Colourist · Online Editor · Mastering & Deliverables
Trusted by broadcasters, streamers, and brands for over two decades.
About
I'm Thanassi Panagiotaras a Melbourne-based post-production finishing specialist with 25 years of experience across feature film, documentary, television, and branded content.
I came up at the birth of digital post, built my craft through a decade of daily production at La Trobe University, and hit the ground running as a colourist on a feature film before going independent. Since 2014, I've been freelancing finishing longform projects for Stan, ABC, and Amazon Prime Video, grading campaigns for major Australian and international brands, and delivering broadcast-ready work across every major Australian network.
I work from a fully calibrated boutique studio in Melbourne. I bring a story-driven eye and a meticulous technical standard to every project from first grade to final delivery.
Services
Story-driven grading for feature film, documentary, television, and branded content. Every grade is built to serve the narrative whether that's a bold cinematic look, period-accurate restoration, or clean broadcast-ready colour.
Full online from conform through VFX integration, titles, and final QC. Everything locked, polished, and ready for delivery before it leaves the room.
Broadcast, streaming, cinema, and digital every spec met, every platform covered. DCPs, ProRes, IMF, broadcast masters. Nothing leaves without passing muster.
For select clients. 25 years of experience shaping cuts from first assembly through to fine cut. Available as a standalone service or part of a full post pipeline.
Generative image and video integrated directly into traditional post pipelines. Colour-consistent, graded to match, deliverable to broadcast spec. Not hype problem-solving.
Exploring decades of UFO encounters on the Nullarbor Plain, centred on the 1988 Knowles family incident. AI-generated imagery and video integrated throughout, including fully synthetic reenactments graded and finished to broadcast standard.
Testimonials
I've known Thanassi for many years. He's a rare blend of technical mastery and creative intuition someone I can trust to elevate the artistic vision and deliver a great client experience. A true professional and a pleasure to collaborate with.
Thanassi has handled finishing on several of our longform projects, and he consistently delivers top-tier results. His grading is story-driven, his technical work is flawless, and he always gets us across the line whether for cinema, broadcast, or streamers. He's a trusted part of our post team.
I've been working with Thanassi as my go-to colourist for nearly a decade and he's been an invaluable creative partner on every project. We've collaborated on dozens of commercials, short films, and features, and his consistency, attention to detail and creative intuition have elevated every production. Technically he's exceptional, creatively he's second to none and the best colourist I've worked with in Australia.
Let's work together
Broadcast, streaming, cinema, branded content. Colour, online, mastering. Let's talk.
Contact Thanassi →Selected Work
Showing all 32 projects
What I do
Story-driven grading for feature film, documentary, television, and branded content. Every grade is built to serve the narrative, whether that's a bold cinematic look, period-accurate restoration, or clean broadcast-ready colour. I work in DaVinci Resolve Studio on a calibrated reference monitor, delivering to any broadcast or streaming specification.
Full online from conform through VFX integration, titles, and final QC. Everything locked, polished, and ready for delivery before it leaves the room. No handoffs. No surprises.
Every spec met, every platform covered. I've delivered to every major Australian broadcaster and streaming platform, as well as international distribution. I know the specs, the pitfalls, and how to get your project through QC first time.
For select clients. 25 years of experience shaping cuts from first assembly through to fine cut. Available as a standalone service or as part of a full post pipeline. I edit in Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve, bringing a story-first instinct and a producer's eye to the structure.
Generative image and video integrated directly into traditional post pipelines. Colour-consistent, graded to match, deliverable to broadcast spec. Adopted in late 2025 to solve specific production problems within budget, not from hype. Currently in production on The Nullarbor, a feature documentary with fully synthetic AI reenactments.
Tell me about your project and let's work out how to get it finished right.
Contact Thanassi →The person behind the grade
Thanassi Panagiotaras is a Melbourne-based post-production finishing specialist with 25 years of experience across feature film, documentary, television, and branded content.
He came up at the birth of digital post Final Cut Pro 1, After Effects 1, Adobe Premiere (pre-Pro), miniDV and built a strong compositing background from the ground up. After a decade as Post Production Officer at La Trobe University, his first freelance job was a feature film as colourist. He has been operating independently as tpfilm.com.au since 2014.
Since going independent he has finished longform projects for Stan, ABC, and Amazon Prime Video, graded campaigns for major Australian and international brands, and delivered broadcast-ready work across every major Australian network. He works from a fully calibrated boutique studio and brings a story-driven eye and meticulous technical standard to every project from first grade to final delivery.
In late 2025 he integrated AI video and image generation tools directly into broadcast-standard pipelines not from hype, but to solve specific production problems within budget. He is currently in post on The Nullarbor, a feature documentary where fully synthetic AI-generated reenactments are being produced and integrated into a broadcast-standard pipeline.
