About
Australian-born, Paul Yacono discovered his passion for photography at age 11 when he was given a 35mm still camera.
At 20, he moved to New York and immersed himself in street photography before relocating to Los Angeles, where he started working at a boutique DI shop, working on trailers for Fox Searchlight and Lionsgate. There, he assisted Mitch Paulson (now at PictureShop), learning Smoke/Flame and Lustre during the early days of DI, mastering both film and digital workflows.
After a few years freelancing as a Finisher and Colorist, Paul transitioned to a52 during the Great Recession. He worked closely with owner Angus Wall to build and expand the company’s color department, grading commercials, main title sequences, feature films, doc-series, episodics, short films, and music videos. His work included David Fincher’s House of Cards, Ava DuVernay’s Oscar-nominated 13th, The Black Godfather, Five Came Back, Amanda Knox, and the Oscar-nominated short documentary Audible. In addition to long-form work, Paul has contributed to some of the most visually striking music videos of the last decade, including Beyoncé’s Black Is King (Mood 4 Eva), Kendrick Lamar’s DNA, and Justin Timberlake’s Say Something.
Paul later joined The Mill, where he worked on over 20 Super Bowl commercials, including PopCorners’ Breaking Good, Amazon’s Alexa’s Body starring Michael B. Jordan, and this year’s USA Today Ad Meter winner, Budweiser’s Super Bowl commercial First Delivery.
Now at Harbor, Paul continues his work in high-end color grading, bringing his expertise to commercials, films, and episodic projects.