Some say your 40s are your best decade, because you have – hopefully – achieved a certain level of success and you proceed with wisdom. Well, the same might be said of Deluxe Toronto, which in March will turn the big four-oh (including its film lab’s previous incarnation as Filmhouse).

The company’s brain trust has applied some long-term vision during the city’s production slump, renaming its post facility Deluxe Sound & Picture to reflect its incorporation of high-definition picture capabilities with its long-running audio services.

‘We are totally committed to and believe in the Toronto market, and we made considerable investments in the future of our industry,’ says Dan McLellan, executive VP and GM of Deluxe Sound & Picture.

This year the shop has invested millions in expansion and renovations. This includes the launch of its new ADR stage as well as picture department offerings of the Cintel C-Reality DSX scanner, the da Vinci 2K Plus color correction system and the Quantel iQ editing platform.

Footing the bill for these new services has meant some restructuring and overhead trimming, however. For example, back in the spring, Deluxe let go of director of mixing services Daniel Pellerin, a long-serving employee. The parting of ways was amicable and representative of the way the post business is going – use as few administrators as possible and call in talent when the work is there.

Deluxe’s picture department has been gigging on Pebblehut Productions’ Doc and Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye, and it performed HD mastering on the feature The Gospel of John for Visual Bible International, spearheaded by colorist Chris Wallace.

On the audio side, Deluxe has been busy with Norman Jewison’s The Statement for Serendipity Point Films and ThinkFilm. Other recent feature credits include Fox’s Wrong Turn, My Baby’s Daddy, to be released by Miramax, and The Gospel of John. The sound department also worked on a couple of features by young local directors that preemed at the Toronto International Film Festival – Vincenzo Natali’s Nothing, for 49th Parallel Films, and Aaron Woodley’s award-winning Rhinoceros Eyes for Madstone Films.

For the small screen, the sound facility is housing Doc and Sue Thomas along with Fireworks Entertainment’s Mutant X, Strange Days at Blake Holsey High and Zoe Busiek: Wild Card, along with the new ESPN drama Playmakers.

Earlier this year, parent company Deluxe Media Services purchased Sonic Foundry’s entertainment-based divisions in Santa Monica, CA and Toronto.

‘As our business continues to migrate to the data platform, we expect that our customers will benefit from Deluxe’s ability to provide a full range of services, from film processing and printing to post-production and distribution,’ says McLellan.

-www.bydeluxe.com