With a handful of giant facilities which bestride the audio and post production world like colossi, how do smaller independent companies compete and thrive?

In the following section, a number of small to mid sized audio production, audio post and post companies examine their strategies for finding a viable place in the market.

The discussion centres on which equipment set-ups, talent configurations, areas of the market and partnerships these shops have chosen to effectively carve their share of the sound and picture pie.

Bruce Leitl and Dan McManus opened the doors to Twin Towers Music in 1994, bringing a creative-first philosophy to their Calgary operation.

While the Calgary market is expanding and more work is staying in the city rather than being shipped to Vancouver, Leitl and McManus plan to stay small and continue handling select projects that suit their production approach and musical style.

Leitl, a composer, has been scoring original music for over 10 years, and according to his partner, brings enormous emotion and drama to his work. McManus acts as the production manager, looking after everything from voice direction to the final mix.

What sets Twin Towers apart from other audio houses and gives it its ‘edge,’ according to McManus, is the manner in which they approach each job. Rather than sending out a quote, McManus and Leitl give prospective clients a written treatment, describing each detail of their plan of attack on a project.

‘We try to elevate the idea through audio rather than just executing it,’ says McManus. ‘When someone comes to us with a spot, we give them our creative approach, including what we will do with the music, the voice and how we will put all the elements together.’

As a small shop in a relatively small production center, Twin Towers has seen a veritable potpourri of projects come through its doors. Recent assignments include commercial work for Telus and Shell Oil through Ogilvy & Mather, national ad campaigns for Subway and Shaw Cable, work on Julie Trimingham’s short film Beauty Crowds Me, currently doing the festival circuit, plus tv work on Discovery Channel’s World of Horses. The pair also created an original composition for Nomadic Pictures’ Ebenezer, an mow starring Jack Palance which aired on bbs last Christmas.

Recently the music men wrapped sound work on The Everest Dream, a documentary on Mount Everest for cbc, and currently they’re adding the tunes to Regina-based Minds Eye Pictures/Anaid Productions’ Mentors series.

A bonus to being in a smaller market, according to McManus, is the diversity of jobs that pass through the shop. He says the varied work forces them to constantly change hats and try new things, which translates into improved skills and greater creativity.

‘We are doing a commercial one moment and a film the next, it’s a great learning experience, and if I ever wanted to leave this market I have good experience in all areas,’ says McManus. However, his plan is to stay put in what he refers to as this ‘happening little city.’

And speaking of diversification, here’s something new for the duo – an interpretive music soundscape for a museum exhibit in Saudi Arabia, which they landed through local producer Pat McCloskey, who has been working with museums around the world and with whom they have worked in the past.

The exhibit, a historical take on what Saudi Arabia might have looked like in 4000 bc, consists of images projected on the walls of a large hall with a soundscape of the desert world playing in the background.

In preparation for the job, Leitl researched music documentation and instrumentation of pre-Christian times, watched the projected images for inspiration, and created a five-minute music track combining the sounds of thunderstorms, campfires and desert winds.

Twin Towers is fully equipped with Emagic Logic Audio Platinum and Digidesign Pro Tools 4.2 Software, four Akai S2000 samplers and Korg 01/W Emu Proteus1 Synthesizer. Aside from the creative music-making part of this setup, the boys are also one-third owners of One Sound Studios, a Calgary-based recording studio.

McManus refers to Calgary as ‘a smoking little city’ and says being a small shop in the middle of Alberta that puts music first is a tremendous experience.