At least he can laugh about the timing.

Daniel Pellerin, one of the country’s top sound mixers, had just sent a letter to none other than Sheila Copps. The impassioned letter, obtained by Playback, asks the heritage minister, in reference to recent CTF cuts: ‘Is it possible to maintain a dynamic and creative film and television industry in Canada, that can remain vital and healthy under the conditions created by such a lack of vision?’

The letter goes on to cite the plight of Pellerin’s colleague, a Genie and Gemini Award winner who had lost his job due to budget cutbacks and the sudden slowdown.

One day after sending the letter, Pellerin lost his own job as director of mixing services at Toronto’s Deluxe Post Production Sound.

Pellerin, whose credits include The Sweet Hereafter and Sunshine, and whose name appears on a Daytime Emmy, two Geminis and two Genies, had worked for the Toronto post shop for 15 years. Deluxe informed him that it was purely a business decision, part of a restructuring plan to which Pellerin himself had contributed.

It is a direction that is popular in the U.S., and one in which Canuck post shops seem to be heading – keep as small a full-time staff as possible and bring in freelancers as the work dictates. In fact, Pellerin expects to be working at Deluxe on future TV and movie projects.

The mixer says he was somewhat surprised at first by the move, but is actually happy to have divested himself of an ‘administrative role in a big corporation’ and is more than happy to return to being ‘a sound guy, pure and simple.’

Pellerin has already launched two companies – Digital Sound Productions, set up within the facility of Toronto’s Film Sound One for supervising and mixing, and Lone Wolf Productions, strictly for freelance mixing. He says he prefers the freelance lifestyle, which he can maintain due to his award-winning reputation and contacts.

‘You determine what work you really want to do, who you want to work with, when you want to work, and how you want to work,’ he explains.

Pellerin has not taken long to rebound, and is currently working on the Canadian indie feature The Death of Alice Blue, directed by Park Bench and produced by and starring Alex Appel. He is also in discussions with director Bruce McDonald on a factual project and is looking to finalize other deals.