About

Hi, I'm Alyssa Heater. I've spent my 10+ year career as a marketer in the Entertainment Industry. One of my strong suits is writing, both technical and creative. Check out a selection of recent writing samples below. Outside of work, I enjoy spending my time with my amazing four-year-old twin sons, Clyde and Nash or front row at heavy metal shows...life's about balance, right?

California Post Alliance Helps Get Bill AB-2319 Past First Step - postPerspective

By Alyssa Heater

On Tuesday, the California Post Alliance (CAPA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening and sustaining California’s role as the leading provider of post services for media and entertainment, presented Bill AB-2319 in front of the state’s Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Tourism Committee at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.

Introduced by Assembly member Nick Schultz, AB-2319 calls for a statewide financial incentive for film and television projects to c...

Sequins, Slot Machines and Sound for <i>The Last Showgirl</i> - postPerspective

By Alyssa Heater
The Last Showgirl, directed by Gia Coppola and written by Kate Gersten, follows the story of veteran Las Vegas showgirl Shelly (Pamela Anderson), who must come to terms with an uncertain future after learning her revue, Le Razzle Dazzle, is ending after nearly 30 years. She is simultaneously navigating her broken relationship with her daughter. The film also features Shelly’s best friend Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis) and other showgirls, including Mary-Anne (Brenda Song) and Jodie...

Sohonet | Articles | How Generative AI is Revolutionising Media Production

Generative AI, the subset of artificial intelligence that creates content based on prompts, is increasingly finding its place in film and television production. By analysing patterns and structures in input data, generative AI can generate text, images, video, and more, potentially transforming media creation and consumption. A recent PwC study projects that the AI market in media and entertainment will grow by 35% annually, reaching $1.8 billion by 2025.‍One exciting area where generative AI is...

Volunteers are Everything: Sarah McGrail on the Importance of Community in Visual Effects

Sarah McGrail is a powerhouse in visual effects, with over twenty years of experience working in nearly every role within this subsection of the M&E industry. From her start as a VFX artist and production manager, to producing film and episodic projects and business development, McGrail is a lifelong learner with zero limitations on exploring and growing her professional toolset.

We chatted with McGrail to learn more about her career path in visual effects and role within the HPA Awards committ

Sohonet | Articles | The best video editing software in 2024

Media Composer, Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve: Which Is the Best Editing Software of 2024?

Avid Media Composer, Apple’s Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve are four of the leading video editing solutions in film and television. While any of these software solutions can help in editing content from raw footage to final delivery, each carries its own features, strengths, and functionality. So, which editing software reigns supreme in 2024? S

2nd Annual Slither Show — DicE Magazine

"On a warm Saturday afternoon, motorcycle enthusiasts gathered at the Wild Idol Saloon, a neighbourhood watering hole in the small town of Byron, California just outside of Stockton, to celebrate the second annual Slither event. Hosted by clothing designer mega babes Misty Laituri and Kaelyn Cobra, the Slither provided a full day of festivities and fun with custom bikes, vendors, live bands, on-site tattooing, food, booze and much more.

The Slither served as a kick-ass kick-off to the various s

Sohonet | Articles | The Future of Dailies: Simplifying Review Processes in Film Production

Dailies – the raw, unedited footage shot over the course of a day of production – offer content creators valuable insight into acting, camera work, lighting, and production quality. Over the last decade or so, with the shift from film to digital, the dailies process went through a complete transformation to accommodate new production workflows. Now, with recent developments in the cloud, virtual production, AI and machine learning, the next shift in the dailies process is closer on the horizon t

Sohonet | Articles | Preserving the Magic: Why Secure Video Streaming is Essential for Film and TV

Preserving the Magic: Why Secure Video Streaming is Essential for Film and TV

In the current age of content consumption, viewers have turned to streaming over physical media at an overwhelmingly high rate. With a viewing device – a smartphone -- in their pocket almost all the time, consumers have access to their favorite content whenever, with one tap. As a result, the need for heightened security for video streaming has become increasingly critical to ensure that the rights of intellectual pro

Sohonet | Articles | Transforming TV and Film Production in the Cloud

Transforming TV and Film Production in the Cloud

In the current landscape of film and television, and with the ability to stream at the click of a button, there is no shortage of quality content to consume. Cloud technology has completely revolutionised workflows in order to keep up with content demand, quick production turnarounds, and tight budgets. While the adoption of cloud-based workflows was undeniably expedited in 2020 when in-person collaboration had come to a halt due to the pandemic,

Talking Generative AI with Corridor Digital’s Niko Pueringer

The 2024 HPA Tech Retreat, now in its 29th year, showcased a program chock full of presentations, panels, and roundtables spanning a wealth of topics. One primary area of focus at this year’s conference was Artificial Intelligence and its impact on the future of production and post. While the topic is often polarizing, the AI-focused Supersession on Tuesday provided a deep dive into how these tools can help in the content creation process.

Corridor Digital co-founder Niko Pueringer, alongside C

Building a Soundscape for Leave the World Behind

Directed by Sam Esmail and based on the novel of the same name by Rumaan Alam, Leave the World Behind follows the Sandford family on their impromptu vacation to a beautiful rental home on idyllic Long Island. The trip soon goes awry when a cyberattack leaves them without access to their regularly used tech devices, and two strangers – G.H. and Ruth Scott — arrive at their door claiming it’s their home. As the world begins to unravel around them, the two families must put their distrust of each o

The HPA’s Tribute to Post Short Film Shines Light on the Post-Production Community

2023 marked a year of immense challenge for the entertainment industry. The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes impacted not only writers, actors, and those on the production side of the industry, but every individual involved in the movie and television making process. The post-production community was no exception, and was often overlooked in terms of government aid and assistance.

Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) President Seth Hallen details, “This last year was incredibly challenging. Anyone

Post Flow: The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

postPerspective recently sat down with some of the team behind CBS’ The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to discuss how the talk show workflow influences storage and security needs. The Late Show, which airs four days a week, records live to tape, and as you can imagine, their needs are mighty.

Joining us for the discussion were VP of East Coast operations Richard Hart, senior technical engineer Erik Akerblom, director of technical and production operations Kamal Rountree and post supervisor Mark

Lost Planet and Cabin: Storage for Spots

The world of commercials and TV spots is known for quick timelines and multiple levels of sign-off. Storage plays a big factor in not only backing up media but facilitating collaboration with multiple stakeholders.

Lost Planet Editorial’s Kenji Yamauchi elaborated on the storage needs for TV spots, referencing the Google DeepMind piece he recently cut for YouTube.

We also spoke with Cabin’s Andrew Ratzlaff to learn about storage for the recent Capital One holiday spot he cut, which features Jo

BBC and 3 Ball Media: Storage for Unscripted Series

Unscripted reality series and the sheer amount of footage captured for each episode poses unique challenges, especially when it comes to storage.

To find out more about how these shows manage all that data, we first spoke with BBC Worldwide post producer Chris Gats, who works on the unscripted series Life Below Zero and its multitude of spinoffs. The remoteness of the series’ shooting locations is a driving factor in its storage needs, and Gats details how tripling the storage plays into the wo

News Extra: Dell

In 1997, Gnomon entered the scene, providing computer graphics training to professional artists and those interested in making a career move into the VFX industry. Over its 26 years, the school has evolved into an accredited college, providing four-year degree and two-year certificate programs as well as individual classes for artists of all skill levels. Even the broader community of students, professional artists and hobbyists have the opportunity to learn from Gnomon's multiple free events ho

Halon and Meptik Talk Virtual Art Department

A virtual art department, aka VAD, comprises a team of artists and engineers who work their magic (and use game engine technology) to create environments, characters, props and beyond for a virtual production.

First, we spoke with Halon Entertainment virtual art department supervisor Jess Marley and project manager Meredith Brace Sloss to learn about their VAD, the technology they use to power their asset creation and the opportunities for cost savings. The team recently contributed to John Wic

S4 Studios and Original Syndicate: VP Workflows

The workflow for a virtual production is not one-size fits all; the scope of the project truly dictates how the technology can be used and applied. postPerspective met with two innovators from the in-camera VFX (ICVFX) world to learn more about workflows for various types of projects, helping to demystify the notion that this growing technology can only be used for big-budget blockbusters and series.

S4 Studios founder Geoffrey Kater provided insight into the workflow for music videos using the

David Stump and Jim Geduldick: Shooting Virtual Productions

From a cinematography perspective, shooting a virtual production requires in-depth knowledge and a passion to explore the evolving real-time technology. We spoke with two cinematographers equipped with vast experience in the virtual production arena — David Stump, ASC, and James Geduldick — to learn their insights into shooting on an LED volume, the cameras and technology, visual effects, the lighting set-ups, and the importance of coming in prepared.

You have vast experience in both cinematogr

Insider Chat: ASC President Shelly Johnson Talks Upcoming Plans for the Organization

Shelly Johnson was elected president of the esteemed American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) in May of this year and has already made strides to embrace new technologies that benefit the cinematography community, build on the successful Master Classes and additional educational programs, and return to in-person events at the Clubhouse and beyond.

Johnson has had a successful and extensive career as a cinematographer in a diverse range of films (Jurassic Park III, Captain America: The First A

The White Lotus Emmy-Nominated Editor Heather Persons

The White Lotus, created, written and directed by Mike White, is a dark comedy series that follows the drama surrounding wealthy people on their lavish vacations in beautiful destinations. With a cast of familiar faces as well as up-and-coming scene-stealers and shocking intertwined storylines, it is no surprise that it snagged 23 Emmy nominations — across both acting and craft — for its second season.

postPerspective spoke with Emmy-nominated The White Lotus editor Heather Persons, ACE, to dis

Vashi Nedomansky, ACE, Embraces Virtual Production for Project Featuring the Coachella Valley Firebirds

When the Firebirds hockey team announced its home at the new state-of-the-art Acrisure Arena in the Coachella Valley, editor and former professional ice hockey player Vashi Nedomansky, ACE, jumped at the chance to tackle his first virtual production project showcasing the newest AHL team. "If I can combine hockey and filmmaking, then that's a perfect mix. If there is a need for someone with those skill sets, then I should be at the top of that list," laughs Nedomansky. Born in Czechoslovakia, Ne

Color Workflows: Royal Muster and Color Collective

Ready to step up your color game? postPerspective dives deep with two veteran colorists to learn their tips and tricks for creating an impactful grade.

First, we sit down with Royal Muster’s Roslyn Di Sisto, the go-to colorist for Taylor Swift’s music videos — including the latest, Karma — to learn about her approach to grading both short-form and long-form, how time management is key, and how knowledge of multiple grading systems is the ace up her sleeve.

Next, we chat with Color Collective f

Color for Spots: Apache Digital and RKM Studios

Quick turnarounds, multiple looks, and even many levels of approval; there is never a dull moment when color-finishing TV spots. postPerspective recently sat down with Apache Digital co-founders LaRue Anderson and Steve Rodriguez as well as RKM Studios founder and colorist Ryan McNeal to understand their approach to color finishing for commercials and TV.

To kick off the conversation, I’d love to learn about your backgrounds and what led you to starting your own company, Apache Digital.

LaRue
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