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Sounds are Silenced at Rowland Productions After 18 years owning and running their Melbourne studios John and Barb Rowland closed Rowland Productions on June 24th. John says it just got to a point where business got too tough. "It's purely based on numbers. We felt by stopping now we can pay everybody out in full which is the honourable way to go." John says Rowlands' client services staff, Paul Gildea, Matt Bauer and Sarah Hillas are "care-taking" the business out of Metropolis Studios and all client masters are being moved to Metropolis as well. The Clarendon Street studios are now for sale in their entirety. The sale is being handled by Paul Mason of Fitzroy's and he can be contacted on 0417 500 385. Only a few months ago the studio was celebrating. John won the Sound Design Award at this year's Flickerfest for his work on the animated film "The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello." Radio Lions Honour Aussie Ads for the Environment Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney have won Australia's only award in the inaugural radio category at Cannes this year with a spot produced at Stellar Radio. The spot for the United Nations' World Environment Day won a bronze Lion. Another ad from Saatchi & Saatchi and Stellar for Oil of Olay was also among the four shortlisted at Cannes. The Olay ad was also the round one winner for the 2006 Sirens Awards for Australian radio commercials. The other Cannes finalists were Sirens Award winner VB commercial out of George Patterson Partners engineered at GAS Melbourne and The Campaign Palace's spots for Jeans West, which were done at Flagstaff Studios in Melbourne. Overall, there were 31 radio Lions awarded representing 44 countries. The inaugural Grand Prix for radio at Cannes went to a blast from the past: DDB Chicago's Men Of Real Genius campaign for US brewer Anheuser-Busch. "There were 11 spots in this campaign and the jury felt that every one of them was worth a Gold," says jury President Malcolm Poynton (formerly Saatchi & Saatchi Australia now Ogilvy & Mather London.) The spots celebrate "geniuses", such as the sports heckler and the budget airline pilot, and had such success that television spin-offs were made - one of which won Gold in Cannes last year. "But this was born out of radio and works best on radio." GAS Sydney Not Quite Full Steam Ahead The doors at GAS in Sydney have closed but there's still activity behind the scenes as Rodney Lowe and the team plan the studio's long term future. "We're looking for a new, smaller building," Rodney says, "but something in a similar warehouse style. There's no rush, but we just don't need as much space as we have." Ongoing client commitments are being fulfilled with a music designer/engineer who's making good use of the purpose built space in Harris Street, Pyrmont. Soon producer Nicky Finlay will join the GAS team, returning to Melbourne after spending time overseas. Nicky's experience includes work at KWP! and Street Remley Studios in Adelaide. She'll be based at GAS Melbourne but her priority will be repositioning GAS Sydney. "Initially she'll be spending time letting people know we're still open for business," Rodney says, "so it's not as though we're closing and re-opening, it's more that we're changing and re-positioning." "There's definitely demand for what we offer, particularly with the resources of casting and talent across Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, but we physically don't need a lot of resources in Sydney to service our clients." AA Pioneers New Business Model in Sydney Producer Gavin Drew and Engineer/Sound designer Geoff Case have launched a unique boutique audio production company - Absolute Audio. It is a novel business model in that Absolute Audio is a truly mobile creative audio service. Rather than building yet another recording studio, Absolute Audio operates from any number of facilities across Sydney. What studio they work out of depends on their clients' needs. "Our business model is not to be a recording studio. It's to be a creative audio production team," says Gavin. Rounding out the Absolute Audio production team is composer/sound designer, Blair Joscelyne. "Blair is a fantastic talent. The diversity of his writing skills is phenomenal," says Gavin. "It's exciting having Blair onboard. The three of us together have developed a very fluid and creative approach to producing complete soundtracks for our clients," says Geoff. Unique as it may be, the Absolute Audio model is proving to be a good one having hit the ground running in the first four weeks of operation. Mr MRPPP Sets High Standards for His Northern Exposure In a remarkable feat of consistent creativity, Mike Reed has been honoured by the MADC for the most outstanding contribution by a creative person: 21 years after being awarded by the MADC for the most outstanding contribution by a creative person. Mike says the creativity happens one day at a time. "I'm still working to do the job - to get the job out on time," he says. "It is an honour and I don't take it lightly. I guess you have to know within yourself that you're doing a good job. Sometimes you doubt and I think all creative people have some doubt and you go through periods of depression and elation and it's good when you get an award." "I feel as though I do a reasonable job. I work hard at it - I work long hours and I guess that's what people see. I still do 60 hours a week and when I got the first award I was doing perhaps 120 hours a week." "...The worst