Eric Hahn’s colorist and post-production roles allow him to bring movies to life. Photo by Jonathan Wang. 

MADDY BRODERICK | CULTURE EDITOR | mbroderick@butler.edu

Members of the Butler community are achieving extraordinary things, both on and off campus. From first-years to alumni to administrators and back, each Bulldog has a story to tell. Read on to discover the next of our Bulldogs of Butler through a Q&A style interview.

Eric Hahn, assistant professor of creative media and entertainment (CME), recently added a major credit to his professional resume. Hahn served as post-production supervisor and colorist on the 2024 Netflix documentary “Secret Mall Apartment”, which follows a group of artists who secretly lived inside a Providence shopping mall. Since its release, the film has found both critical and popular success, earning a 98% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7/10 score on IMDb and climbing as high as No. 4 on Netflix’s movie charts. 

The Butler Collegian spoke with Hahn about his role on the project, how post-production and color shape documentary storytelling and how his industry work informs his teaching. 

THE BUTLER COLLEGIAN: For those unfamiliar with post-production, what does a post-production supervisor do, and what did that look like on “Secret Mall Apartment”?

ERIC HAHN: The post-production supervisor is responsible for overseeing all aspects of post-production. It isn’t just editing; it’s editing, color, sound [and creating] deliverables for different distribution platforms. [They] oversee the entire workflow to make sure everything is seamless and that everything is moving according to schedule. 

For big films like this, especially documentaries, oftentimes you’re working with different types of media … There were some really old, low resolution, low quality media that we were working with. So, it’s also about trying to make sure that everything looks presentable and works cohesively for all those different media types. 

TBC: You also worked as the film’s colorist. How does that role connect to post-production supervision?

EH: As a colorist, I’m also in the last stage of building that final project … When you see a still of it … It doesn’t look polished. It doesn’t look nice for the final audience. I handle that final cleanup [and] piecing together everything … For different clients [or] distribution platforms. 

TBC: Did you record anything yourself for the documentary?

EH: No, I didn’t shoot anything for this … [director Jeremy Workman]’s previous documentary was called “Lily Topples the World”, which actually won South by Southwest [in 2021]. I did some shooting for that film and also served as a colorist, but was not the post-production supervisor on that one. So that’s a new role for me on this film.

TBC: How does color influence storytelling in a documentary like “Secret Mall Apartment”?

EH: It’s huge … When you’re filming a documentary, the goal is to get as much material as possible [and] find the story in the edit. You’re less concerned about the look [and] more concerned about getting good material. 

Step one in the color correction process is getting everything looking cohesive so that from one scene to another, things look good. Phase two is really about dialing in the look, the vibe and the feel. 

Something that I worked on … Was making sure that cutting from the archival the old material, which had this sort of warm, nostalgic feel, didn’t clash too much with the current footage of these interviews … We wanted to keep the audience in that nostalgic and warm feel throughout.

TBC: Was there a specific scene where you felt your work specifically had a strong emotional impact on the film?

EH: This is a small moment that probably didn’t register for most folks, but the moment I liked grading the most was this wood shop scene where Colin, one of the [main characters], is reconstructing the mall in wood. It’s almost like you can smell the wood … So I tried to warm it up and make it feel inviting. 

TBC: What was your reaction to learning the film had reached Netflix’s top 10?

EH: It was wild … I expected it to be a cult hit locally, but the fact that it kind of blew up with Netflix is huge. When Jeremy told me that Netflix was picking it up, I was like, ‘That’s great’, but I kind of just thought it was gonna be one of those random Netflix docs. Jeremy texted me a picture of it and was like, ‘Hey, we’re number eight.’ … I like to think it’s because of Butler students. We shared a little bit about it, and they all just jumped on and watched it. 

TBC: How does your professional work in the industry influence the way you teach?

EH: It’s huge. There’s so much overlap … [my classes are] about digging into the nitty gritty technical aspects … That you tend not to really learn in an academic setting. I take all of my experiences out in the industry and bring them here … It really shapes the classroom and the expectations for students. 

TBC: What excites you most about Butler launching the new film and production major in fall 2026?

EH: I’m so excited about it. What we want to do is bring our expertise in film and make a more cohesive major for students to pursue media creation. I’m excited that students will get more advanced hands-on experience, [because] they will know how to handle a camera, how to run audio, how to edit and the whole ins and outs of color correction. 

TBC: What do you hope students take away from learning about your experience on a project like “Secret Mall Apartment”?

EH: I tell my students to get as well-rounded practice and experience as you can because you don’t know where you’re going to end up. I never thought I’d be color correcting movies, let alone a feature-length movie that was huge on Netflix. 

I fell into the post-production world because I just said yes to jobs. From then, I’ve just rolled with it, and the majority of my feature-length work has been color correcting. You just have to be open to new experiences and new opportunities … You’re gonna say, ‘I should say no to this. I’m too nervous.’ You just have to say yes and put yourself out there … It’s a good takeaway for life to just say yes, even if you’re nervous. If you really want it, just go for it. 

Secret Mall Apartment is available to stream on Netflix.