Today we’d like to introduce you to John Monroe.
Hi John, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m John Monroe, Post-Sup and founder of Transform. I’m passionate about the business of post-production, the tools and technology driving change, and the talented people in our industry. My journey in the film industry began during college at the University of Texas, where I quickly discovered I was learning more through self-teaching and hands-on work than in classes. The real turning point came when I met Luke, who would become my first business partner. He had this wedding video operation going, and I jumped in to manage post production – mostly training college students like ourselves to edit. We ended up producing hundreds of wedding videos and making solid money throughout school.
By my junior year, Luke had this ambitious idea to pivot into commercial work, which felt like a groundbreaking idea at the time, so we rebranded and officially became commercial filmmakers. Around the same time, I took a full-time position at another production company doing post-production work. They were incredibly accommodating – I’d work there from 8:30 to 3:30, then walk across the parking lot to my own office and grind on our own projects until late at night.
After college, we went all-in and I quit my job at the other production company and we cold-called thousands of local businesses. Car dealerships, social media content, whatever we could hustle up. We started in a 400-square-foot shared office and grew steadily year after year. When COVID hit in 2020, it became an unexpected breakthrough for us. While the industry shut down across the country, Texas remained open for business, and projects that would normally go to LA or New York began coming to Texas instead. This surge in work gave us real insight into how the film industry operates—and revealed just how broken many of its systems are. The traditional model has so many middlemen: ad agencies hire sales reps who represent production companies who represent directors with exclusive deals. It’s incredibly inefficient and expensive, and honestly, it leaves everyone frustrated.
By 2024, we’d built something significant and were competing with national production companies, but both Luke and I felt that the traditional film/advertising business model was antiquated and we wanted to build something more efficient, equitable, and future-proof. Luke spun off the production side of the business to create Departure and I spun off post-production to create Transform Post.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not a smooth road – there have been some significant ups and downs along the way. I’ll never forget sitting on the front porch of our office in 2020 when South by Southwest got canceled and we lost a massive amount of work overnight. I thought it was the end for us. Instead, it became our biggest blessing and led to exponential growth. On the flip side, we’ve won jobs that seemed absolutely incredible, only to have them turn into complete disasters. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that I never know what to expect in this industry.
But honestly, the biggest struggle hasn’t been the actual creative work. The craft itself – the editing, color, VFX, sound design – has never been the hard part. All of us artists are driven by that work, and with AI and evolving tools, it’s an exciting time to be doing this. The real struggles have been everything around the work – the business side, the industry politics, the complex relationships and inefficient processes. That’s actually why I ended up getting my MBA.
This industry is incredibly dynamic and, frankly, pretty savage. I needed better tools to navigate it. But I’ve realized that because these business challenges are universally where people in our industry struggle the most, that’s also where I can add the most value. I’m in a unique position to understand the pain points that almost everyone in our industry faces, and I’m determined to use that experience to create better solutions.
We’ve been impressed with Transform Post, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Transform Post is a full-service post-production house offering editorial, motion graphics, sound, color, and VFX to production companies, ad agencies, directors, and businesses. But we operate fundamentally differently than traditional post facilities.
Instead of maintaining expensive overhead and a fixed roster of talent, we carefully match each project with independent post-production artists who align perfectly with the specific needs and creative vision. We keep our full-time team small and focused on what we do best: the business and infrastructure of post-production. Rather than trying to do everything in-house, we’ve built robust systems and workflows that keep projects running smoothly while maintaining consistent quality control.
Our real expertise isn’t just in the craft – it’s in structuring and managing projects, pairing the right talent, and making the complicated world of post-production simple and transparent for our clients. We’re essentially solving the inefficiency problem I experienced firsthand when we were trying to compete in the traditional model.
I know that probably sounds pretty business-focused, but that’s because the business of post is what I’m genuinely obsessed with. There are so many things I don’t like about our industry, so I shaped our business model specifically to combat them. We’ve actually put our philosophy out there publicly – you can check out our manifesto at transformpost.com/principles
Here’s what I believe: the companies hiring our industry deserve real value for their money, and the filmmakers, artists, and craftspeople who make up our industry deserve to be treated and paid fairly. It shouldn’t be one or the other.
Post-production has given me an incredible career, and I’m more optimistic than ever about its future. Whether you’re curious about working together, want to discuss how AI and new technology are driving change, or just want to share ideas about where our industry is headed, I’d love to chat.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I am a bit of an obsessive learner and my interests vary a lot – here are some very impactful resources that I love
– (Book) Principles by Ray Dalio – He lays out principles of work and life to live by.
– (Book) Hero With 1000 Faces by Joseph Campbell – Analyzing all of storytelling as the same “Hero’s Journey”
– (Business) 37Signals – their principles and blog are a big inspiration
– (Youtube) Corridor Crew – VFX artists react, educational and easy to watch VFX show
Contact Info:
- Website: https://transformpost.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/transform.post
