Audio Media - September 2008 - (Page 44) “Kim probably works the hardest out of anybody. The visual effects department are in-house ops, but there are six of them. On the editing side of things we’ve got suites manned by six in-house editors and the freelancers who come and go as they please. For anything that’s track and pre-lay, Kim has to find the staff for it. Anything beyond that – all the full dubbing and mixing and voiceover recording and so on – he takes care of it. Some weeks we’re running to about percent, which is just insane. But that means Kim is running to pretty much all the time.” So not only does Storey manage the audio workload at UNIT, he is also the Recordist and Editor on most projects that come through UNIT. That sounds like a big task, and it is, but Storey has a sunny outlook: “A lot of people that are my age are stuck doing just ADR, or just editing dialogue, or just sound design. I get to do everything from the ground up, so it’s pretty great.” And it is in-line with the rest of the business – make something pay and only then make it bigger – but stay agile. “I think there’s an older business model out there that’s kind of had its time,” continues Colson. “There’s a new breed of engineer or audio professional out there, more used to doing everything themselves, and used to a more digital environment where they can keep up with the workflow. Colson: “It’s the facilities that have a Foley room, and a track lay room, and a drama room, and a commercials rooms, and there’s one guy manning each of those. If they’re busy because they’re the flavour of the month with a commercials client, the documentary guy says, ‘I don’t know how to mix a commercial’. “And when the documentary dude’s sitting around twiddling his thumbs, smoking cigarettes out of the window, and wondering what he’s going to do with his enormous pay packet at the end of the month, then the post facility right there and then is in all sorts of trouble.” So now the audio at UNIT has caught up and is attracting its very own clients… Ones that have come just to do audio. And Colson is already looking forward to the next sound move: “A bigger room would be better, especially with the more commercial work that we’re going into. We’re doing mixes for cinema but, as there is no Dolby license, there’s something slightly painful about taking a mix to a certain point and then sending it out to a man who can finish it off for you.” UNIT is now the next evolution of the onestop-shop, which has always created ripples in the choppy waters of traditional post production competition. But, more to the point, audio is in, is thriving, and is valued. “With both picture and audio now, people are trusting an all-Apple facility for their finishing,” says Colson. “Which is crazy compared to the perception three years ago – that was ‘start on Final Cut, and then get it into something more solid’. Now it’s ‘start on Final Cut, and finish on Final Cut’. ‘For flexibility and value for money, Final Cut is the way forward. If you want somewhere nice, capable, and organised to do that, then UNIT’s the place to do it.” ∫ I N F O R MAT I O N T H AT A P P L E F E E L I N G Saying, and even being, an ‘all-Apple facility’ is all very well, but all we’re talking about is a make of computer and some decent software, aren’t we? Well, not exactly. No-one can have escaped the rise of ‘Apple cool’ over the past few years, with innovative design, desirable gadgets, and the fusion of tech, nerd, and creative that is, according to many, a large part of Apple’s recent phenomenal success. I wanted to know how much that has impacted on footfalls at Unit… Luke Colson: “I think that the majority of new clientele that we get are young, cool… very much in line with the Apple Store image. And a lot of them, who are new to an agency or production company are insisting on working on Apple. So yes, absolutely, we have benefited from the rise of the image of Apple as a brand. We have done everything we can to actually make Unit kind of coincide with what, say, the Apple store looks like. That’s not a coincidence. The desks in our edit suites have been bespoke designed by a company, so they look like they are attached to the Mac. “We live in an age where image is absolutely everything, and we do categorically win clients based on our image. “But then, a growing percentage of our business has come in from repeat business and return clients. So it’s all very well to get people in the door, and say ‘check out our facility, it looks like the Apple shop’, but if we were rubbish, then we wouldn’t have a growing reputation… It’s down to grass roots – actually getting the job done. I think that the two aspects coupled together are a pretty good formula for ongoing success. W www.unit.tv www.ultrasone.com Natural Surround Sound headphones PRO PRO THE headphone company E xquisitely faithful sound + E xclusive design + Latest proprietar y technologies meet the most exac ting needs of professionals ➤ 44 00 AUDIO MEDIA SEPTEMBER 2008 http://www.unit.tv http://www.ultrasone.com
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