diff --git a/config/deploy.yml b/config/deploy.yml
index dbe12f3..cec8543 100644
--- a/config/deploy.yml
+++ b/config/deploy.yml
@@ -51,8 +51,9 @@ env:
   clear:
     PORT: 4000
     DATABASE_HOST: futureporn-db
+    MIX_ENV: prod
   secret:
-    - DATABASE_PASSWORD
+    - DATABASE_URL
 
 # Aliases are triggered with "bin/kamal <alias>". You can overwrite arguments on invocation:
 # "bin/kamal logs -r job" will tail logs from the first server in the job section.
diff --git a/dockerfiles/bright.dockerfile b/dockerfiles/bright.dockerfile
index a4358a9..8d5ce2b 100644
--- a/dockerfiles/bright.dockerfile
+++ b/dockerfiles/bright.dockerfile
@@ -1,9 +1,3 @@
-## 2024-12-26 -- file created using `mix phx.gen.release --docker`
-
-
-
-
-
 # Find eligible builder and runner images on Docker Hub. We use Ubuntu/Debian
 # instead of Alpine to avoid DNS resolution issues in production.
 #
@@ -16,37 +10,19 @@
 #   - https://hub.docker.com/_/debian?tab=tags&page=1&name=bullseye-20241202-slim - for the release image
 #   - https://pkgs.org/ - resource for finding needed packages
 #   - Ex: hexpm/elixir:1.17.3-erlang-27.1.2-debian-bullseye-20241202-slim
-#   - https://gitlab.com/ericlathrop/dockerize_elixir/-/blob/main/priv/templates/Dockerfile?ref_type=heads
+#
+ARG ELIXIR_VERSION=1.17.3
+ARG OTP_VERSION=27.1.2
+ARG DEBIAN_VERSION=bullseye-20241202-slim
 
+ARG BUILDER_IMAGE="hexpm/elixir:${ELIXIR_VERSION}-erlang-${OTP_VERSION}-debian-${DEBIAN_VERSION}"
+ARG RUNNER_IMAGE="debian:${DEBIAN_VERSION}"
 
-
-
-
-FROM elixir:1.17.3-alpine AS dev
-# FROM hexpm/elixir:1.17.3-erlang-27.1.2-debian-bullseye-20241202-slim AS dev
+FROM ${BUILDER_IMAGE} as builder
 
 # install build dependencies
-
-RUN \
-  apk add --no-cache \
-  build-base \
-  npm \
-  git \
-  python3 \
-  make \
-  cmake \
-  openssl-dev \ 
-  libsrtp-dev \
-  ffmpeg-dev \
-  clang-dev \
-  inotify-tools
-
-RUN \
-  mkdir /home/user \
-  && chown 1000.1000 /home/user
-
-ENV HOME=/home/user
-USER 1000:1000
+RUN apt-get update -y && apt-get install -y build-essential git \
+    && apt-get clean && rm -f /var/lib/apt/lists/*_*
 
 # prepare build dir
 WORKDIR /app
@@ -56,21 +32,73 @@ RUN mix local.hex --force && \
     mix local.rebar --force
 
 # set build ENV
-ENV MIX_ENV="dev"
-ENV DATABASE_URL=""
-ENV PORT=""
+ENV MIX_ENV="prod"
 
 # install mix dependencies
-COPY ./services/bright/mix.exs ./services/bright/mix.lock ./
+COPY mix.exs mix.lock ./
 RUN mix deps.get --only $MIX_ENV
 RUN mkdir config
 
 # copy compile-time config files before we compile dependencies
 # to ensure any relevant config change will trigger the dependencies
 # to be re-compiled.
-COPY ./services/bright/config/config.exs ./services/bright/config/${MIX_ENV}.exs config/
-COPY ./services/bright/priv priv
-COPY ./services/bright/lib lib
-COPY ./services/bright/assets assets
+COPY config/config.exs config/${MIX_ENV}.exs config/
+RUN mix deps.compile
 
+COPY priv priv
+
+COPY lib lib
+
+COPY assets assets
+
+# compile assets
+RUN mix assets.deploy
+
+# Compile the release
+RUN mix compile
+
+# Changes to config/runtime.exs don't require recompiling the code
+COPY config/runtime.exs config/
+
+COPY rel rel
+RUN mix release
+
+
+## dev target
+FROM builder AS dev
+WORKDIR "/app"
 CMD [ "mix", "ecto.setup", "&&", "mix", "phx.server" ]
+
+
+# start a new build stage so that the final image will only contain
+# the compiled release and other runtime necessities
+FROM ${RUNNER_IMAGE} AS prod
+
+RUN apt-get update -y && \
+  apt-get install -y libstdc++6 openssl libncurses5 locales ca-certificates \
+  && apt-get clean && rm -f /var/lib/apt/lists/*_*
+
+# Set the locale
+RUN sed -i '/en_US.UTF-8/s/^# //g' /etc/locale.gen && locale-gen
+
+ENV LANG en_US.UTF-8
+ENV LANGUAGE en_US:en
+ENV LC_ALL en_US.UTF-8
+
+WORKDIR "/app"
+RUN chown nobody /app
+
+# set runner ENV
+ENV MIX_ENV="prod"
+
+# Only copy the final release from the build stage
+COPY --from=builder --chown=nobody:root /app/_build/${MIX_ENV}/rel/bright ./
+
+USER nobody
+
+# If using an environment that doesn't automatically reap zombie processes, it is
+# advised to add an init process such as tini via `apt-get install`
+# above and adding an entrypoint. See https://github.com/krallin/tini for details
+# ENTRYPOINT ["/tini", "--"]
+
+CMD ["/app/bin/server"]
diff --git a/services/bright/config/dev.exs b/services/bright/config/dev.exs
index a0eae1b..c79c556 100644
--- a/services/bright/config/dev.exs
+++ b/services/bright/config/dev.exs
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ import Config
 # Configure the database
 config :bright, Bright.Repo,
   username: "postgres",
-  password: "#{System.get_env("DATABASE_PASSWORD")}",
-  hostname: "#{System.get_env("DATABASE_HOSTNAME")}",
+  password: "password",
+  hostname: "db",
   database: "bright",
   stacktrace: true,
   show_sensitive_data_on_connection_error: true,