thing is they think technology is cheap..." He says a large part of the shorter hours is due to faster technology - software instead of splicing. He says digital technology - being able to steady one pixel - is an amazing advance. But the flip side is that clients expect the results faster, and will change their minds several times because they feel they can work right up to 30 minutes before a spot is due on air. "They'll push us right up to that and continue to change and change and change," Reed says. "And the worst thing is that they think that that technology is cheap. I think all of us have invested a huge amount, from every production company, from audio to video, but some people seem to dumb it down and think, well it's cheap and they want more for less but they don't understand that it costs more." He also bemoans the lack of any benchmark for recording standards - saying digital has blurred the lines between amateur and professional. "Years ago we had magnetic tape traveling at 38cm per second on a 2 inch tape via Ampex tape recorder ..that was the norm and every professional used it - that was the benchmark. Then came cartridges and cassettes and new specifications. "Today it's MP3 and a range of other compressions all traveling on a Hard drive. People can now create a track or composition with a $3000 CPU with a $300 program and say it sounds good, even though they're getting less, but no-one has really has upheld a benchmark and said this compression or that should be the norm. "One day people will start sending ads out they've shot on a video phone. I'm not against it, you don't have to paint in oils to be an artist, but let's still not forget there is a level that you have to learn at least." "...I've been talking about Sydney for a while..." The drive to maintain standards, to perform to a benchmark crops up consistently during the conversation with Mike. And he's determined that the MRPPP expansion into Sydney will strengthen the MRPPP brand and provide further longevity for the business and provide a good yardstick. "It's a plan that I've had for four years. I've been talking about going to Sydney for a while and it's really only came about since I've found Andrew Shostak as a manager that I've been able to rechannel my energies from day to day work into realising some business plans I've had. "I wanted to be able to go up there and make sure it had all the right detailing and everything like that. It's very hard, but it's very important from the bathrooms to what goes out and how it's labeled. I'm acutely aware of the end product. "So in all of that, now I can actually do Sydney because I have the backup of Andrew, and also because Andrew's young, I see that as the future, and I'm getting on, so I guess in growing it sometimes you can pull back a bit...by growing it, it creates more money, or creates more revenue, then you can pull back because there's a bigger pool and I just think the time is right." "...we're going to try to bring a new standard..." Mike says he sees business like a chess game - not so much as direct competition, but all on the same board, with moves and counter moves. He says he's aware of ripples in Sydney now that he's setting up in Chippendale. "They're all a little bit nervous. Yes they might lose work. We might have no work for a year, that's the risk that we take. They might have to tighten up. I hope that we'll create a better service and set a new standard up there and that's what we're going to do, we're going to try to bring a new standard, so that's a challenge. "I see MRPPP as being here for another 10 or 15 years and I think as we grow it and grow into Sydney and out the back (new studios in Melbourne) that will give us longevity. I've seen a lot of people leave over the past few years, four or five post production companies disappear and it's due to not keeping up - it's as simple as that. You have to invest a certain amount of your profit or your turnover back into your business or into your technology, you have to stay in the race."
A Quiet Night for Radio at the MADCs Radio had a disappointing run at the MADCs this year with only one award and very few finalists. However Gusto, Risk and GAS Melbourne made the most of limited opportunities for awards. James Ashton from Risk picked up a silver and two bronze awards and Colin Simkins from Gusto and Stevo Williams from GAS went home with two bronzes each. The only radio award, a bronze, went to Risk Sound for a 30 second spot for Nandos. James Ashton did the music and Dylan Stephens was the engineer. The spot was also the only finalist in the category. There was one other finalist, in the 45+ second radio commercial, but no finalists for Best Radio Campaign or Best Community Service Ad Radio. Colin Simkins from Gusto Music picked up two bronze awards for Tourism Victoria: Best Soundtrack and Best Use of Original Music. TVCs fared better with a silver and five bronzes awarded from nine finalists. There were a hefty 68 entries in this category. The silver went to Whybin TBWA for Moonlight Projects and, James Ashton from Risk Sound was the engineer. The bronze award winning TVCs were for Honda (Prolific Music), Just Jeans (Sound Lounge), CUB (Stevo Williams GAS), and two for Black and Decker (Phil Kenihan Front of House.) For Best 15 Second Television Commercial there were three finalists, all from Young and Rubicam, and they picked up a silver and a bronze, for the same client Cadbury Schweppes. GAS Melbourne provided the sound for the silver award winning spot "Burp." The only Gold Award for broadcast