Barcelona’s Fig Tree Studios has installed a 32-fader S5 Fusion from Euphonix in its newly opened post facility in Barcelona, making it the first one in Spain.
Despite its name, Fig Tree doesn’t refer to the fauna; instead the name stems (pardon the pun) from the term American filmmakers use when they are dubbing foreign versions of their films for the European market, that is: French-Italian-German-Spanish.
“However at Fig Tree, we don’t mix foreign versions, instead we specifically mix films for the Spanish film industry,” explained Andrew Galletly, owner of Fig Tree Studios. “There are two distinct markets in Spain: the first, and largest, is the distribution market of mainly American films which need to be dubbed and mixed into Spanish. The other is the local production market for just mixing. I sensed that the local producers would welcome a studio which cared for their productions and would not push them out of the room when Disney knocked at the door with their next mega 3D flick!
“With the Euphonix S5 Fusion as the cornerstone of my studio I can offer local producers more of a boutique, made-to-measure solution. The idea is that I’m going to offer the studio in a dry hire situation where the client can bring along his mixer of preference,” continued Galletly.
The Euphonix S5 Fusion is an all-in-one digital audio mixing package that provides a fusion of Euphonix’ new processing DSP SuperCore engine with EuCon Hybrid, a technology that allows the console surface to control its own DSP channels as well as channels from multiple external DAWs simultaneously. The system is designed to handle HD surround audio post and music applications. The new SP663 DSP cards increase the channel count to over 100 channels at 48kHz and the system can also be run at 96kHz with 50% fewer channels.
“Post production in the Iberian Peninsula has traditionally been of a very high standard and we are pleased that Fig Tree has chosen to partner with Euphonix. As the first Fusion in Spain, the door has now been opened to audio professionals throughout the country to work on this compact yet powerful console,” explained Dominic Jacobson. “When making the decision as to which console to purchase, Andrew Galletly along with two of Spain’s top mixers, Jordi Monros and Marc Orts, (whose credits include films by Pedro Almod_var) traveled to Pinewood Studios to see their Euphonix-equipped theatres. It was their seal of approval that was instrumental in the decision to choose the Euphonix solution.”
“We have just completed our first project, a movie entitled ‘Lastrain’. Our next project is the 5.1 mix of a film called ‘Estigmas’ which won this year’s prize for best new director at the Valladolid Film Festival,” explained Galletly. “So far we have only worked with one mixer, who very impressed with the console, but as the first S5 Fusion in Spain, I expect word of mouth to make its effect pretty soon.”
