Gold Tree Studios in Hollywood relies on Genelec Smart Active Monitors™ for its entire monitoring infrastructure (Photo by OLEG KUD)
Gold Tree Studios, which completed a six-month construction and commissioning process in September, arrives on the Hollywood film-industry scene at a pivotal moment in that sector’s history. But the new facility, located on the legendary Sunset Blvd., made sure it started out well grounded, relying on Genelec Smart Active Monitors™ for its entire monitoring infrastructure. The facility’s two main rooms, Studio 1 (Color Grading & Screening Room) and Studio 6 (Sound Mixing & ADR Room), both rely on Genelec 8351B speakers comprising their front L-C-R array and 8331A speakers for surround and overhead speakers, with 7370A and 7380A subwoofers in a dual-sub configuration in each space. Four more Junior & Executive Editing Suites each have a pair of Genelec 4430AM desktop speakers, as does the Video Village room adjacent to the facility’s sound stage.
After the Covid pandemic reduced the scope of film production over the last three years, Gold Tree Studios came about with the idea that clients should have access to whatever post platforms they need or want, with seamless rentals of major industry hardware and software built into its business plan. “We sought to make this a true rental facility — our equipment, your equipment, our engineers, your engineers, whatever you prefer — to better reflect the way the post-production business needs to operate in this new climate in Hollywood,” explains Tim Chonacas, Gold Tree Studios’ CEO and a veteran indie film producer himself. Chonacas built the new facility with associate Bill Immerman, a film legend who as an EVP at Twentieth Century Fox was part of the team that greenlit Star Wars and Young Frankenstein. With an equipment list that reflects the state of the art, Chonacas says that the monitoring also had to meet that standard, making Genelec the only choice for the facility’s immersive monitoring environment. “There are very few brands in the top tier of speakers, and Genelec is always at the top of that list,” he says. “The crispest, clearest, most dynamic sound is Genelec. You just don’t hear that depth in other brands.”
Chonacas says they decided to go with a dual-subwoofer configuration for the two largest rooms, a reflection of Hollywood’s demand for big LFE, including for television. “We wanted the dual subs for mixing to feel that low end and those low mids,” he explains. “We wanted deep, impactful bass that really thumps, for film and television, but also for music. You can really feel the 7370A and 7380A while you’re in the chair mixing, and that gives us the low end we need to work on today’s blockbuster film and TV projects.”
Finally, he says they relied heavily on a combination of GLM loudspeaker manager software, which is compatible with all Genelec Smart Active Monitors and Subwoofers, and the next-generation AutoCal 2 automatic room-calibration algorithm. “AutoCal was very important since we were doing much of the setup work ourselves and because we wanted to be up and running as quickly as possible,” he says, noting that Gold Tree Studios’ Dolby Atmos® certification process is already under way. “Genelec pretty much provided everything we needed to make our monitoring state of the art right at the beginning.”
