Alliance Atlantis Communications has executed changes at a couple of its post houses, letting go of Calibre Digital Pictures president and executive producer Pete Denomme and laying off several employees at Tattersall Casablanca.

The moves come a couple of months after AAC walked away from a deal to sell its post-production interests to Hollywood’s Point.360. Toronto’s Calibre, which Denomme helmed, specializes in F/X and animation.

‘There were a number of things we needed to do – and, in due course, we decided we could do it – and we needed to part company [with Denomme],’ says Chuck Ferkranus, who became CEO of AAC’s Calibre, TC and Salter Digital following the collapse of the Point.360 deal.

‘We are very grateful for the contribution that Pete made to the organization. It was quite measurable, not only to the company, but to the industry in general,’ Ferkranus adds.

There is no word yet on Denomme’s replacement.

Meanwhile, at cross-town picture and audio post house Tattersall Casablanca, the future of the company’s name was thrown in doubt when president and CEO Jane Tattersall left her post in March. Although Ferkranus will only say that the company is contemplating a name change, reception is answering calls simply as ‘Casablanca.’

Tattersall is back with a new company and several projects on the go. Her new shop, formed with Peter Gibson, who handed in his resignation as TC business manager, is called Tattersall Post Production. Tattersall recently worked on The Gospel of John, the religious epic backed by Garth Drabinsky and slated for the Toronto film festival.

Ferkranus has also confirmed the layoffs of TC sound department members Fred Brennan, David McCallum and Garrett Kerr. Their departure, in addition to Tattersall’s, basically eliminates all the key members of the shop’s sound department management team. The move follows the trend of companies cutting costs by turning full-time staff into freelancers.

‘As a freelance editor, I’ll be mixing [at TC] and all the studios in town,’ says 28-year veteran Brennan.

While slow production volumes this year in Toronto likely account for the elimination of the management positions at TC, AAC’s East Coast post house, Halifax’s Salter Digital, reports no layoffs.