Producer Sean Sforza on making The Beast in Me

interview and words for Sohonet

article here

There’s a potential murderer on Long Island in psychological thriller The Beast in Me as new neighbors played by Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys face off in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Netflix latest hit miniseries is created, written and executive produced by Gabe Rotter (The X-Files), executive produced and written by Daniel Pearle, and led by showrunner by Howard Gordon (24; Homeland). Executive producers also include Jodie Foster and Conan O'Brien. Production ran from September 2024 through February 2025 and the program debuted on Netflix in November to critical acclaim. Running the show’s extensive postproduction operation was producer Sean Sforza whose extensive credits include Julia (HBO Max), Empire (Fox) and Bull (CBS).

While Sforza says his goal when entering the industry some 25 years ago was to work on features he instantly thrived on the unique pressures of fast turnaround episodic television.

“They were shooting two features in the same building where we were making a series I was on. Over the course of ten months, we completed 24 episodes, and they were still only a quarter of the way through their movie. I remember thinking, ‘I don’t know if I have the patience for this.’

“I realized I love the pace of television. We don’t have enough time to endlessly go over things. We have to look immediately at what’s important to the story. Some of my favorite showrunners ask, ‘Are we fooling ourselves by being in love with our work or is it actually moving the story forward?’ That question sticks with me.

“Howard Gordon and I have worked together on multiple projects. I’m very fortunate: I’m in post, but I’ve been able to contribute to so many aspects—main titles, visual effects, color, and even time in the edit room. I get to have my hands involved in much of the process from start to finish.

Sohonet: Regarding The Beast in Me, what were your responsibilities, and what were the key components—people, facilities, technology—that you brought on board?

Sean Sforza: A bit of everything. I set up workflow pipelines. Production was in New Jersey, and the rest of editorial and post were in New York. We had four editors working on blocks of two episodes each one of whom was located in Los Angeles. We also had to connect our composers (Sean Callery, along with Sara Barone and Tim Callobre). During production, Howard was constantly traveling—in Canada for Accused, then later Spain and Cuba for another project—so setting up a workflow that kept everyone connected was crucial.

We coordinated dailies from set in New Jersey to be processed and edited in New York and Los Angeles. Our cinematographer, Lyle Vincent, and director, Antonio Campos (who was also one of the executive producers), originally envisioned the series being shot on film, but when budgetary constraints arose, we faced the challenge of transitioning to digital without compromising the intended look and depth of film. Clearview played a crucial role in sharing files of our look tests, including daylight, night, interior, and exterior shots, to maintain the feel and look of our world. However, this can be tricky because these large files get very compressed in the editorial process and Clearview helped us have the confidence that everyone in their different locations was viewing the same look and color.

I also hire the editorial team—visual effects, sound, post staff and vendors that best suit the project. It’s a very collaborative effort between the creatives and the studio and network to make sure we have all our players on board.

Sean Sforza, Post Producer

How did you use ClearView to connect your production staff and executives on The Beast in Me?

I’d used ClearView countless times on several projects, including on Julia, a wonderful series about Julia Child that debuted in 2022. On The Beast in Me, ClearView was essential part of our team.

When dailies come in, the high-definition files go onto a viewing platform holding terabytes of data. We compress the files into a smaller QuickTime format to ensure easy accessibility for all team members giving each department a thorough review—allowing us to verify that all necessary material was captured during the previous day's work and maintain continuity when returning to a scene that may be shot up to several weeks later. But those files don’t show the true look or sound.

ClearView was an essential tool. If a problem came up on the day or the next morning the production had to verify, we could all jump on immediately—the director on set during lunch, the editor and EP in their office, sometimes even in their cars. Howard was traveling constantly; and would jump on from his car or at the airport. ClearView let us all see the same high-quality image at the same time and exhale: ‘Okay, that color looks right, we have the coverage we need to complete the sequence. We’re good.’”

Being able to send a link and suddenly be ‘in the same room’ despite being scattered everywhere—that’s huge in modern filmmaking.

‍Do you calibrate devices so everyone sees the same thing?

Yes. iPad Pros are the best—absolutely worth the premium. Their resolution is reliable, and I trust them more than laptops, whose screens deteriorate over time. Editors work on calibrated monitors in their offices. Most of us review on our laptops for size of the screen and extra convenience of it being on hand, but when in doubt, we switch to iPads to double-check the look.

You mentioned using ClearView during production. What about during review and approval in editorial?

We couldn't do what we do without. For example, if a director shot one half of a scene and needed to return days later or a shot that was never intended to be VFX, we are now including the Manhattan skyline, the editor and director could meet on ClearView to review assembled footage and confirm which pieces were needed to complete the scene.

Once they’ve wrapped one show, directors often move on to prep their next project and aren’t always available come into editorial. We’d send them a cut overnight as a link on their email that they can watch; they’d provide notes, and the next day they could jump on ClearView with the editor. They might say, ‘Let’s go to five minutes in,’ and the editor can work on their notes in real time together. Its' also not uncommon for the director and editor to talk through alt takes and try a different approach of a scene. Once the editor understands what the director has in mind, the director can step away to allow the editor time to assemble the sequence and jump back on seamlessly once they are ready.

With producers, getting everyone physically in the same room at the same time is harder than ever. Once we’re in the producer cut, ClearView makes it simple: anyone can join from any location at any step of the process allowing the most efficient use of everyone's time.

We don’t use it as heavily with studios unless a note requires deep detail in reviewing footage, but for our internal process—and problem-solving tough edits or visual effects—it’s invaluable. Once we’re in the edit phase, ClearView is used as often as a keyboard— easily 60% of our day is spent collaborating together on Clearview.

Did you also use it with the sound?

Yes. In spotting sessions for sound, music, and VFX, sometimes dues to time constraints or deadlines we would all be in separate locations watching the same feed. If a music cue wasn’t working, we’d play the scene once with the temp cue, then again muted in real time so the composer could focus on getting the pacing and rhythm.

Before this technology, we’d have to send files back and forth and manually try to sync playback on both ends—not ideal.

We also used Sohonet extensively for our sound mixes. Mixes were done in New York. Most EPs, including myself, were on the dubbing stage, but when that wasn't the case we’d send the ClearView feed out for them to remote into the session; while we can’t control their listening environment, good headphones or proper monitors ensured they were hearing the mix accurately and ClearView ensured the signal we sent reached them without losing high or low end frequency along the way.

Each rooms varies, of course—sound reflects differently—but with ClearView I’m confident the feed being delivered to just about anywhere in the world is being delivered and heard as intended.

‍Presumably, the Netflix deliverables were HDR 4K?

Yes. Netflix deserves a lot of credit—they care deeply about giving filmmakers a chance to review the final product after it goes through their pipeline and make any changes necessary to ensure the look and sound goes to air as intended. We deliver HDR picture and Atmos sound.

It seems like you welcome the challenge of high end TV production and creative problem-solving it requires. Would that be fair?

Absolutely. It’s like a bullet train heading toward a track switch. You have to make decisions—do we omit this scene or keep it? You must stay completely in tune with how the story is playing. Once it’s on air, there are no redos and no explanations like, ‘Why didn’t they ever show what the note said?’ Sometimes we wish we had, but in the moment we have to choose what best serves the story and moves it forward.