Audio Postproduction SPR World-Class Work for a Worldwide Audience
By Andrew King
There ’ s long been a stigma in the post-production industry that , because of regional accents , Quebec-based facilities can ’ t successfully dub productions for France and other international French markets ; however , the success that Audio Postproduction SPR Inc . has found in the niche of language dubbing in recent years refutes that claim rather well .
A long-running post-production studio located in Montreal , SPR ’ s business model wasn ’ t always focused on language dubbing . The fact is that , like many of its peers in the Quebecois and Canadian post markets , the studio has had to adapt its business model in sync with the industry ’ s evolution over the years .
But while many of SPR ’ s services and workflows have changed over the years – some quite significantly so , like language dubbing now accounting for the vast majority of the studio ’ s work – some things haven ’ t changed a bit . Among those is the belief that a client relationship fostered atop good communication and total clarity is paramount to the success of any project and long-term partnership .
SPR was founded as Studio Place Royale in 1979 , with partners Stanley Brown and Normand Rodrigue operating out of a humble space in Old Montreal . In the beginning , the two owners found success balancing the two sides of the business , with Rodrigue overseeing the technical operations and Brown handling the majority of the administrative duties – a successful split that continues to this day with SPR ’ s current ownership .
In 1988 , the business moved to its current location on rue Saint-Paul Ouest in the southern end of Old Montreal . The following year , Jean-Pierre Bissonnette – now the VP , head mixer , and co-owner of SPR – joined the team as a part-time technician . “ When I started here , we had two studios – A and
38 • PROFESSIONAL SOUND