Lightning Media

I’ve worked with Lightning Media for a very long time when I was working for production companies and networks. However I really found out how cool they were when I started my own company and had to do more than one job from pre-​production through post. They have always been very helpful and super fast when I needed to get jobs done in a hurry.
I recommend them to anyone working in production.

I rarely post Unilocal reviews but I feel compelled after the service I got at Lightning Media. I had a really tight deadline to send a PAL Tape to England. David had my tape turned around in a day and I picked it up and shipped it 2 day FedEx to England. We realized after I sent it, that we’d had a miscommunication and the tape was 4×3, not 16×9. David communicated with me during Labor Day weekend, when the office was closed, and he offered to re-​transfer at 16×9 AND resend the tape himself to fix the mistake. If this isn’t amazing customer service, I don’t know what is. I’ll always go here with all my transfer needs.

Amazing Service, Great people. Liz, the account rep, is so on it she will even cover your mistakes. This is definitely where you want to do your dubs transfers etc.

These guys are great! I needed to transfer some old PAL BETA tapes and they did them fast and at a great price and the customer service ROCKS!!! LOVE THIS PLACE

I used to work right down the block and I swear there were times when I had just barely sat back down at my desk after dropping off my materials when I’d get the call from Lightning that my order was ready. These folks can straighten out your worst format conversion nightmares, volunteer to show you their process, and do it with a smile. It’s been years since I’ve used them, but I still recommend them on an almost weekly basis. If the state ever legalizes marriage between humans and media duplication companies, I’ll be at City Hall before you can say «OMG my boss needs me to transfer his rapidly degrading 20-​year-​old Super 8 student films to digital PAL and then make 50 copies to mail by EOB today.»

I use the Burbank location and they’re great. They do everything and they’re super nice.

Have you ever felt the pressure of an impending deadline? Has your own livelihood ever depended on the speed and efficiency of someone you don’t even know? If you are ever in this bind again and your impossible mission has something to do with Media duplication, replication, authoring or even getting your demo reel edited and posted online for that next big audition, then pull yourself together and contact the folks at Lightning Media.
When I say they do it all, I mean it. They are a true full service facility that can handle damn near any post-​production or multi-​media need. In almost five years of utilizing their services I have NEVER been done wrong. And trust me; I’ve given them ample opportunity to mess things up.
So on Friday my boss calls me at the end of the day and tells me to get a project dubbed on DVD… what me worry? Then he calls back just a bit later and tells me to «make it 100 copies and make sure you get them delivered by Tuesday, I’ll send you a list of recipients» OK, by this time it’s 6pm. That means I got til 4:30pm Monday to pick up a finished product and stuff who knows how many FED EX envelopes and make the East Coast deadline by 6pm. I was seriously looking at my phone sideways as he’s telling me all this. Of course, I’ll need to put custom artwork on the DVD’s, and of course the person with the artwork needs to re-​format it first. Naturally, I have a crazed look in my eye as I head out the door with product minus artwork.
I walk into Lightning Media and they’re packed (was there any doubt at this point?). I explain my mission to the young lady and then tell her I absolutely need it completed by Monday afternoon no if’s and’s or but’s. She doesn’t even flinch and then has me fill in the info on the work order. When she asks me if I’d like any artwork added to the DVD’s I answer «yes, but I don’t have it yet.» Like a zen warrior she picks up a phone, mumbles something and then asks if I can have it by tonight… «of course» I reply. «Then it’s no problem» she re-​assures me. Dutifully, I verify that our artwork was emailed in by 7:15pm that evening.
Later that night my phone rings at 10:52pm from a number I don’t recognize. I cautiously answer, «hello». It’s Lightning Media, I can come by at noon on Saturday to pick up my order. And just like that, my impossible mission is accomplished.
Yes, there are cheaper facilities in town, but would you pay just a tad more for peace of mind? I would, and if my ass is on the line I want someone who scoffs at the impossibility of silly little mission’s like my own.