Stefan Sonnenfeld

Board Member at Wayfarer Studios

Stefan Sonnenfeld, Founder and President of Company 3, is a trusted collaborator of some of the world’s best filmmakers. He is an artist of rare talent and a major contributor to the momentous creative, technical, and business-oriented changes that are sweeping the post-production industry today.

Sonnenfeld is among a handful of artists who has championed the power of color grading to tell stories and communicate emotion. Described by NPR as a “da Vinci of the movies,” Sonnenfeld has applied his skills as a colorist to many of the most acclaimed and popular projects being done, including: A Star is Boar, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Beauty and the Beast, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Wonder Woman, the Pirates of the Caribbean and Transformers series, to name just a few.

Sonnenfeld grew up in Los Angeles and studied business at Boston University. a summer job delivering dailies for the TV series Miami Vice sparked his interest in post production. He began his career with Image Transform and became a colorist at The Post Group. At Pacific Ocean Post in the 1990s, he was among the most sought after colorists of commercials and music videos, forging close relationships with the industry’s top directors and cinematographers.

Sonnenfeld founded Company 3 in 1997. As many commercial directors made the transition to long-form work, he became increasingly involved in grading feature films, helping to pioneer the digital intermediate process. At the same time, he built Company 3 into a national powerhouse, with an unrivaled reputation for excellence in color grading and other post production services. In 2007, Entertainment Weekly named Sonnenfeld to its list of “50 Smartest People in Hollywood.” Creativity Magazine also included him on its list of “Most Interesting People.”