LOCAL photographer, cinematographer and film colourist Justin Heitman has played an important role in the production of the new ABC television series Utopia.

Made by the Working Dog Productions team, famous for iconic Aussie movies such as The Castle and The Dish, Utopia is an eight-part comedy series, written by and starring Rob Sitch.

Mr Heitman, who worked as a film colourist in Melbourne, prior to moving to the Whitsundays in 2006, spent about four weeks earlier this year, colour correcting and colour balancing the entire television series, shot by shot.

The work was all done in Mr Heitman's Cannonvale studio, using a dedicated editing and colour grading suite, complete with high definition broadcast monitors and top of the line Apple Mac systems.

Mr Heitman said this set-up would not have been imaginable just eight years ago, with advances in technology now allowing him to run a colour grading business away from 'the big smoke'.

Each episode of Utopia was shot in Melbourne and sent up to the Whitsundays on a hard drive.

Mr Heitman then spent hours in front of computer screens balancing individual shots so that multiple cameras matched, or the lighting for a certain time of day was achieved.

Having been privileged to see the series, he expects it to do well.

"It's really smart, really funny and just great office humour," he said.

Mr Heitman has been lucky enough to work with Working Dog Productions from the early days of the hilarious 90's comedy series The Late Show. He has also worked on some of Australia's best comedy TV shows and films including Kenny and Kath and Kim.

Utopia will air at 8.30pm on Wednesdays on the ABC.