Color Is a Language | Xanthe Brown on Taste, Translation, and Creative Authority
Description
In this episode, Mishu sits down with editor, colorist, writer, and producer Xanthe Brown to talk about what happens after a year of saying yes to everything — the growth, the at-times exhaustion, and the challenging balancing act of sustainability through practicing boundaries. They dig into the emotional and technical labor of post-production, why color is one of the hardest creative languages to translate, and how learning to articulate visual feeling is as much about empathy as it is about skill.
Xanthe shares what it’s been like building a post-production career straight out of film school, navigating friend-based collaborations, and balancing generosity with self-preservation. From unsupervised color notes and budget-driven workflows to the discomfort of asking for limits, this conversation is about maturing creatively without hardening — and learning when “yes” can become “not right now.”
Xanthe Brown is a Chicago-based editor, colorist, writer, and producer whose work spans independent features, documentary series, and branded content. She was a producer and editor on the feature mockumentary Line Cooks (premiering 2026), is currently coloring the documentary series One Million Experiments in the Field, and served as post-producer on Adam Present’s American Dendrite, which screened at the Chicago Underground Film Festival.
We talk about:
→ Why color notes are emotional translations, not technical instructions
→ The hidden cost of being “the only colorist people know”
→ Supervised vs. unsupervised post workflows (and what budget really dictates)
→ Using lessons from producing and post production to inform a writing practice
Learn more about Xanthe at xanthemoon.com and follow her on Instagram: @xanthe_does_film
Listen to more episodes at mischiefpod.com and follow us on Instagram and TikTok at @mischiefpod
Produced by @ohhmaybemedia
United States
