Today we’d like to introduce you to Lonny and Alexis Pelot.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Lonny and Alexis. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Alexis: We’ve been married since 2000 and have five kids. We started our post-production company in 2017, but we’ve actually worked together several times over the years. We met working at a movie theater in 1996 — Lonny was a projectionist and I was an usher. I’d do trash runs very slowly, hoping to catch a glimpse of him outside.
Lonny: And I’d hang out near the dumpster hoping to see her. Kinda sweet, kinda weird.
Alexis: I had just moved here from Kansas City and transferred to GSU for journalism. As it turned out, Lonny was a student at GSU too.
Lonny: I was born and raised in Decatur. Spent a lot of my time as a kid biking and skating around Decatur and Little 5 Points. Crazy Lou’s and Zesto’s made for some unforgettable moments in my life for sure. I attended City of Decatur schools and went to GSU to study film.
We both began working in the local TV/Film industry in 2000. I started out as an edit assist in Buckhead working on broadcast commercials. In 2004, I moved to a production company as Senior Editor. Creatively, I also learned color grade and VFX, and stepped in as DIT or on-set editor on productions. On the technical side, I often wore the hat of post engineer and systems integrator. The company expanded into television shows and feature films. I worked on the film The Case for Christ which was a cool milestone — Alexis and I got to watch it at the movie theater where we had met 20 years earlier.
Alexis: I started working in production, before moving into post for the same company Lonny later joined. After our first son was born, we made a pivotal decision: I quit to become a stay-at-home parent. Honestly, not something I totally planned to do. I’d worked full-time since I was a teenager and was now working for a company I loved. And yet, we knew this was what we were being called to do as a family. Best decision ever.
I also started freelancing as a writer. I grew up in a large, tight-knit family. My parents love movies too and so VHS was a fairly inexpensive way to entertain nine kids. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to make movies, specifically write. I wrote several screenplays with my friend Jessica and we did pretty well in competitions. That experience led to work-for-hire scriptwriting, as well as the chance to consult and write coverage for other writers. When our youngest child started kindergarten, we were praying about what to do next. Should I keep freelancing or go back to work full-time? But then…
Lonny: The company where I’d worked for 13 years shifted to a freelance model and suddenly our family of seven was without any full-time income. We’d been through lean times before, but this was unlike anything we’d experienced. As Christians, we believe God is our ultimate provider. Now that faith was put to the test. Did we really believe God would continue to provide or had we actually been putting our faith in a steady paycheck? Throughout our marriage, we’d seen God provide over and over for our family in ways that didn’t make sense on paper. So, we trusted that He would sustain us. And He did.
We immediately jumped into working freelance on a documentary for my now-former employer — with me as the editor/colorist and Alexis as the writer. Without fully planning it, we were working together again. It was great! Exhausting and nerve wracking, but great. We’d talked about starting our own company before, but didn’t know what that could look like. Now, the more we worked together, the more we began thinking this is what we’re supposed to do. So we jumped. We officially formed our LLC, sent out a million emails, went to every networking function we could, started meeting new clients and followed work as it came.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Lonny: The beginning was exciting and scary for sure. We face the same struggles as many other small businesses. It feels like we should always be doing something: networking functions, emails, coffee meet ups, zoom meetings… But it’s also a lot of fun and we have more flexibility than ever before.
Alexis: We feel a lot of responsibility for making this company work. Before, I was able to freelance and write, because Lonny worked full-time. And Lonny was able to work crazy hours because I was home with the kids. Now, we’re all in together. It is very much step-by-step, day-by-day, job-by-job, trusting God will continue to provide. These past three years have strengthened our faith, marriage and family in ways that we are so grateful for.
Lonny: We’ve had really great role models to learn from. We’ve both worked for several small businesses in the past. The production company I worked for is run by a married couple and we saw firsthand the dedication and work they put into growing their company.
Alexis: My parents were small business owners too. Raising nine kids, my dad worked full-time outside of the house, while my mom ran a successful business from home. I’ve learned so much from them. Together, they’re the epitome of faithfulness, hard work, creativity and perseverance.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Further Ado – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Alexis: We love that we get the chance to work with so many great people on great projects. Since starting this company, we’ve been able to not only collaborate with new people, but also with people we’ve known for twenty years. One of the best parts of this industry is working on projects that bring people together from different backgrounds, with different strengths, talents and perspectives. At the end of the day, we love to tell stories that impact people in positive ways. Doing that effectively is a combination and culmination of all aspects of writing, production and post.
Lonny: Our company offers all stages of post production for film and television projects: offline and online editing; color grade; VFX; audio design and mix; mastering and deliverables for broadcast, streaming and theatrical distribution. Our main focus is narrative work — indie and faith-based features, documentaries, short films and non-profit projects. On the writing side, we also work on long and short-form scripts — primarily comedy, drama, documentaries and children’s projects.
One thing that makes us a bit unique is that we bring the two ends of production together: writing and post-production. We approach storytelling from very different perspectives. As an editor, I am a very visual person and focus on the video edit. I enjoy the process of going through all of the footage to find the right expressions, reactions and inflections to craft the story, tone, and pacing of a piece.
Alexis: Where, as a writer, I focus on the story edit. I’ll literally cut up documentary transcripts, then lay everything out to figure out how the story flows. On the flip side, when I’m working on a script, Lonny gives advice from a visual perspective. He reads and looks at transitions between scenes, if something’s going to require VFX, if I’m writing too big for the budget, etc.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Lonny: We actually just finished building out our new studio space which we’re really excited about. A lot of how we work is already in the remote workspace. Footage is delivered through hard drives and file transfers. We offer streaming video for edit sessions so producers and directors can conduct a session from basically anywhere. They can see the fullscreen output or the edit computer screen to see footage options. Grading remotely is certainly more particular with the need for properly calibrated monitors and viewing environments, but that is certainly possible too.
Cloud based collaboration and remote workflows are becoming more and more common so the need to be close to your post team is becoming less and less of an issue. The pandemic has certainly shifted the way people work across all industries and people have now become more comfortable working remotely.
Alexis: Film and television production in Georgia is well-established of course, and we’re seeing content development and post production continue to grow as well. With so much talent in Atlanta, we’d love to see more projects not only shoot here, but start and finish here too.
Contact Info:
- Website: furtheradopost.com
- Email: info@furtheradopost.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/furtheradopost
- Facebook: facebook.com/furtheradopost
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