Technicolor plans to reduce staff

Technicolor Inc. plans to lay off 50 employees at its relatively new Flower Street facility by Jan. 14, according to a recent state filing.

Plans for the layoffs, filed with the California Employment Development Department, affect the 40,000-square-foot lab in the San Fernando Road corridor where the company moved roughly 100 film-processing jobs last summer.

Technicolor transferred the jobs to Glendale after it downsized and shuttered its North Hollywood facility.

Last month, Technicolor released an update of its 2011 financial performance and objectives for 2012, in which the company said it was “considering a number of cost-reduction action plans.”

Last January, Technicolor officials said the move to Glendale was a natural choice because of the city’s push for its San Fernando Road Creative Corridor and because the facility would be close to DreamWorks Animation and the Walt Disney Co.’s Creative Campus.

Technicolor provides visual effects, animation and post-production services for motion picture, television and other media clients.

The company has another facility in Glendale on Gardena Avenue, as well as in Burbank and Hollywood.

While representatives for Technicolor had little to say on Wednesday, the layoffs are likely tied to the film industry’s sizable slump in 2011, said Larry Gerbrandt, an industry analyst who runs Media Valuation Partners in Los Angeles.

Fewer movies were made and theaters are increasingly switching to satellite transmissions or hard drives for movie deliveries, he said.

Also, fewer DVDs are being pressed amid the rise of online streaming, which means a loss of DVD revenues for studios, Gerbrandt added.

“None of that bodes well for Technicolor,” he said.