Features

Everyone has mental health and so do you.

by Ryan Pedersen

**Disclaimer: This article is not meant to diagnose or help cure any mental health disorder. It is being written to let you know that you aren’t alone, that others are experiencing the same things as you and that there is hope for the future. We recommend meeting with a professional, licensed therapist to diagnose and help treat any mental health disorder that you may be experiencing. If you are experiencing extreme depression, including thoughts of self-harm or suicide, please reach out to a therapist or call 988 to get immediate help.

In January of 2023, I had just wrapped two almost consecutive seasons of a streaming show and was looking forward to a few weeks off before jumping back in to work. That few weeks turned into months. The sporadic work that most of us have experienced is not really enough to catch up on the massive hole that so many of us have found ourselves in while also paying our current bills. I also know that there are still many that are struggling to see that hope on the horizon and are continuing to struggle through these changing times. Our mental health has taken a massive toll during the last year, and I think that it’s very important that we talk about it.

Elevated depression, psychological distress, and anxiety are all things that can affect us during sudden or prolonged unemployment. Obviously, a large reason for these symptoms is caused by financial uncertainty but there is more to it than that. The loss of employment also causes a loss of our routines and creates a perceived lack of purpose. Combine that with the other changes that our industry is going through and you create a situation that most, if not all of us, have never experienced before. We are lucky to live in a time where there is an increased willingness amongst society to address mental health issues and work things out with professionals. Basically, it is OK that you are feeling these things, it’s normal, and there is help.

I would consider myself to be fairly positive and optimistic but the last few months have become increasingly difficult even for me. I have definitely struggled with depression, anxiety, and stress, leading me to wonder if this is the “new normal.” I’ve thought about leaving the industry in order to find more stable work. Though, like many of you who are reading this, I am unsure of other things that I would be good at or qualified to do. I also really love what I do, which also makes it difficult to change professions. So how do we maintain hope, reduce our stress and anxiety, and find happiness in our work situation?
Depression is defined as a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest in things or activities you once enjoyed. It can also cause difficultly with thinking, memory, eating, and sleeping. It’s normal to feel sad about or grieve over difficult life situations, such as unemployment. But depression is different in that it persists practically every day for at least two weeks and involves other symptoms than sadness alone. We are feeling down or sad about work. This is a temporary state that a lot of us are going through. We can treat ourselves by keeping busy, working out, or spending time with friends and family. We have an opportunity to strengthen our personal relationships. I think it’s important to check in with your friends. Ask them how they are doing and let them know they can talk to you when they are experiencing a difficult time. There are also licensed therapists that can help and there is nothing wrong with seeking professional help. Therapy has been very beneficial in my life.

Not all that are unemployed suffer from depression and being depressed doesn’t mean you are unemployed. But I’m willing to bet that everyone reading this has suffered the effects of stress and anxiety. Just like with depression, there are many levels of anxiety. It can be normal in stressful situations such as public speaking or doing a job interview. I think in our line of work, stress and anxiety go hand in hand, especially when it comes to our financial responsibilities. I would bet that most of us have had at least one of these thoughts in the last year: How am I going to pay my rent/mortgage? How am I going to care for my family? What will I do for money if/when my savings runs out? What am I going to do for healthcare? Am I ever going to work again? And then we go deeper into: Am I not good enough at my job? Why won’t people hire me? Did I do something wrong? Why am I the only person not working? These types of questions create a distortion of our reality; only to lead us down the road to depression and ever-critical thoughts of our self-worth.
I think that our line of work has created an environment in which we overwork ourselves in order to get ahead. But I ask, are we really getting ahead by overworking ourselves? I believe that we are not. We ask for more time to be with our families, but we also seek out more overtime because of the additional wages. This creates a huge stress on our personal lives. It also puts a huge stress on us financially because we get used to that extra overtime money and when that disappears, it becomes really apparent. We need to adjust our work/life balance and in return, our stress and anxiety will decrease. We will budget more appropriately. We will spend more time with our families and friends. We will get to enjoy life a little more every day.

