AudioMedia - October 2008 - (Page 18)

w h a t ’s u p UK whatsupuk@audiomedia.com KEVIN HILTON wonders who will next become a casualty of the ‘Credit Crunch’? Cause For Collapse woods? That might have something to do with the over-use of such phrases as ‘economic down-turn’ and ‘global credit crunch’, combined with the sight of George Bush and Gordon Brown trying to work out how the hell everything fell apart so quickly and so dramatically. When economic woes strike everyone assumes we’re all at risk, if not doomed. But each company and individual has particular circumstances that makes them either vulnerable or more able to withstand harder times. Not that this stops people fretting, which most certainly they must have been doing in the UK post and audio businesses over the last few months. There have been high profile casualties since the end of last year, Videosonics among them. This prompted an industry friend to remark to the company’s co-founder, Dennis Weinreich, “If this can happen to you then it can happen to any of us.” Well, yes and no. In the last ten years or so, post-production facilities – stand-alone sound houses, one-stop shops, visual effects specialists – have fallen victim to a variety of ills, and each time the end of the entire market has been forecast. But Soho survives, and new companies open, and many old timers continue to run successfully, although, that adverb is relative. Despite foreseeing in 2006 that changes to the tax break rules for feature film production might pose ‘potential financial difficulties’, and so budgeted accordingly, Videosonics did not prepare well enough to cope with the true consequences T ense, nervous headache? Strange sense of uncertainty and an over-powering desire to give everything up and go to live in the of the situation and was forced into voluntary liquidation. Other facilities largely dependent on cinema work are still operating and, it is to be hoped, will withstand any choppy waters. The demise of video and compositing house Resolution at the end of last year was attributed to the company not making any money for the previous 12 months due to rate-cutting by competitors, and the trend for production companies to go ‘DIY’ and use desktop systems in their own edit suites. But undercutting is the dark side of competition and has been a posting reality since the earliest days of the business. The use of in-house facilities have affected many companies, but there are still parts of the post chain that cannot be done by a standard computer program, including elaborate visual effects and surround sound audio dubbing. A lack of investment in new equipment and technology is another cause of collapse but often this is connected to, or caused by, other difficulties. As Ben Nemes at reseller Scrub points out, the management of many post houses still adhere to the old principles that have been supposedly lost in our ‘get it now’ credit culture by waiting until they can afford something before investing. Which explains why a great deal of gear is still leased today. But if a company puts off buying new kit, it falls behind its competitors and clients may go elsewhere, despite the skill of the operators. Sanctuary went down citing both low rates and difficulty in raising credit. Dennis Weinreich of Videosonics has also pointed to low programme making budgets in ‘a shrinking economy’. The gloom has continued with Pepper Post going into administration, despite, or perhaps because of, moving premises, investing in new technology, and taking over the audio studios of Future Post. The company has bounced back under new ownership, which is heartening in a general business sense, but probably not for creditors of the previous incarnation. There have been further signs of hope amid the darkness pervading life, which is almost so bleak I’m starting to think I’ve gone back in time and am ten years old again in 1973. I’m just waiting for a loud-mouthed, sexist detective to turn up and start giving me a hard time. Molinare was due to open new audio rooms this month in a re-build valued at £500,000, and now has a vision facility at Pinewood studios. Both have been made possible by the large funds available through the company’s new majority shareholder, Indian media group Century. And commercials sound design specialist Wave has opened a branch in Amsterdam, with plans for the future including facilities in the US or Shanghai. There is still bad news, of course – mastering house Alchemy succumbing in recent months has probably sent people in the business either straight to the bar or back under the duvet. The market seems to have polarised between big facilities that are either part of a media group or backed by equity money and ‘boutique’ operators working in small premises with a minimal number of staff, but the middle market has not disappeared completely. These are troubling times in so many ways and while there will undoubtedly be more casualties, just because a company is similar to one that has gone down does not mean it will go the same way. The only certainty is that economics is not an exact science. ∫ Introducing the new PortaGig. Glyph’s second generation PortaGig 800 can handle over 55 tracks of 24bit/48k audio, with edits, running on FireWire bus power. Weighing less than 10 ounces, all this power is backed by Glyph’s Advance Replacement and Data Recovery Policies. Up to 320GB capacity (2) FireWire 800, (1) USB 2.0 port 7,200 or 5,400 RPM SATA II drives Universal AC power supply included Store in a cool place.. 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Audio Media - October 2008 Content Recording Post Broadcast Geofocus:�Portugal &�Spain What's Up UK IBC Report Microtech Geffel UM 930 Steinberg Cubase 4.5 ADK�Hamburg &�Vienna Final Cut: House of Fallen Lexicon PCM96 Review The Conch Awards Feature Sound Devices 788T Review Lexicon PCM96 Allen &�Heath Zed R16 Power: Fact & Fiction, PT.2 Product Sampler Plug-ins Video Guide AMSR Plasa Report Audio Technica IEM�M3 Rushes Live Mixing Techniques:�Bruce Johnston Drawmer 4x4 Kickbox

AudioMedia - October 2008

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