Universal Studios to close their Feature Film Sound Department

[Branko]

And I thought it was just an European trend...

[Henchman]

Wow. That's pretty shocking news.

What is the reason?

[minister]

Wow! I'm stunned!

[Bill@AudioVision]

Would this be a repeat of what happened to the music industry 20-30 years ago? Big label run studios falling to smaller independent studios? Is there a movement of feature film audio post to smaller 'boutique' mix stages? A general scaling back in all areas? It's sad to see these big operations close, but to me, it's the people that are the most important, and my hope is all that great talent will rise again in new, smaller, and more economically sound operations. Good luck to all effected...

[Dz7]

Hmm....not sure what to think of this one.

[Henchman]

Well, I think that spending a small fortune on large format digital consoles, certainly hasn't helped improve the bottom line.
Maybe they just have a poor sales dept.
Or maybe Universal doesn't make enough movies. And their focus is on TV for NBC.

[insomaniac]

I feel like a lot of bigger Universal films have been handled by other sound facilities (the Bourne films come to mind). Their facilities have probably skewed to home entertainment and TV so much that it was no longer profitable to maintain that many stages with those consoles. Are there any press releases out about this?

[philper]

Originally Posted by dr.sound

Universal Studios Feature Film Sound Department (Mixing and Sound Editorial) to close on Jan 1st. The TV Sound Editorial and Mixing will remain open.
Tough times in Post these days.

I think this might be a good thing for places like yours and Wildfire etc....and might be happening because you guys can handle big shows just as well as the "on-the-lot" stages now but w/o their overhead and real estate issues.

philp

[minister]

My understanding is that they not only have a lot of TV work, they will continue to do restoration, digital mastering, layback, ADR, foley, archival, transfer, digital picture, DI, etc, etc....

[Emmanuel]

When they close the feature division down, obviously the Hitchcock Theater, does that also include dub 1 and dub 6, the smaller Harrison rooms? Here's Universal in happier times. Universal Studios Post Production Media Services - YouTube

[Emmanuel]

Does anyone here know how Disney's features stages are doing, Stage A and Stage C?

[eoats]

Link went weird:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118061551

[charles maynes]

Originally Posted by Emmanuel

Does anyone here know how Disney's features stages are doing, Stage A and Stage C?

since Disney no longer has staff mixers, I dont know how much it would really matter-


the other obvious issue is that Disney just bought Lucasfilm, and Skywalker Sound.....

[Eric L]

I heard from a pretty reliable source a few months ago that Universal needed to close a foley stage in order to accommodate the tv show "The Voice" for the next few years.

They are also closing the Gibson Amphitheater to make room for "Harry Potter Land" and the Terminator 3D show will be closing in December after almost 20 years.

The trend seems to be Real Estate values are more than the profit margin from large mixing stages/sound environments.

Not sure how I feel about how this will affect small to mid independent sound facilities like mine.

[Dz7]

Originally Posted by Eric L

I heard from a pretty reliable source a few months ago that Universal needed to close a foley stage in order to accommodate the tv show "The Voice" for the next few years.

They are also closing the Gibson Amphitheater to make room for "Harry Potter Land" and the Terminator 3D show will be closing in December after almost 20 years.

The trend seems to be Real Estate values are more than the profit margin from large mixing stages/sound environments.

Not sure how I feel about how this will affect small to mid independent sound facilities like mine.

When you say "accommodate" do you mean physically or financially? I'm guessing from the latter part of your post..physically?

[charles maynes]

"The Voice" just spent a week filming segments at Sony.... so I am not sure whats up with that -as well, the Sound Dept is not really near the theme park in a practical manner- I am sure they will find something to do with the space- like adding more lawyers and accountants.

heaven forbid they should actually want to create product there....

[ggegan]

When I was a staff mixer at pre-Liberty Media Todd AO several years ago as the studios were starting to make a concerted effort to keep sound services in-house, Chris Jenkins told me that he thought the trend for film studios to consolidate sound services on the studio lots (as opposed to outsourcing to independent facilities) was a cyclical phenomenon, and it seems that he may have been correct, although it has taken a lot longer than I expected for the cycle to start swinging back to independents again. Since I'm freelance now and tend to work primarily at independent facilities, I hope to see the trend continue, although I hate to see any rooms at any location closed down.

With today's budgets for all but the tentpole projects nearing rock bottom, it's hard to see how many studio sound departments can stay competitive or even survive. I don't see much opportunity for including reasonable equipment and editing room charges in bids, predubs by necessity are often being done in small personal edit/mix suites and Foley is being outsourced to Canada, New Mexico, and even Poland at very low prices, not to mention the demise of many local scoring stages in favor of cheaper foreign stages and players. Studios can also avoid paying the 32% union benefits premium through negative pickups and outsourcing, so it kind of seems like a no-brainer from a profitability standpoint to cut loose the sound departments. I'm not sure if it's the best thing for the art of film making, but that's probably a secondary consideration in the world of corporate media conglomerates.

