Brooklyn Audio Post Bravado: Fall On Your Sword Unveils The Foundry — 7.1 Dolby Mix Room

Audio post in Brooklyn is not news anymore. Owing to the larger spaces available and the convenience, an ever-growing contingent of filmmakers and media producers want to mix sound in their borough of choice.

And the options available are slowly growing. From Rumble Audio in East Willimamsburg/Bushwick to the new DUMBO branch of Heard City, fresh audio post facilities are staking their claim in Brooklyn.

As sophisticated as the new arrivals are, however, they have some catching up to do with one of the Broken Land’s more experienced post players, Fall On Your Sword. In business and making strides since 2009, six years of longevity is a lifetime in this pioneering location – a time span that has allowed these composing/scoring/post multitaskers to refine their business strategy, and launch rooms that are ahead of the curve.

Fashionable acoustics: The Foundry is reshaping Brooklyn audio post possibilities.

Find the Foundry

That’s where the Foundry comes in. Just a five minute walk from the Bedford “L” train, FOYS’ extremely appealing new 700 sq. ft. room awaits. A Dolby Approved 7.1 and 5.1 mix stage, it pairs Pro Tools 11 HD Native with an AVID S6 M40 control surface. Sound is transmitted through the room via a JBL 8340A speaker system, paired with Crown amps.

Services there include mix, ADR, VO record, Foley, and sound design – and a transporting experience. Entering The Foundry signals you’ve arrived in a place for doing special things. It’s a welcoming aesthetic spearheaded by the giant couch at the front of the room, which irresistibly telegraphs the creature comforts throughout.

Word is already getting out. Since opening in early November 2014, The Foundry’s mix credits include Queen of Earth (Alex Ross Perry, Director), It’s Me, Hilary (Matt Wolf, director), Contra, (Begonia Colomar, Director), Muckland (Charlie Polinger, Director), and Bodies at War, (Emily Cohen, Director).

The Foundry is supplemented by The Forge, a smaller 7.1 mix room giving FOYS a one-two post punch. “Building The Foundry involved busting through a brick wall in our existing office and client area, which as a result has also had a big revamp,” says FOYS Founder/Creative Director Will Bates. “We built the Foundry with the intention of having it be available to multiple mixers, both in-house and freelance.”

As business has expanded for FOYS, the company has stayed focused on its core mission while also actively innovating. “The company has grown, but much about what we do every day has remained the same, in that everything that happens at FOYS is a marriage of audio and the moving image,” Bates explains. “Whether it’s scoring a feature film, composing original music for a commercial, music supervising, sound designing and mixing, or creating audio/visual art installations, we continue to be obsessed by that peculiar marriage of sound and image.”

Bates, FOYS Executive Producer/Partner Lucy Alper, and Post Producer George Dellinger have had a front row seat to Brooklyn’s changing post scenery. “A few years ago, it would have been hard to imagine much post production in Brooklyn at all,” Bates says. “The professional shops were almost all in Manhattan and rates were sky high, in tandem with most business overheads. That has certainly changed, as many professionals have found refuge in the outer boroughs.

“We were fortunate to move into our space when the rent was still affordable in Williamsburg, so we were able to invest in building a top-of-the-line facility without having to face the harsh reality of Manhattan rent each month.”

Following its success with the Forge, FOYS wanted to create a much larger, more high-end room to accommodate larger projects. “The Foundry definitely achieves that while keeping with our specific FOYS aesthetic and attention to detail,” states Bates. “Whereas The Forge has more of a turn-of-the-century bordello feel to it, we think of The Foundry as being more of an art deco snooker hall; an opulent 1920s gentleman’s club.

“As far as the technology, it is state-of-the-art of course, currently 7.1 but wired for Dolby Atmos. Given that projects can sometimes run for weeks at a time, we want our clients to feel they’re sinking into a den of luxury, and be as excited to come to work as we are.”

Dolby-certified 7.1 & 5.1 is guided by an Avid S6 control surface.

A Freelancer’s Perspective

Freelance sound designer/editor/composer Gisela Fulla-Silvestre, who recently was at The Foundry working as the sound designer and re-recording sound mixer for a compelling new documentary. “The audio post landscape of NYC exists on a spectrum from very large, well established studios that focus on big film/TV series on one end, down to modest bedroom editing setups more oriented to indie projects, Web series etc… on the other,” she says of the regions post landscape. “In the middle of this spectrum there’s boutique studios of varying scale, which tend to represent the most ideal work environment.

