We were lucky to catch up with Chris Hall recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with something countless entrepreneurs have had to figure out on the fly – how have you dealt with the rise of remote work?

Having a remote-based workflow is THE business model for Shiny Giant. We are a new company; just formally opened this year. It became clear as we all went from 1 to 3 years past the Covid lockdowns that a significant portion of the commercial edit and post business gone partially or even majority remote. There was a lot of migration from 2019-2024 among creative professionals; out of some of the larger cities, mostly. This has lead to a lot of virtual edit and post sessions that used to always be in-person, and the tech is there (and getting better) for it to work well. Plus, if and when people want to collaborate in person in an edit bay somewhere in the flesh – we can be strategic about where exactly that is – even down to which neighborhood of whatever city. In other words; I am able to rent and set up shop in beautiful edit bays anywhere and everywhere rather than having a fixed address, depending on the project and people involved. The idea being to try to make it as convenient as possible for agencies, clients, and artists.

Chris, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a commercial film editor living and working in LA. I’ve been independent / freelance since 2007; and formed my first company in 2013. For the first eleven years of having that company – I was largely a one-man operation. Editor for hire. Since around 2016; I started being asked by trusted clients and directors to act as a “post house” – finding the talent, managing and seeing the process through, and keeping a budget and schedule. So I was not only editing; but overseeing color, graphics, audio, and some visual effects. Shiny Giant is the new official brand name for this operation, and I am enjoying the challenge and the fun of this new adventure. I also still continue to edit for all of the same clients I always have with the same arrangement we’ve had for years; so this new chapter is about being multi-faceted rather than re-inventing the wheel.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

It’s not so much that my side hustle became my business; but rather, my primary occupation as an independent creative editor began to evolve into something tangibly larger and more layered. Having strong, personal client relationships as an editor eventually led to me being asked to handle the entire post-production pipeline, all the way through delivery. Shiny Giant is the living embodiment of that progression for myself and the people I love to work with. I am grateful to those who helped set me on this course; Craig Cutler, Andy Singer, Autumn Childress, and Chris Eckert.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Most of my team are independent artists themselves, and I absolutely want them to inherently know how much I respect what they bring to the table. I remember what I liked and what I did not like about working for others…put simply; keep everything humane and kind. I’ll be the first to admit when I do not know the answer to something; and I’m more than happy to lean on the good people around me. Oh, and paying people on time is the way.

Contact Info:

• • • Website: https://www.shinygiant.com
    • Email: hello@shinygiant.com
    • instagram: @christhehall