[charles maynes]

the amount of gross inefficiency at the studios is truly mind numbing.... I think the best indicator of progress is when you see accounting, legal and marketing depts start to shrink- and the amount of executive office space requirements shrink as well. The basic trend has been the "Wall Street-itist" of the studios in response to them being public companies- whose only real concern is "appearing" profitable vs BEING profitable. It will indeed happen, and those who actually make content I think will be secure in their craft- though finding projects might be more time-consuming..... in the end it is economic Darwinism at work.

[cjguitar]

Some good comments here, and I think Gary and Charles are right on in their assessments. Also regarding Eric's comment, it is true that The Voice moved in next door to the foley stage and they had to close it down for the foreseeable future. It's hard to say how this will effect some of us independents, as now there will potentially be more freelancers on the market, and who knows what will happen with Skywalker as well. Interesting times indeed.

[funkcity]

It is an interesting and frightening time for folks who have made a living calling post-production film sound their career aspirations.

The way film production works today all the pieces are combined to get the most for the lowest cost.

Many shows shoot in Baton Rouge and then come back to LA for the picture, sound editorial, mixing and mastering. When they can do even this cheaper, they will.

Orchestras are recorded in Europe to escape any re-use payments and fringe benefits....imagine those musicians wanting benefits!?!

"Flight" was made with Denzel Washington for the paltry sum of 31 mil.....They will spend at least that in advertizing.

But the trend is disturbing.
The Todd AO purchase and staff cutting and the closing of Sound One in NY.
The Disney Purchase of Lucasfilm....will they keep the Skywalker facility and staff?
Universal cut.
But where will this all end?

I think what is needed is better movies, scripts and studio management.
Because good product sells and that employs people!!!

[Thomas W. Bethe]

I think the day of the feature film in its current form is drawing to a close. It is getting too expensive for most families to go to a movie theater to watch films and they are instead renting or purchasing DVDs or watching content off line. The only movies that seem to make money are the blockbusters with big budgets and lavish productions. I am not sure what will replace the "average" movie but the cost of entertainment is rising logarithmically and most people's salaries are staying the same.

As to post. The same thing happened in audio recording and mastering. More and more artist are DIYing their own stuff or going to small boutique studios where the fees are lower and they can get what they want for a lot less than going to a large commercial studio. The quality in many cases is NOT there but with the loudness war and everyone listening to their MP3s on $9.95 earbuds I guess the quality they are producing matches the end users needs and wants.

I have been in Pro Audio for 43 years and it is not looking good and when my interns ask me if they should think about a career in audio I have to tell them strait up that IMHO there is no career in audio at the present time.

Too bad it was a good ride while it lasted.

I told my current intern that I now know what the buggy whip manufactures felt like when the automobile was introduced at the end of the 1800's

[Henchman]

Lots of doom and gloom.
I don't see it quite so bad, personally.
You have guys like Marti, who has a fabulous stage, which most likely has a much smaller overhead, than the universal stages. Yet every bit as good to mix features at.
My guess is that the bean counters saw they could charge more for the space if it was a soundstage for recording a TV show. Bean coutners don't usually make the smartest decisions. Lets not forget that in spite of Universal closing its film sound dept, Paramount just opened up some new film stages.

[Bob Olhsson]

The sad thing to me is that today's average movie house has such bad sound that mixing on a great stage may no longer offer nearly the advantage that it once did.

[Henchman]

One trend I see ending, is the specialization. Meaning, you won't just have mixerswho mix features. But mixers who mix anything that comes through the door.

[piratepost]

Every mixer I know would gladly mix anything that walks thru the door. We all get branded as a TV guy or a film guy and its hard to convince someone that you could do the job well without the track record.

[Thomas W. Bethe]

Originally Posted by Henchman

Lots of doom and gloom.
I don't see it quite so bad, personally.
You have guys like Marti, who has a fabulous stage, which most likely has a much smaller overhead, than the universal stages. Yet every bit as good to mix features at.
My guess is that the bean counters saw they could charge more for the space if it was a soundstage for recording a TV show. Bean coutners don't usually make the smartest decisions. Lets not forget that in spite of Universal closing its film sound dept, Paramount just opened up some new film stages.

To each his or her own.

If you read the forums and read the pro magazines I think you can start to see that Pro Audio is not doing very well today and from the looks of things is not going to get better anytime soon.

My company is still very busy and we have lots of projects coming in but nowhere near what we did a couple of years ago. I am hopeful that this will continue for a bit.

I have the highest hopes that a profession I have a lot of time invested in will continue.

Maybe AFTER the elections things will pick up or at least not go any farther down. The whole country seems to be on hold.

FWIW and YMMV

[FullFrequency]

Originally Posted by Henchman

One trend I see ending, is the specialization. Meaning, you won't just have mixerswho mix features. But mixers who mix anything that comes through the door.

My work is broad like this. It's starting to rage from

entertainment tv
High end doc
Comedy
Tv promo and advertising
5.1 theatrical trailers
5.1 feature
Corporate

There's only one of those listed that genuinely has cash to spend!