We should remember how lucky we all are to get to do the type of work we do. We have cool jobs! But let us also not forget that they are just our jobs and that we have our families and each other, as well as ourselves to look out for and take care of. We should each take time to evaluate our current situations. Reach out to those who you know might be struggling even if you yourself is struggling. We are lucky to be in a union and I believe that part of that responsibility is looking out for our brothers and sisters. Let’s build each other up and provide each other with opportunities of success.

by Juan Cisneros CAS

I am deeply grateful for the unwavering support from Shondaland Productions since 2017. My journey in the television industry began as a Sound Utility on the TV show American Dreams in 2004, alongside the talented actor Tom Verica. When Tom transitioned to directing, I had the opportunity to work on his short film on weekends, hoping to establish my name in the industry. He promised to involve me in more significant projects, and almost twelve years later, he fulfilled his promise by offering me the pilot for For the People, a show he directed and produced with Shondaland.

After completing the pilot, Tom told me about another pilot called Station 19. The Station 19 pilot kept getting delayed with the fall season approaching, so I chose to continue with For the People. I worked on it for three seasons only to see it get canceled, while Station 19 was picked up for its third season. This turn of events led to a call from one of the producers of Station 19, inviting me to meet with Paris Barclay, a director and producer on the show.

My first instinct was to reach out to my friend, David Kirschner, the original mixer from Station 19. I was curious why he was not returning to the show. David revealed that he was retiring after fifty years in the business. I then called Paris Barclay and set up the meeting. I was fortunate to join Station 19 as the Sound Mixer, taking over from David. It was a challenging transition, as I had big shoes to fill, but with David’s guidance and some adjustments to adapt to the show’s unique requirements, I took over the show successfully. The show was intense, often involving multiple cameras and locations, and requiring us always to be ready with booms and wireless mics.

We always had to coordinate with the camera, props, costumes, hair, medical, and fire technical advisers to determine how we would place the microphones on the actors because sometimes they would wear helmets or take them off during the scene, or change clothes from firefighter uniforms to civilian clothes on camera. It was a heavy, intense, noisy props show, and we were also dealing with firetrucks and actors opening and closing doors and compartments, putting away tools, uniforms, hoses, helmets, Velcro, etc.

I must underscore the pivotal role of my crew. Over my five-year tenure on the show, I began with Gary Boatner, my Boom Operator, who was with me for almost twelve years until his retirement. Following this, I brought on Chris Walmer, who later decided to move on due to the travel distance from the studio to his home. Then, I welcomed Jacques Pienaar, a fantastic addition to my team, a great person, an excellent Boom Operator, and a good friend. We also had Estuardo Galvez, as our Utility Sound Technician/Second Unit Mixer, my right hand, and a good friend. He has worked with me for almost eleven years. After the onset of COVID-19, we added a fourth person to our team, Scott Marshall. We nurtured and trained Scott, who is a quick learner. We familiarized Scott with our workflow. His addition to my team was a true blessing, as Scott significantly eased our set life. Today, my crew and I are always in sync, and are more than coworkers; they are like a family to me. I also extend my gratitude to all the other sound brothers and sisters who have supported me throughout the show.

I was well aware that I would be dealing with intense scripts and emotional scenes that would test the limits of our cast.

We had a high track count because occasionally, we will do a crossover episodes with Grey’s Anatomy. I aimed to capture the actors’ dialogue as accurately as possible to avoid the need for ADR.

One of my most significant challenges was staying alert and ready for an actor to go from a whisper to a scream with no warning. While we sometimes rehearsed to prepare for these situations 99.9% of the time, the rehearsal performance would change when we started shooting. However, I was able to adapt and ensure that the sound quality remained top-notch.

Embarking on the production of a large-scale television series is a collaborative endeavor that hinges on seamless teamwork. As a Sound Mixer, it is paramount to foster trust within our sound team, meticulously observe rehearsals, and establish open lines of communication with various departments. Collaboration with other departments creates a supportive environment and ensures a smooth workflow where everyone can contribute effectively.

