ABC’s Abbott Elementary has taken the industry by storm. The show picked up seven Emmy nominations and won three Emmys in Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing, and Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series. The show has garnered critical acclaim and numerous awards in its short time on air.

Utilizing the power of Unreal Engine, Nice Shoes provided post-production services for the promotion of the show by creating a fully-CG real-time photorealistic version of several Philadelphia city blocks. Everything to the finest detail was created for a seamless look and feel. Actors were then filmed on a green screen and composited into the CG world.

The real-time CG team at Nice Shoes utilized a variety of 3D tools – including Maya – for initial city block assets. Those files were imported into an Unreal world-build, to provide the most realistic and highly adjustable environment possible. The finishing team was able to match the lighting from the LA-based
live-action shoot in order to integrate the cast into an amped-up version of Philadelphia. Just in time for the show’s highly anticipated second season debut on ABC.

On another project, Nice Shoes recently delivered color services for Reality, a unique film that premiered at Berlinale 2023. The film is based on the true story of Reality Winner, a woman who received the longest sentence ever for the release of government information to the media. “Everything
from the directing, shooting, acting, and producing was stellar. I really loved working on it!” says colorist Marcy Robinson. “We tried to make things feel simultaneously beautiful and bleak under fluorescent lighting and it was a fine line the whole time, which made for very satisfying work.” The script, taken
from FBI interrogations, was written and directed by Tina Satter, stars Sydney Sweeney, and was colored by Nice Shoes Colorist Marcy Robinson.

Nice Shoes also provided DI and color services for Murder of God’s Banker, a documentary crime series. It follows the investigation into the death of an Italian banker and reveals a dark web that includes the Vatican, the Sicilian Mafia, and a secret fascist society. “We crafted the look of the interviews based on the animated reenactments. It was shot with a lot of quasars which gave it a lot of color to seamlessly tie the visuals together,” says Colorist Phil Choe. The series is now available on Paramount+.

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