Justyna Obasi, and is coloring an Apple TV+ show slated for fall.
I Still Call Australia Home was the first project that Gethin submitted to the HPA Awards. In the past, I was always working and other people sent things off to various awards, he says. When we opened TRAFIK we wanted to make sure to get our new brand out there, so I'm more involved in submissions now.
It was absolutely great to win - it was a recognition for everyone whose work went into the spot; the director and DP were super happy. You know, a colorist works in a dark room and goes from job to job, so it feels good to be recognized that you did a nice bit of work.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
18/08/2026
SMT will provide race technology for FOX Sports' coverage of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. on August 23, when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES races ...
18/08/2026
The live, YouTube-native roundtables combine fan voices, credentialed reporters,...
18/08/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/08/2026
The industry legend sounds off on replacing the Heat's iconic Medusa score...
18/08/2026
William F. Rasmussen, the sports fan-turned broadcaster and entrepreneur whose out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour cable sports network, ESPN, changed forever the ...
18/08/2026
DAZN Group has completed its acquisition of ViewLift, a provider of streaming and digital solutions for sports content owners. The acquisition was first announc...
18/08/2026
The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has added SI TV, Sports Illustrated's 24/7 streaming channel, as a broadcast partner for the remain...
18/08/2026
The Esports Foundation has announced that the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC), originally scheduled for November 2026 in Riyadh, will be postponed to Novemb...
18/08/2026
Diversified has announced a new Global Managed Services Practice, consolidating the company's managed services capabilities into one organization. Rob Mello...
18/08/2026
Appear has completed a proof of concept with Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP), demonstrating multi-camera remote live production over bonded 5G cellular an...
By Christine Bunish