It is crucial to provide the sound team with top-of-the-line tools and equipment. For more than two decades, I have been using Lectrosonics wireless microphones due to their excellent support during my transition from analog to digital. I also have Sound Devices for recorders and control surfaces, Comtek’s, Denecke slates and sync boxes, PSC Power Solutions, K-Tek products, Schoeps CMIT microphones, Sennheiser MKH 50 & 416, and Sanken and Countryman for lavalier mics. Eric Ballew from Cannibal Industries made my sound carts, and Ryan Canestro helped in my converting to full Dante. I also received invaluable support from Location Sound Services.

Beyond the realm of equipment lies the indispensable element of creativity. Television presents a distinct set of challenges that require a blend of technical proficiency and imaginative problem-solving.

In the fast-paced world of television production, time constraints are constant. The pressure to capture multiple script pages within a limited timeframe, often without the luxury of extensive rehearsals, underscores the need for adaptability and quick thinking.

Navigating this dynamic landscape of television production requires a multifaceted skill set encompassing technical expertise, teamwork, and a keen artistic sensibility. As a sound team, we must not only excel in the realm of technology but also harness our creativity to overcome the unique challenges presented.

The ability to think on our feet, collaborate effectively with our team, and deliver exceptional sound under pressure is essential for success in this fast-paced and demanding industry.
I want to recount a recent distressing experience that has left me reflecting on the situation. Unfortunately, my sound trailer, containing all my sound equipment, was stolen. The impact of this loss was profound, leaving me in a state of dismay and emotional turmoil. After eight days, authorities located the stolen trailer, but it had suffered severe damage, and most of my valuable equipment was either stolen or irreparably damaged.

This incident was not only a personal setback but highlighted the vulnerabilities inherent in our work. We must strengthen our defenses against unforeseen calamities and proactively protect our belongings. Everyone should consider using accurate GPS devices to enhance the security of our equipment.

I share my story in the hope that it serves as a cautionary tale and prompts others to implement measures to safeguard their assets. Please have an accurate inventory list. I also express my earnest wish that studios and relevant authorities institute new protocols and safeguards to prevent such incidents from recurring.
Let’s learn from each other’s experiences and work together to create a safer and more secure environment for our community.

Scott Marshall – Utility Sound Technician

In September 2020, I stepped into the crew for the fourth season amidst the unique challenges of COVID-19. I embarked on a journey to support and adapt to the new normal of production. My role entailed adhering to stringent COVID-19 return-to-work guidelines, maintaining equipment hygiene, and overseeing a complex VOG system.

This VOG system wasn’t your run-of-the-mill setup; by strategically situating speakers indoors and outdoors, I facilitated the seamless transmission of directions from the Assistant Director to the entire crew, freeing them from the confines of a singular space, especially indoors. Initially met with skepticism, this innovative solution gradually gained appreciation as its efficiency became evident, showcasing our team’s creativity and problem-solving skills.

Additionally, sanitation became paramount, especially for equipment near actors. Every wire, transmitter, strap, and accessory underwent meticulous cleaning before and after each use, ensuring compliance with safety standards.

As COVID-19 restrictions eased, a sense of normalcy returned, allowing for an entire four-person sound crew throughout seasons four, five, and six. However, following the WGA/SAG- AFTRA strike, many teams, including ours, faced staff reductions. Fortunately,
I retained my position within this esteemed sound crew, and thanks to Estuardo Galvez’s promotion to the Y1 position.

Juan’s team groomed me for increased responsibilities throughout each seasons and challenges, culminating in season six, when I assumed the core duties of the key utility. Wiring talent became one of my primary tasks, a huge endeavor as we wired between six to twelve daily in a three-camera world. Juan skillfully prioritized wires for optimal dialog capture.

We fostered a sense of family throughout every season within our department and the entire cast and crew. The camaraderie was instrumental in our success, in devising many excellent workflows that helped us work efficiently while capturing great performances.
One standout was our approach to wiring talent-wearing firefighting turnouts. We figured out how to fix transmitters and wires into their helmets. This meant they could move freely, doing almost any action while capturing close-and-personal dialogue. With the lav at the edge of their helmets, smack dab in the middle of their foreheads, we could snag crystal-clear dialog, even in chaotic, noisy scenes.

Wiring talent is very complex and it all starts with reading the sides and watching rehearsals.
I read the sides and create a wiring list organized by speaking order. This gives Juan the most effcient starting point for mixing the scene, moving from one fader to the next as the scene progresses.