media was awarded to Dulux Paints' 45 Second Television Commercial "Ghost." Human in Sydney did the sound. There was also a silver and bronze in the same category. The silver was for a spot for Mercedes Benz: Human did the sound design for that too. Stevo Williams did the sound for the Bronze winning 45 second TVC, a spot for CUB. The Ghost Cinema Commercial also won a Gold in that category. James Ashton at Risk did the sound for the Bronze Cinema Commercial, for Moonlight Projects. Silver Linings for Aussies at Clio Awards Phil Webster and Nick Venn at Risk Sound have won a Silver Clio for a Radio Campaign for the Victorian Building Commission. The campaign, from Bristow Prentice Lambaart Budd was the only Australian radio winner out of the 22 that received awards in Miami. Phil was the sound designer for the campaign and Nick did the engineering. There were several Australian winners in the TV and Cinema categories. BMF's TVC for the Australian Red Cross showing members of the production team giving blood, won a silver award. Sound Reservoir did the sound engineering. Human was involved in three bronze winners, for Saatchi & Saatchi's TVCs for Toyota and Olay and Clemenger BBDO's "Ghost" TVC for Dulux Paints. Gold Siren Hard Earned A radio campaign for Victoria Bitter has won the inaugural 2005 Gold Siren Award. The advertisement, written by Josh Stephens and Ben Coulson from George Patterson Partners (Melbourne), with creative director, James McGrath, uses comedy and the well-known VB theme song to sell beer. The 2005 Gold Siren winner received a free trip for two to Cannes to represent Australia at the inaugural Cannes Radio Lions. The other winners for 2005 were Dennis Koutoulogenis and Dale McGuinness from BMF agency in Sydney for their "unAustralian" ad for Meat and Livestock Australia. Sirens Craft New Category The Siren Awards have introduced a new craft category for 2006, to recognise the work of sound engineers and producers. "The way voices, music and effects are recorded and mixed, can make or break a radio commercial. The new Craft Category for the 2006 Siren Awards will recognise the important role played by sound engineers and hopefully encourage them to keep pushing boundaries in sound," says Commercial Radio Australia CEO Joan Warner. Round 2 of the Sirens closes on August 1st. Spots need to have been aired between March 1st and July 31st 2005. The first round winners for 2006 were commercials for Olay and the City of Melbourne. Tim Brown and Pete Buckley from Saatchi & Saatchi (Sydney) won the single commercial category as well as the overall award for their commercial about moisturiser Olay, called "Love". The spot was produced at Stellar Radio. The campaign category winners were Julian Schreiber and Peter Hibberd from Young & Rubicam Melbourne for their campaign for the City of Melbourne called "Trevor" about the events of Moomba Waterfest 2005. AAV Divests Digital Media AAV is selling off its DubSat radio and TVC dispatch because they're not making enough money to satisfy the new management. New Chairman Bob Mansfield told shareholders at the June AGM that the global slowdown in advertising during 2004 particularly impacted on TVC post production. It was left to CEO Michael Gardner to spell out the details to shareholders. He said AAV traditionally operated as two segments: Staging Connections and AAV, but the company was being restructured into three segments: Staging Connections (Event Services); AAV Regency (Media Manufacturing) and Post Production (Digital Media Services, which includes Digital Pictures, Flagstaff Studios and DubSat.) He says when the company reviewed financial performance based on the three operating segments, it became clear that the Post Production area was not meeting expectations. "2004 saw a continuation of the slowdown of post production which commenced in the prior year with a shortage of film, TV and advertising work, both domestically and from overseas," Michael told the shareholders. "The slow down has prompted a review of the operations of the post business which has seen a number of changes introduced to streamline activities and extended to reviewing the long term viability of the business in general. "As mentioned by Bob in his chairman's address, our investigations into the operations of the digital media services group has produced some very revealing results. "Firstly, our review has proven that the digital media services operations are not able to deliver the satisfactory financial levels of return and margins necessary in our public company environment. These returns and margins are unacceptable and cannot continue. "As a result we have taken the decision to divest the underperforming assets and businesses of the digital media services group. In light of this process, I can advise that we are pursuing a number of carefully thought out options. We are optimistic of maximising our position with these assets and businesses and have signed non disclosure agreements with third parties who are undertaking appropriate reviews." In other words, AAV is confident of finding buyers for its Digital Media operations either as a group, or as separate businesses. AAV only has a half share in DubSat: the other 50% is owned by Graham Mapp. Your Bits - Studio news
AudioNET® Thought For The Day "If you only give people what they already want, someone else will give them what they never dreamed possible." - Saatchi & Saatchi.
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Killer Bits: July 2005
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