[charles maynes]

I dont know about this end of features talk myself....


the Film business is a microcosm of the broader entertainment industry- Yes, the tentpoles will certainly carry on- in fact, we have the new Bond film on deck and out in a week- That release will probably be one, if not the most profitable film of the year- we also have little films which are turniing good profits every year- of course, like in the music business, for every hit album there are probably 1000 flops- but that the way of the world- no could have predicted Blair Witch Projects success. But that insane potential is what drives an industry which is filled with very emotional non-pragmatic people who think they are pragmatists.... (If you have ever seen the executives at FOX you know what I mean). As Gary mentioned, there is a cyclical function in the film business and I think we are seeing it in action- at present we are seeing 3 major studios with no sound depts- Disney, Universal and Paramount. That is 50% of the major studios- Technicolor does have its facility on the Paramount lot- but that has been a largely unimpressive influence on the business there. With the Disney aquisition of Lucasfilm, and Skywalker Sound (and ILM) I fear the Disney lot will be essentially a graveyard of creativity. there is little that is done there that is going to be better than whats done at PIXAR, Skysound or ILM- so I anticipate that more layoffs will start occurring to pay for that. in the short term I expect it will be a crazy profitable period for Skywalker- especially since Disney has so dramatically cut their release schedule. but it will open the door for a resurgence of indys- and happened in the late 80's.

The other thing to consider is that with the new tech that is being pushed ie- Atmos and 3D- the studios maybe seeing the uncertainty of that as a good reason to outsource to indys for mix and finish.

also on the studio sound dept side - I think with the advances in technology we are moving from the old closet with a movieola, trim bin and some film racks, to a mini dubstage, now back to a laptop and a 5.1 speaker system is changing their facilities/rental economy entirely. the Producers are wise to this, and it disallows a condition where the studios can demand their edit rooms be used at 1200 a week with their ProTools systems.

I personally think this is an exciting time- And I think it will good in the long run for the business.

[Thomas W. Bethe]

Originally Posted by charles maynes

I dont know about this end of features talk myself....


the Film business is a microcosm of the broader entertainment industry- Yes, the tentpoles will certainly carry on- in fact, we have the new Bond film on deck and out in a week- That release will probably be one, if not the most profitable film of the year- we also have little films which are turniing good profits every year- of course, like in the music business, for every hit album there are probably 1000 flops- but that the way of the world- no could have predicted Blair Witch Projects success. But that insane potential is what drives an industry which is filled with very emotional non-pragmatic people who think they are pragmatists.... (If you have ever seen the executives at FOX you know what I mean). As Gary mentioned, there is a cyclical function in the film business and I think we are seeing it in action- at present we are seeing 3 major studios with no sound depts- Disney, Universal and Paramount. That is 50% of the major studios- Technicolor does have its facility on the Paramount lot- but that has been a largely unimpressive influence on the business there. With the Disney aquisition of Lucasfilm, and Skywalker Sound (and ILM) I fear the Disney lot will be essentially a graveyard of creativity. there is little that is done there that is going to be better than whats done at PIXAR, Skysound or ILM- so I anticipate that more layoffs will start occurring to pay for that. in the short term I expect it will be a crazy profitable period for Skywalker- especially since Disney has so dramatically cut their release schedule. but it will open the door for a resurgence of indys- and happened in the late 80's.

The other thing to consider is that with the new tech that is being pushed ie- Atmos and 3D- the studios maybe seeing the uncertainty of that as a good reason to outsource to indys for mix and finish.

also on the studio sound dept side - I think with the advances in technology we are moving from the old closet with a movieola, trim bin and some film racks, to a mini dubstage, now back to a laptop and a 5.1 speaker system is changing their facilities/rental economy entirely. the Producers are wise to this, and it disallows a condition where the studios can demand their edit rooms be used at 1200 a week with their ProTools systems.

I personally think this is an exciting time- And I think it will good in the long run for the business.

You probably have your fingers on the pulse of the industry more than I do. All I know is everyone around here seems to be in a holding pattern. We have so many estimates out I hope they don't all decide to have us do them all at once. Also we have lots and lots of "tire kickers" who are looking for the bottom line deals. Most of what we do is mastering and restoration with some voice over work and mix to pix for commercials.

I know from going to the theaters and talking to the owners and managers that over all film attendance is down and some of the theaters around here are hanging on by a thread. Hopefully the all the new blockbuster movies for the holidays will be good for business.

I too find this an exciting time but I can get overly cautious when I witness half empty theaters and more and more people buying really large screen TVs and BluRay players and telling me they can no longer afford to take their families to the theaters. It is sounding a lot like what recording studios went through a couple of years ago when artists said they could no longer afford to work in Pro Studios and bought all their own gear. A friend of a friend who works at Skywalker ranch says they have not been told anything about what the future holds and he is hopeful he will still have a job when Disney takes over.

I just hope things ease up money wise after the election.

Lets all keep being excited...maybe it will be contagious.