Technicolor buys LaserPacific; sells NY assets

Not long after announcing a strategic deal with Deluxe on film print distribution, Technicolor has said it will be expanding its operations on the West Coast of the US by purchasing post production outfit LaserPacific. LA-based LaserPacific has long been one of the most professional and highest quality post-production facilities in the area, servicing especially the episodic community for decades and being regarded by many as a pioneer in technical excellence and engineering standards.

Laser Pacific Media has its roots in several companies. The oldest, Pacific Video Industries was a remote truck operator that began in 1972. It provided the remote facilities for the 1977 location recordings of “The Nixon Interviews” when David Frost and the former President sat down for a grueling series of historic interviews. It was in 1990 that Spectra Image and Pacific Video were merged into the new company, LaserPacific.

LaserPacific was run for almost twenty years by industry legend, former LaserPacific president and co-founder Emory Cohen. Cohen left in 2004 in the wake of Eastman Kodak’s acquisition of LaserPacific the previous year, in a deal valued then at $30.5 million. After Cohen, Laser Pacific’s integration with Kodak was handled by Leon Silverman, as director, VP and strategic business development, Kodak Entertainment Imaging Services.

Kodak then sold LaserPacific and its subsidiaries Laser-Edit, Inc, and Pacific Video, Inc., in just April of 2010 for an undisclosed sum to TeleCorps Holdings, Inc. Thus this is the second time LaserPacific has been sold in just 2 years.

The announcement says that key personnel and creative talent from LaserPacific will be transferred to the new operation. Technicolor CEO, Frederic Rose, on the buy: “The acquisition of LaserPacific’s assets is in line with our commitment to support the transition of our customers to digital technologies. It reinforces our key position in broadcast digital post production and extends our world-class creative talent pool, while further strengthening our long-standing relations with filmmakers and studios.”

At the same time, Technicolor will sell its New York post assets to PostWorks in a franchise deal. As part of that agreement, Technicolor will provide PostWorks access to its proprietary color science and post production workflows, but continue providing post-production services in New York via its MPC brand.

You can read more about both announcements at Technicolor’s press center here.