Best Color Grading Studios in New York (2026)

Introduction

New York has one of the strongest benches of colourists outside Los Angeles, split between large finishing houses that grade features and episodic television and smaller suites built around one or two senior artists. The 12 studios below were chosen for recent credits, 2025 and 2026 recognition, and the depth of their colour teams.

The past two years brought a fair amount of movement. Irving Harvey, a well-known independent colour company, closed in 2024 and its two principals went on to run Bradford Operations and Greenberg Studio. Harbor brought senior colourist Élodie Ichter into a creative relationship with its New York studio in July 2026. Company 3 artists worked on 24 Emmy-nominated projects in 2026, and six of its colourists were shortlisted for the FilmLight Camerimage Colour Awards.

Every studio here has an active New York office or suite in 2026. The list is unranked, because the right grader depends on the format, the budget and the look you are after.

The best color grading studios in New York

1. Company 3

Global finishing group · Chelsea · company3.com

Company 3 was founded in Los Angeles in 1997 by colourists Stefan Sonnenfeld and Mike Pethel, and opened in New York in 2002. It now runs two Chelsea sites on West 18th Street. In 2026 its artists contributed to 24 Emmy-nominated projects, including the limited series DTF St. Louis, and six of its colourists made the FilmLight Camerimage Colour Awards shortlist.

The New York roster includes senior colourist Kath Raisch and colourist Jake White, alongside finishing staff who work in Resolve and Flame. Three films graded with Company 3 artists screened at the 2026 New York Film Festival, among them James Gray’s Paper Tiger. Its Virtual Outposts let clients in other cities supervise a New York session remotely.

2. Harbor

Production and post studio · Hudson Square and West Village · harborpicturecompany.com

Harbor offers dailies, colour, sound, VFX and editorial across New York, Los Angeles, London, Chicago and Atlanta, with New York studios at King Street and Morton Street. Its colour team works on both entertainment and advertising, and in July 2026 senior colourist Élodie Ichter began a creative relationship with the New York studio.

Recent work includes colour on The Devil Wears Prada 2 and the series Widow’s Bay. Colourist Alex Gregory picked up Ciclope and FilmLight Colour Awards nominations in September 2026 for a Coldplay project, and the studio’s clients appeared among the 2026 Cannes Lions and D&AD winners.

3. Nice Shoes

Independent post studio · SoHo · niceshoes.com

Nice Shoes is a long-running New York post studio covering colour, editorial, VFX, animation and design, and immersive work. Its New York office is on Crosby Street, with further studios in Toronto and Minneapolis.

The studio is strongest in advertising. Recent spots include Hellmann’s “When Sally Met Hellmann’s”, Instacart’s “Summer of ‘99” and work for Carvana. Agencies that need colour and finishing under one roof often use it for that reason.

4. Picture Shop

Streamland Media · Tribeca · pictureshop.com

Picture Shop is a global post company specialising in colour, VFX and finishing, and part of Streamland Media. Its New York facility on Desbrosses Street handles dailies, offline rentals, editorial and colour, under managing director Tom Centrone.

Most of its work is episodic television, with recent credits including Lioness and Heartland. With sites in Los Angeles, Toronto, Vancouver, Atlanta and London, it suits series that shoot in one city and finish in another.

5. Color Collective

Independent colour studio · NoMad · colorcollective.com

Color Collective is a colour-only studio on West 27th Street, co-founded by senior colourist Alex Bickel. Its roster is small, with Bickel, Mike Howell and Alex Jimenez, and the work centres on feature films.

Credits include Moonlight, Lady Bird, Everything Everywhere All At Once and Nickel Boys, alongside music videos and commercials for Childish Gambino, Xbox and Dom Pérignon. It is a natural first call for independent features with a strong visual identity.

6. Skyline Finishing

Independent finishing house · Flatiron · skylinefinishing.com

Skyline Finishing grades film, television and streaming work in SDR and HDR from West 23rd Street, and also offers sound in two Dolby Atmos rooms, film scanning from 8mm to 70mm, restoration and DCP delivery.

It is particularly busy in documentary. Recent titles include The Jinx: Part Two and My Mom Jayne for HBO, American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson for Netflix, and the features Blink Twice and Riff Raff. Having scanning, colour and sound in one building helps archive-heavy projects.

7. PostWorks New York

Independent post facility · West Village · postworks.com

PostWorks describes itself as the East Coast’s most comprehensive digital motion picture and post facility. From Leroy Street it handles theatrical and television finishing, colour, sound, restoration and remastering, and scanning for archive and streaming.

It also rents offline editorial systems and offers virtualised editorial and remote review, so a production can cut, grade and mix in one place. That makes it a practical choice for features and series that want a single facility from offline to deliverables.

8. Dungeon Beach

Independent boutique · Williamsburg, Brooklyn · dungeonbeach.com

Dungeon Beach is a boutique post house in Williamsburg built around HDR colour and Dolby Atmos mixing. Jeff Sousa leads colour and Tim Korn leads sound, with ADR, VFX, online editing and post supervision also in house.

Its client list includes Searchlight, A24, Hulu, Universal and Meta, and recent titles include A Real Pain and I Saw the TV Glow. Visits are by appointment, and it runs its own file drop for incoming media.

9. Bradford Operations

Independent · New York · bradfordoperations.com

Bradford Operations handles colour grading, online editing, post supervision, archival restoration and delivery for feature films and commercials. Colourist Samuel Gursky moved his practice there after Irving Harvey, which he helped run from 2012, closed in 2024.