Career Arc
Birth of digital post. First tools: Final Cut Pro 1, After Effects 1, Adobe Premiere (pre-Pro), miniDV. Strong compositing background developed from the ground up. Live directing and vision switching experience.
10 years as Post Production Officer. Daily filming and editing across the full production pipeline. Built deep technical fluency across every format, codec, and delivery spec of the era.
First freelance job out of La Trobe was a feature film as colourist. Has been freelancing independently ever since tpfilm.com.au established as Melbourne's boutique finishing destination.
Boutique post-production finishing. Specialisation: Colour Grading, Online Editing & Finishing, Mastering & Deliverables. Offline Editing for select clients. Tropfest finalist ×2, St Kilda Film Festival, international festivals. Major broadcast, streaming, and brand clients built over this period including Stan, ABC, Amazon Prime Video, Channel 7, Channel 9, Channel 10, SBS.
Adopted AI video and image generation tools into broadcast-standard pipelines. Not from hype adopted to solve specific production problems within budget. Currently in post on The Nullarbor, a feature documentary with fully synthetic AI reenactments integrated into a broadcast-standard pipeline.
25 years of precision finishing, ready for your next project.
Get In Touch →AI Integration Case Studies
Two 15-second branded content executions for transit screens at Spencer Street Station. Three physically separate screens treated as one continuous display Screen 1 (9:16), Screen 2 (9:16), Screen 3 (16:9).
Campaign 1 The Clock: AI-generated alarm clock flying across all three screens, explodes on Screen 3 revealing Ocean Spray pack shot (three bottles).
Campaign 2 The Cranberry Stream: AI-generated cranberry juice stream travelling across all three screens, hits floor on Screen 3, bottles rise from floor for pack shot.
Base assets: photoshoot stills. Tools used: Adobe Firefly · Runway · Google Flow · Higgsfield · Kling 2.6. First live production AI job tools were actively evaluated and tested simultaneously under live production conditions.
Key Lesson
Multi-screen installations treated as a single continuous canvas require careful motion planning across all three screens simultaneously. AI generation is well-suited to creating physically impossible motion paths that would be prohibitively expensive to produce practically.
Client: CMC Markets (stock trading app). Campaign: Saint Kilda Football Club sponsorship featuring major AFL players.
The Problem: Footage shot on a heavily overcast day flat lighting, no shadows, no depth. Unusable as-is for a broadcast campaign.
Attempt 1 (failed): Kling 2.6 Edit used to replace weather and lighting across full clips. Fast motion footballers running, kicking returned as mushy, detail-destroyed footage.
Solution Hybrid Pipeline:
1. Kling 2.6 Edit applied to clips with players removed generated clean weather-replaced background plates.
2. Original camera rushes used for player footage.
3. Players rotoscoped and masked from original.
4. Original-quality players composited back onto AI backgrounds.
5. Colour graded and finished to broadcast standard.
Key Lesson
AI video generation cannot handle fast motion reliably (as of early 2026). The hybrid pipeline AI for environments, original footage for talent is the current broadcast-viable approach. Never replace footage containing fast-moving subjects with AI generation in a single pass.
The brief: produce a finished TVC for Gruen's The Pitch segment on ABC. The agency, The Reactor, delivered rushes on a Thursday evening. Four days to picture lock, grade, and deliver broadcast-ready masters.
Thursday night the files arrived. Friday through Sunday was the edit, working through agency rounds and revisions until picture was locked with approval on Monday. Monday night was the grade, running through to 3AM Tuesday. The ABC delivery deadline was Tuesday morning. It made it.
The spot won The Pitch for that episode.
What this shows
Tight turnarounds are not an exception in this studio, they are part of the service. When a broadcaster deadline is fixed and immovable, the work gets done. Offline edit, colour grade, online finishing and broadcast delivery in four days from rushes to air.
Feature documentary centred on the 1988 Knowles family UFO incident on the Nullarbor Plain. Director: Stephen Amis. Distributor: Label Distribution.
B-roll generation · A-roll generation · Fully synthetic reenactments of the 1988 Knowles family incident. The most complex AI production challenge of the project: a night-time car chase across the Nullarbor with a pursuing craft, a car becoming airborne, and a family hiding in desert scrub.
Pipeline: Nano Banana Pro + Nano Banana 2 (image generation, start frames, character reference sheets) · Kling 3 · Seedance 2 (video generation). All AI-generated sequences graded to match real location footage and finished to broadcast standard.
Full case study
To be published on or after release of The Nullarbor.
AI integration, broadcast finishing, or the full pipeline let's talk through your project.
Get In Touch →Ready to finish your project?
Whether you're looking for a colourist, an online editor, a full post pipeline, or AI integration into your production I'd love to hear about your project.