Wardrobe indeed plays a significant role in how we wire talent. On Station 19, we were fortunate to have recurring costumes that provided us with consistent results. Among these was the Nomax, a semi-formal attire, alongside the firefighter turnouts. Consisting of a simple button-up firefighter shirt tucked into long pants, the Nomax presented us with a uniform wiring system that we could rely on for every talent wearing it.

Our process was consistent for every performer wearing the Nomax. We strategically placed the microphone between the first and second buttons of the shirt, with the wire running down to the transmitter on the ankle. Since about fourteen performers regularly wore this wardrobe, it was crucial to maintain consistency.

We did encounter some challenges with the costumes. Sometimes the actors would take off their shirts or helmets during a scene. However, we always had backup plans to handle these situations, ensuring that we could address any wardrobe-related issues without affecting the quality of the production.

We installed plant microphones in the firetrucks and ambulances, known as the Ladder and Aidcar. While we are familiar with placing microphones in regular passenger vehicles’ visors and cup holders, firetrucks present a unique challenge due to their spacious interiors and ample headroom.

Over the years, we have perfected our skills and developed specialized tools to place microphones near the talent discreetly. One of our most innovative solutions involved installing plates that enabled us to swivel and rotate three hundred sixty degrees at a moment’s notice, making it easier to make precise adjustments for capturing dialog based on the talent’s performances within the vehicles.

Jacques Pienaar – Boom Operator

As a Boom Operator on the hit TV show Station 19, I was part of a sound team pushing the boundaries of conventional location sound techniques. Led by Sound Mixer Juan Cisneros and Utility Sound Technician Scott Marshall, our team was determined to create an immersive experience for viewers despite the challenges of fast-paced and dynamic camera work.

One of the biggest hurdles we faced was the show’s multiple moving cameras and large cast. Traditional location sound-capturing techniques weren’t cutting it, so we had to think outside the box and devise innovative solutions to capture high-quality sound amidst all the action.

I was responsible for helping to adjust up scratchy mics on actors in a pinch, if something went wrong. I always boom actors when radio mics weren’t an option, in the scene or where the action caused too much movement on the lav microphones. Thanks to Scott’s mastery with the mics placed on actors, we got nearly all the dialog sound as final sound on the day, with very little being ADRed, unless it was added dialog after editing.

The cast’s willingness to cooperate in with the sound team made the process even more remarkable. I often said the actors were “part of the sound team department” due to their eagerness to help and understand the importance of location sound in bringing the show to life. This collaboration between the sound team and the cast was instrumental in achieving the show’s unique sound. We sure were a team and a family on this show.

Our unorthodox approach to sound, where booming was not always possible, set by numerous limitations on Station 19, has paid off. The show has—received critical acclaim for its immersive and engaging audio experience. As a member of the sound team, I’m proud to have been part of this innovative approach, and our work will inspire us in future productions to think outside the box when it comes to capturing location sound.

Juan Cisneros was always cool, calm, and collected. Despite the chaos and pressure of working on a fast-paced TV show, he remained level-headed and focused, always finding ways to problem-solve and ensure that the sound was of the highest quality. Scott Marshall supported Juan and me on the floor, providing expertise and quick thinking to overcome challenges.

Juan Cisneros CAS – Sound Mixer

My five years working on Station 19 have been an incredible journey filled with growth, friendship, and unforgettable moments. I am deeply grateful for the family and friends I gained on set and immensely proud of the work we accomplished together as a dedicated crew. I look forward to the day when our paths crosagain until we reunite in other shows.

by William B. Kaplan CAS

We each have a unique, personalized story on how we got into film, and how that path evolved to a career in sound. I thought I would share mine. Sometimes I think I’m a DP in a five-decade time- out. Please don’t get me wrong, I love sound and I’m getting better at it all the time. Over fifty-five years at it, it’s a really good start! 

