Hollywood’s Soundelux Filing For Bankruptcy, Layoffs Could Reach 100

2ND UPDATE, 3:29 PM: Today’s closures of Soundelux’s facilities in Hollywood and Santa Monica have resulted in layoffs of about 30 of the historic postproduction sound studio’s 200 employees, said Leslie Cohen, the company’s bankruptcy attorney. “There are no further imminent layoffs expected at this time,” she said, noting that the company’s Burbank facilities remain open for business. “The company is still in business and intends to stay in business, and will satisfy all of its commitments to its customers, pay its creditors, and will sell the business as a going concern. The bank is consenting to the company’s further operations and restructuring efforts.”

UPDATE, 11:37 AM: Soundelux has released a statement today saying it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection “to streamline the company’s cost structure while preparing the company for sale. The company will continue to operate the business throughout the restructuring process and honor its commitments to clients and their projects. This action has been necessitated by a significant decline in revenues, primarily in the feature film segment, which has impacted the independent post production sound business in the Los Angeles area.” Soundelux said it plans to remain open and fully operational during restructuring but did not give an indication of how many jobs will be lost — though layoffs could approach 100.

The closure of the facilities in Hollywood and Santa Monica came as a surprise to most of the company’s workers. “I just found out about it this morning,” said one. “We all got an announcement at 7:30.” Up until recently, the company was still hiring.

PREVIOUS EXCLUSIVE, 11:09 AM: Soundelux, Hollywood’s leading independent provider of postproduction sound services, is filing bankruptcy today and closing its facilities in Santa Monica and Hollywood. The company’s Burbank offices “will stay open for now,” said an employee. “It’s sad,” said a worker at the company’s facility on Seward Street in Hollywood. “A lot of people are losing their jobs. People are packing up their stuff. There’s a security guard here to make sure we don’t take anything.” She said owner David Alfonso “is signing everything over. The bank will own it as of today.”

The company, which employs about 170 people, has been a Hollywood landmark for more than 50 years, providing sound services to thousands of films and TV shows including The Hunger Games, Skyfall, Django Unchained, Divergent, The Heat, The Lone Ranger, 42, Pacific Rim, The Dark Knight, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Inception, Mad Men, CSI, CSI: NY, Person Of Interest, Family Guy and HBO’s Game Of Thrones, Entourage, Big Love, Girls and The Newsroom. Some of the shows currently in postproduction will be finished at the offices in Burbank, an employee said, and the rest will have to scramble to find postproduction services elsewhere.