The studio works across documentary, narrative and commercial projects, and builds its own software to support finishing. It suits independent features and documentaries that want a senior colourist who also understands delivery.

10. Blacksmith

Commercial VFX and colour studio · New York · blacksmith.tv

Blacksmith is a high-end VFX company for advertising with offices in New York and Los Angeles, and it runs a dedicated colour department alongside its effects work.

Its portfolio covers campaigns for Apple, Mercedes, adidas, Volkswagen, Delta and Amazon, with directors such as Kim Gehrig and Salomon Ligthelm and agencies including Droga5, Johannes Leonardo and Wieden+Kennedy. It suits spots where grading and VFX need to be planned together.

11. Alkemy X

Independent media company · NoMad · alkemy-x.com

Alkemy X calls itself an independent global media company working across entertainment, technology and advertising. Its New York office is on West 30th Street, one of eight sites that include Los Angeles, London, Toronto and Amsterdam.

On the advertising side it offers editorial and finishing, commercial VFX, animation and live action, and it has a colour team that includes Janet Falcon. It is a sensible option when a campaign needs edit, VFX and grade from a single vendor.

12. Ntropic

Visual content studio · Flatiron · ntropic.com

Ntropic is a commercial content studio with offices in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London and Ho Chi Minh City. Its New York office is on West 21st Street, with Helena Lee as executive producer.

Recent clients include Verizon, Amazon (Echo Studio), Naked Juice, Banana Boat and Southern California Edison, with much of the work combining live action, CG and finishing. Ask which colourist will be on the job and where they are based.

What to look for in a New York color grading studio

Start with the colourist, then the facility. Most clients follow a particular grader, and the same studio can produce very different results depending on who sits at the panel. Look at recent reels in the format you are making, whether that is a feature, an episodic series or a 30-second spot.

Match the room to the deliverable. Theatrical work needs a calibrated projection suite and DCP mastering; HDR streaming work needs a Dolby Vision pipeline and a reference monitor; a commercial may only need SDR and a fast turnaround. Ask which rooms you will be in and what the studio delivers in house.

Think about what sits around the grade. Some houses here also do dailies, VFX, sound and scanning, which saves conform and transfer steps. Smaller suites tend to give you more of a senior colourist’s time, but you may need to arrange mix and delivery elsewhere.

Agree how looks and feedback will travel. Grades often start from show LUTs and reference stills set during prep, and remote supervision is now normal for clients outside New York. A clear place for LUTs, reference frames, exports and notes, with versions everyone can trust, keeps a session from being spent on file questions.

How Fabric helps color grading teams

Fabric gives a colour team one workspace for its files, references and client feedback, with AI search across all of it. A grade usually starts long before the session, with show LUTs, camera test frames and reference stills gathered in prep, and those can sit in one shared folder that the colourist, DP and director all see. If a newer team member needs a refresher, there is a short guide to what a LUT is.

Large media lives in Fabric’s cloud drive, which streams files on demand so they take no local disk space, and heavy video opens without a full download. That suits graded exports, review files and proxies moving between a facility and a remote client. For more on that pattern, see what a proxy workflow is and Fabric’s comparison of cloud storage for video editors.

Look references are easier to find with colour search, which finds visual assets by shade, and similar search, which surfaces frames with comparable composition, colour and subject. A canvas works well as a look board, with stills, Vimeo links and grade notes side by side.

For remote review, a folder of exports can be published as a web page with password protection, and clients can leave threaded comments through a shared link without creating an account. Link analytics shows when each named recipient opened a review link. Timestamped comments and drawing on video are coming soon to annotations; today, comments sit on the file as a whole.

Password protection and link analytics are included on Pro and Team plans. See plans for teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best color grading studio in New York?

It depends on the project and the colourist you want. On 2026 recognition, Company 3 had six colourists shortlisted for the FilmLight Camerimage Colour Awards, and Harbor’s Alex Gregory was nominated at Ciclope. Color Collective has graded some of the most visible independent features of the past decade.

Who owns Company 3 and Picture Shop?

Picture Shop is part of Streamland Media. Company 3 has had several owners: Liberty Media bought it in 2000, Deluxe in 2010, and it moved to Framestore in 2020 after Deluxe’s bankruptcy. It is worth checking current ownership when you sign a large contract, as post groups have changed hands often.

Can I supervise a New York grade remotely?

Yes. Company 3 runs Virtual Outposts for remote sessions, and PostWorks offers remote review. Ask the studio which streaming system and monitor calibration it uses, so what you see at home is close to the suite.

Which New York studios grade commercials rather than features?

Nice Shoes, Blacksmith, Alkemy X and Ntropic do most of their colour work in advertising, and Harbor and Company 3 both have commercial divisions. If your spot also needs heavy effects work, see our list of VFX studios in New York.

What happened to Irving Harvey?

Irving Harvey closed in 2024 after operating since 2012. Colourist Samuel Gursky now works through Bradford Operations, and Matthew Greenberg set up Greenberg Studio.

Related lists

Color grading studios in other cities: Los Angeles · London · Chicago · Toronto · Sydney

More in New York: Creative agencies · Post-production · Editing · VFX · Video production · Sound design

Run your studio on Fabric: Fabric for video editors · Fabric for creative teams · Best video asset management tools