Post Modern Sound is underway on a major expansion, buoyed by confidence in the continued growth of the feature film industry in b.c.

The Vancouver audio post-production house has planned the addition to its present facility of a feature film mixing theatre, two adr recording stages and another foley stage, as well as new editing suites and administrative offices. Post Modern reports the total cost will be $4.5 million.

According to Mark Scott, Post Modern’s vp and director of operations, the expansion will take place in two phases.

‘In the first three or four months we want to get our mixing theatre done and get some more adr facilities up and running, just so we can handle the volume of work that we have,’ Scott says.

So far Post Modern has benefited primarily from the television production proliferating in its home province, but it is now also trying to woo the many feature film producers shooting on its turf, most of whom are from Hollywood.

‘I think up until now people may have thought there weren’t enough [post] facilities here, or maybe they’ve just wanted to go home [after production],’ Scott says. ‘We want to show producers who shoot but don’t finish here that there’s a world-class facility here that will be capable of doing anything they can do anywhere else in the world.’

Another incentive for u.s. producers to do their audio post in b.c. would be the one that gets them shooting there in the first place – the advantageous exchange rate and provincial tax credits. But the great success the province has enjoyed in attracting Hollywood blockbusters – $664 million spent by foreign productions in 1999 – could be set back by threats from the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency to start demanding a full, unsubsidized tax return from foreign actors.

Scott admits he’s concerned by this action, which might dissuade Hollywood star talent from working north of the 49th.

‘There’s nothing we can really do to change the minds of the government, other than to lobby, which we do on a regular basis through lobby groups,’ he says, adding he doesn’t believe the ccra would ultimately ruin a good thing. ‘I anticipate the government would have enough forethought to recognize it’s a large business and it injects into not only what we do, but into all kinds of growth and spin-off industries – construction, limousines, hotels, restaurants, day care and so on – and that the benefits of having [tax credits] are better than the benefits of cutting them back.’

Scott acknowledges there are many ‘what ifs?’ when a company commits to such a large investment, including the possibility of a rising Canadian dollar driving business away. But he maintains Post Modern’s main goal is to ‘simply compete on a quality and excellence level.’ He adds, ‘I think doing that makes you competitive no matter what world you’re in.’

All-digital, all the time

With the expansion, Post Modern’s facility will be an all-digital environment. The audio team will work from entirely hard-disk audio and video systems, thereby increasing ease of use and work efficiency, which will translate into client savings and the capacity to handle more business.

The console Post Modern is installing is the new Euphonix System 5, which allows for mixing down in multiple formats.

‘That’s really helpful for the multiformat world that exists, both in film and then conversion to television, or conversion from one television type to another,’ Scott explains.

Post Modern is looking to soon be able to work in high definition, but is waiting to see where the industry is headed.

‘When the marketplace makes up its mind in what way it’s going to shoot, whether it’s going to be 30 or 24 [frames per second] or whatever it is, when there is a standard set, then we’ll certainly comply with that and be able to work on that,’ Scott says. ‘But we’re going to make sure we cable and set up our system so we’ll be able to go wherever that goes in the future without having to retool, rebuild, tear down and change.’

In addition to Euphonix machines, the new stages will be equipped with tascam hard-drive recorders and ProTools machines for editing and the use of online plug-in processing. The system’s open architecture allows for the addition of more digital inputs and outputs simply with the acquisition of another interface box.

What Scott came away with from the April National Association of Broadcasters trade show in Las Vegas is that everyone in the industry will be conducting business via digital datastreaming, especially with an increasingly globalized production community. Consequently, Post Modern is looking at ways of bypassing having to make copies and dubs of mixes by playing them online for clients in Los Angeles, New York or London via dsl (digital subscriber lines) or a high-end T1 pipe.

This kind of technology also comes into play with adr.

‘There are so many actors and directors coming here, and there are so many copros with the u.s., Britain, Germany and France, that we set up loops and do things digitally with people all over the world,’ Scott says. ‘That’s been going on for years, but even more so now because of all the digital linking.’

Post Modern has hired the services of consultants Acoustic Dimensions to design its new stages.

‘They’re a New York company and they’ve done all kinds of great work,’ Scott says. ‘They’ve designed some stages for us which [we feel] will be second to none.’

The new audio complex is being constructed next to Post Modern’s existing facility, with phase one set for completion by October, followed by the expansion of editorial, administrative, and client lounges by fall 2001.

When asked if the company feels any trepidation about the large enterprise, Scott replies, ‘There’s always a degree of nervousness when you make a huge expansion, but it’s the kind of nervousness that’s exciting. The city could use some raising of the bar, and I think there are some projects and producers that can be convinced to come here.’ *

-www.postmodernsound.com