My father started in film in 1922, in the silent days. He did both Ben-Hur’s, the 1927 and the sound version in 1958. From five years old and throughout my life, I visited my father on his movie sets, all over the world. At six years old, I sat on the second seat of the camera dolly and watched Gene Kelly dance in Singin’ in the Rain and Bogart push The African Queen, at MGM Studios. I watched the Westrex, 35mm mag, sprocketed tape machine start up in a glass booth. When the weighted arms on the machine stopped swinging, the recordist would yell out, “Speed.” I was photographed sitting on “Jackie” the MGM lion, when Technicolor first shot the MGM logo, the lion’s roar. I visited my father’s sets of Doctor Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, The Ten Commandments, Cleopatra, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, North by Northwest, Jailhouse Rock, Mutiny on the Bounty, and so many more.
After three colleges, I ended up at UCLA, headed toward medicine, neurology. When Vietnam came along and without explaining my politics here, I went to Paris. I had signed up for a standby, UCLA film program. A Chinese production company accidentally got ahold of that student wait list. They needed a DP for their anamorphic, 35mm, color feature film. Not understanding what they had, I got a call to be their DP. Of course, I said yes. Hello showbiz! I studied the Mitchell Rack Over camera manual all night; how to thread the film and how to view in the rack over position. I practiced the wheels of a gear head, with my hands in the air, by trying to track a fly in my room. That was a wonderful, learning experience. That the producers could barely speak English helped. I soon went into a little company that did government contract documentaries and training films. I was given a plane ticket, a tripod, a 16mm sound camera, a Nagra 3, and then a Nagra 4L, a lavalier and a Mickey Mole Richardson, four-light combo kit. I got to capture hundreds of stories all over the United States. I even worked for the Deptartment of Defense and made political spots for President Nixon and The White House.

At that point, Roger Corman was seeking out UCLA film graduates, to work on his super low-budget, super basic nonunion, super almost-no-pay feature films. We made features for one client who owned fifteen drive-in movie theaters; they were just for his drive-ins! I have a history of doing sound on some and camera on others. I recall doing a series of prison films with Jim Brown, the football star. The crew were mainly UCLA film students. We had studied the crafts of most departments … hair, makeup, wardrobe, grip, electric, camera, props, set decoration, etc. Most people knew little about sound, other than we used a boom. We would do something called “rotation” on the set. Every forty-five minutes, someone would blow a whistle and we would change job positions. We could do it all, we were young filmmakers! Earl Sampson and I were film students together at UCLA. Earl was my Boom Operator on one hundred nineteen films.

Roger Corman’s office called, asking me about an upcoming feature, and if I want to do sound or camera? I knew to ask what the positions paid, before I answered, “Sound $600 a week all in, DP $250!” I asked if they would please explain that crazy difference … “no prestige in sound, we just have to pay, for camera it’s a stepping-stone position!” I chose sound, for the money! My career’s future was defined, as I hung up the phone.

I did dozens and dozens of nonunion films: disco, Westerns, race car films, some in 3D. I learned the craft of filmmaking. I made two feature films myself, only with one other person, Susumu Tokunow. We wrote, shot, recorded, edited, mixed, scored, had prints made, did lobby one-sheets for advertising, bought film reels and shipping containers. I hand-carried my films straight to projection booths, at several theaters. Susumu and I made a releasable, 35mm, sound feature film for $3,200, all in! We learned the entire process. Then, when the negatives and prints were stolen from the labs by underworld film distributors, we learned even more about the film business.

Jeff Wexler CAS and I teamed up with an attorney and sued for a teeny, legal window, to join the sound Local. With the help of the late and great Haskell Wexler, we became Local 695 union members. Studio sound departments weren’t keen on young, new, up-and-coming mixers, who hadn’t put in their apprentice time. We both were harshly unsupported by our studios, at that time. Jeff’s amazing first effort was Bound for Glory and mine was Animal House. As Bob Dylan wrote, “The Times They Are A-Changin’.”

