Mike Nehs is owner of Periscope Post & Audio (www.periscopepa.com), which operates full-service sound and picture post production facilities in Hollywood and Chicago. Both facilities provide a range of sound and picture finishing services for television, film, advertising, video games and other media. Some of the company’s recent work includes the television series Empire, Exorcist and
New Girl, the films
Kickboxer: Vengeance, The Workers Cup, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone, Fight Mom and
Signature Move, and advertising for Honda, Pepsi and Groupon. Here, he looks at the audio post business and the year ahead.
Strengths
We’re seeing an increase in production brought on by all the new streaming services. It’s generating a lot of work for post production facilities like ours that have the proper teams in place. In fact, it may be a challenge for the industry to keep up with all the new projects coming out of Disney+, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, as well as streaming services like Crackle that are trying to make an impact. We think it’s going to be a big part of our success in Hollywood and Chicago.
Weaknesses
Facilities are going to be challenged to keep up with demand and maintain a workforce that can deliver projects on deadline. We are working hard to ensure we continue to deliver on time and on budget. We do not want our clients to suffer due to the fact that there is so much work.
Opportunities
The growth of television production is creating many new opportunities. We expect to deliver more Dolby Atmos mixes and believe that Atmos will become the new industry standard. Some companies may seize the opportunity to become a dedicated Netflix house or a dedicated Disney+ house, so they will be at the front of the line or have first right of refusal when new projects are awarded. We have been approached by production companies with similar offers as they want to ensure their projects are properly serviced in post.
Threats
One major threat is the potential that an excess of work will lead to lower quality. People may become so anxious to get their projects done that they are willing to work with someone operating out of a basement. Lower budgets may also lead to lower quality. On the other hand, we’ve also seen the exact opposite: clients who come to us because they want their projects to be the best they can be, and it’s worked great.