In financial turmoil and shaken by strikes in Hollywood, Technicolor Creative Services – one of the main players in the visual effects niche in Montreal – has quietly slashed about 12% of its workforce, or about 120 people, in the metropolis.
The French studio based in Paris has carried out at least three rounds of cutbacks since the start of the year, noted La Presse. The Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity was made aware of the most recent one as recently as last month. Around 75 employees then lost their livelihoods in the Wellington Street offices.
“In recent quarters, the group has faced operational challenges as well as an unfavorable market environment,” the company said in an emailed statement. The historic double strike of screenwriters (five months) and actors (around four months) in Hollywood has accentuated these sectoral challenges. »
The Technicolor imprint is available through its Moving Picture Company (MPC) and Mikros studios. Since last May, MPC Montreal has been led by Ludovic Iochem, who has notably worked on megaproductions like Quantum of Solace and Avengers: Endgame. The latter did not respond to questions from La Presse sent by email.
Technicolor opened its studio in Quebec in 2013 after obtaining an interest-free loan of 1.2 million granted at the time by the PQ government of Pauline Marois. The generous refundable tax credit – of which the Quebec portion is now 36% – for film production services also weighed in the balance.
The French multinational has more than 11,700 employees across 11 countries, according to its website. However, its financial health has deteriorated in recent years, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, which temporarily interrupted filming.
Despite a turnover totaling 1.2 billion CAN in 2022, the company lost some 145 million. Things are not getting better. Since the start of the financial year, Technicolor has seen its revenue plunge 31%. In the MPC division, the decline is around 45%. The walkouts of screenwriters and actors in Hollywood explain this decline.
“Technicolor stands with its customers […] as they prepare to restart their productions as soon as the actors’ strike […] is resolved,” she said. The group is ready to seize commercial opportunities that arise and to adapt its organization as soon as the market recovers. »
The layoffs carried out by the company in Quebec occur in a context where the volume of business in the visual effects niche contracted by 5% in 2022 to stand at 740 million, according to the Bureau’s most recent annual report. of Quebec Cinema and Television (BCTQ).
Techicolor and its subsidiaries are likely not the only ones to suffer from the conflict south of the border. For the moment, the Office is not yet able to quantify the extent of the repercussions caused by the two strikes.
“We are in the process of compiling the figures collected during several meetings with industry players as well as through a questionnaire that was sent to them,” underlines the Bureau’s marketing and communications advisor, Viviane Agostino. It is therefore very difficult for us at the moment to provide you with this information. »
According to layoff notices sent to the Quebec government, studios like Frontier Visual Effects (15 people) and Production Double Negative (24 employees) have also made cutbacks since the start of the year.