“They bring the material/studio benefits of a larger studio into a more close-knit, creative setting,” she continues. “And while it could be said that working from home affords certain advantages regarding flexibility of scheduling, the collaborative potential that comes with working in a studio produces an incomparably efficient and fruitful environment.”

Meanwhile, Fulla-Silvestre and her hosts are locked in on the vibe. “FOYS perfectly embodies the ideal boutique studio set-up,” she says. “As it marries technological capability, artful aesthetics, and pristine acoustics in a creative environment of a music and sound design house.

“Especially nowadays — that the boundaries between music and sound in the audiovisual world are sometimes blurry — it’s not that common to find a true hybrid music/sound house that is able to offer both hip, original high quality music scoring and meticulous, well-crafted 7.1 sound spaces.”

That’s not just a theoretical benefit. Bates’ and his partners’ instinctive empathy of what audio post requires feeds into the speed. “With a heavily designed movie like the one I’m working on right now,” Fulla-Silvestre says, “the mixing of the FX is very tied to the sound design process, so working in a place like the Foundry helps a lot with the workflow.

“There is a tendency to dismiss the significance of the physical space in which one works, to ignore its impact on workflow and creative decision making.  The fact that The Foundry was clearly designed and constructed with this significance in mind is readily apparent: It’s a gorgeous theatre mixing room with a very clinical sound. It’s a true ‘dead’ room, it really sounds accurate and balanced and the setup of the board makes it flexible in terms of switching from editing to mixing, which I believe is one of the most important aspects considering the way that the sound editing process is evolving.”

With its serenely inspiring visuals and room to spread out, FOYS’ ambience takes its users to creative new places. “The design of the room is different from other mixing rooms I’ve worked: it’s surrounded by warm earth colors and a skylight ceiling,” Fulla-Silvestre says. “Considering that you spend a lot of hours by yourself in the studio, it’s nice to feel that you’re not trapped in a cave.”

Rolling with Dolby

Design details make The Foundry an attractive place to spend time — up close on one of the doors.

Fulla-Silvestre fluidly moved the faders of the Avid S6 during her session, an easy familiarity that FOYS anticipated for freelance audio pros. “We chose the Avid S6 because of its modular design, and that it can expand along with our needs,” Will Bates says. “The room is designed for feature films – it’s wired for Dolby Atmos – however we welcome almost all projects based on availability, be it a short film, a commercial spot or brand piece, etc… We’ve also hosted screenings in the Foundry, as it can comfortably seat about 20 people.”

Bates is seeing an even spread of uses among his clients – bookings at The Foundry are using it for equal parts mix, ADR, VO record, Foley, and sound design. “They tend to go hand in hand,” he observes. “If we’re producing the full audio post on a project, there’s usually a need for all of the above. However we offer those services individually as well, and it always depends on a particular project’s specific needs.

“Dolby are incredible to work with — Steve from Dolby spent about a day and a half in the Foundry, tuning every speaker. It reassures us, and our clients, that the mix will translate into commercial theater environments, as well as festival settings, broadcast platforms, and more.”

NYC Post Party

But don’t sweat the technique. The x-element at The Foundry is the facility’s feel – it’s what fuels quick turnaround times with no compromise on creative. “So often, music and sound design aren’t integrated together until the final mix, which can prove problematic when either one or the other are more heavy-handed, or when sound design is tonal and in a different key from the music.

“Producing all of the elements under one roof allows for a dialogue early on, and a more seamless workflow from the start. The same goes for VO and ADR; they can be recorded and almost immediately dropped into the mix in real time.”

Needless to say, FOYS are fired up about the opportunities that seem to exist for everyone who’s serious about their craft right now. “We feel incredibly lucky to be part of the audio post community here in NYC,” says Will Bates. “The Post Production Tax Credit offered to features is a great incentive for films to post in New York, regardless of where the production is based or where they’ve shot.

“That said, the range of budgets that project allocate to audio post is incredibly varying. Fortunately we’re able to accommodate projects of all sizes with both the Foundry and the Forge.”

— David Weiss

You’re on top of the world! A most indulgent sweet spot.

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