Documentary Features
In 1968, the Maysles Brothers were about to produce a Rolling Stones film called Gimme Shelter. It was to be performed and filmed at Sears Point Raceway, above San Francisco. Everything was built for a huge turnout, with facilities and all the accommodations. The Maysles got several of us together for a production/planning meeting on a houseboat in Sausalito, CA. We were ten or more groups of camera and sound, to split up and to go to the far corners of the US, to document kids’ experiences on their individual path to Gimme Shelter. This was the plan. About three days before the performance date, Sears Point canceled. Another location was found quickly, a vacant ranch in Altamont, CA. It had nothing, no bathrooms, water or facilities of any kind, just dirt. The one-lane road in was immediately blocked. The Hell’s Angels were hired to be security, being paid with beer. It quickly became very violent. With no roads available, The Stones flew in on a hot-air balloon and Mick was punched in the face, getting out of the basket. I was the mixer and at times did some camera. With nothing to drink under the hot sun, jugs of apple juice appeared, mixed with LSD, compliments of security. Four people were killed and there were four births.

In 1972, I was asked to go to the Mayan Mountains of Southern Mexico and record a feature, using indigenous people as actors, portraying mythical stories from the Mayan bible. My Boom Operator, Earl Sampson, and I fitted a monster pickup to be jungle-ready. At the last minute, we were asked to smuggle in a complete Panavision camera package, which we did. The film was being funded completely out of pocket, by its writer-director. It was scheduled for six weeks. I brought a very small, plastic carry case with a Nagra 4L, a 50-foot and a 10-foot XLR cable, a Sennheiser 815 and an RE15, hand mic, that’s all! After six weeks, the DP had to leave for another film. I took over as DP and Earl became the mixer. The film went over by five months. I did a wonderful job as DP and Earl delivered great tracks. Going home, I was asked to smuggle back a producer’s child and return the camera package. It all worked out.

I will share some experiences with several wonderfully supportive directors.

John Landis   
Kentucky Fried Movie – Animal House – The Blues Brothers, Twilight Zone – Thriller (playback) – Into the Night – Three Amigos – Coming to America – Oscar.
On Animal House, during the filming of the toga party planning scene, I was mixing in a little phone booth, off the kitchen of the fraternity house. The cook was making breakfast for the house brothers, as John Belushi was asking, “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?” The phone rang behind my head. It was someone from Local 695 calling to tell me, I wasn’t yet sworn in, and that I must be replaced! I was to return to the union office in LA and get that done. I had the solution, which I explained to the Local. We were rolling and I whispered that I was mixing with my left hand and could raise my right hand, ready to take the oath. That’s how it went…

The Germans were bombing Pearl Harbor, the toga party was being planned, the pancakes were ready, and I became a member of Local 695. John Landis played a wonderful part in the presentation of my CAS Career Achievement Award, and we are still good friends today.
On Three Amigos, our three actors did their dialog riding horses on gravel. It was terribly crunchy. I broomed the gravel away enough to put down “Hogs Hair,’’ to accommodate three horses. The horses’ walking was now silent.

Robert Zemeckis   
Romancing the Stone – Back to the Future (all three) – Death Becomes Her – Forrest Gump – What Lies Beneath – Castaway – The Polar Express – Contact – Monster House – Beowulf – A Christmas Carol – Flight – The Walk.

 I went for an interview for a film called Romancing the Stone. The interview was with the main lead, Michael Douglas. During the interview, he asked me what should he do to interview me? He asked how quickly I might repair a broken Nagra? I told him I had never heard of such a thing but what a brilliant idea.

I was hired. I went to Mexico early to a hardware store and made several rain hood baskets for the booms. I don’t think they were marketed yet. They worked. There was a scene with a rear half of a DC-3 airplane fuselage. In the story, it crashed years ago, carrying bales of marijuana. We had local firetrucks pounding water on the plane, all during low dialog. Again, we wrapped the plane in Hogs Hair and that was that.

I’m good with backhoes, and second nature with sailboats, aerobatic aircraft, and eighteen-wheelers. Not so at all, in the computer/digital world.

After learning so much about motion capture from The Polar Express, Bob Zemeckis took on an existing production facility in Playa Vista and transformed it into a motion capture studio. Tom Giordano and I helped convert the facility for sound, wiring the building to record, playback and with a full mix/control room. The building’s air conditioning rumbled the building. When it rained, the noise pounded the stage. I had all the roof air handling units remounted on shock absorbers, so the building didn’t vibrate. We soundproofed the entire roof. When we were finished, Bob asked for a noise test. We had water trucks surround the building to create a powerful rain downpour. We stood in the middle of a very quiet stage, when Bob told us to turn on the rain. I announced, “It’s been on for five minutes!”

Sir Tony Scott
Top Gun – Beverly Hills Cop II – True Romance – Crimson Tide – The Fan – Enemy of the State – Unstoppable.

I heard that Tony Scott was going to do a movie called Top Gun. I had a pilot’s license, and my passion was flying. I really wanted to get on that film. I put my pilot license number in bold at the top of my resume. At that time, I was trying to get either Pretty in Pink or Top Gun! Somehow, I got an interview with Tony Scott. During the interview, he told me that he wanted the aircraft carrier parts recorded on ½” four track tape! I had done some of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas that way. It required a huge, studio, timecode, Ampex, rolling console. I explained that it would be impossible, going up and down ladders and tight crawl spaces with a studio recorder. As I was talking, I see the director’s dreams drain out of his face. I knew I was blowing it. Right in front of him, I slid out of the chair, hit my knees, bowing up and down with my arms rising back-and-forth to the carpet, yelling out like a mad man, “I want to do this movie so bad, please, please just let me make your movie, I will do a great job, I promise, I will do anything to do this film!” Tony stood up, leaned forward over his desk looking at me on the carpet, shook his head and said, “You’re hired.” Tony supported me in whatever I needed.

On Crimson Tide, Gene Hackman had a long walk and talk, while holding a little dog and an umbrella. He was addressing hundreds of soldiers, and walking under metal- roofed structures. We were to create a very heavy downpour, all through the dialog. Tony agreed to my request … do the wide shot first, break for dinner. I’ll have a large crew Hogs Hair all the metal building rooftops for the close-up, after the meal. We had a transmitter inside Gene’s hat and a lav under the hat’s bill. In the close-up, we didn’t hear the rain. He trusted me to do things like that.

I’m told I can be strong-willed on the set. I feel it’s my job to go to any lengths to protect the quality of the sound. The Top Gun aircraft carrier had a powerful radar antenna that buzzed the Nagra with every revolution. I had brought sheets of new metal for the heads, placing it under the cover of the recorder, but to no avail. We were in the middle of NATO exercises with many countries and ships involved. I insisted that we can’t record with this radar problem, and I asked that it be turned off. That got a laugh from the boat’s captain. They referred me to the admiral of the fleet. I questioned him, what would he do in battle if the radar was knocked out, how would he continue? I guess he accepted the challenge and ordered radar aircraft out in different directions, to cover their needs.
The radar was turned off!

At Miramar Naval Air Station, with Tom Cruise delivering a high-five and the words, “I have a need for speed,” I asked that the twenty or so screaming jets behind them all be turned off. It went to the commander quickly, who showed up with a stack of bumper stickers and dropped them on my mixer. They read, “Jet Noise, The Sound of Freedom.” And that was that!

Again, my first nature is mechanical, not digital. Now we can make the world quiet through apps in post, not so historically. On Crimson Tide, we had a submarine set, in cross section, longways. It filled the entire stage. Hydraulically, it had an arc of movement of over sixteen feet. A lowrider crew was hired to do the under-platform hydraulics. It was very loud. Showing it to the director for the first time, it self-destructed. A wonderful special effects department came in to do it correctly.

I appealed to Tony Scott again, that I could make it completely silent. He gave me carte blanche. All the hydraulic pumps and motors were moved to a concrete block shack off stage, and all the skinny lines changed to large diameter ones to eliminate the sound of the rushing hydraulic fluid. We cut the stage floor and had the hydraulic hoses put three feet deep in wet sand. Half the rams were eliminated by introducing a massive universal joint. The set could move in its entire range rapidly, all in silence. Tony’s support let me do that! That film brought me to my knees, asking my higher power if I was cut out for this profession. We had to use plant mics only with no booming possible. The mix was furiously fast and never the same take to take. It got my deepest attention.

I took a five-year break from mixing and started a grip-electric rental facility with several eighteen-wheelers, grip, electric, generators, expendables, manufacturing, with thirteen employees. After five years of running a business, I got home sick. I sold the company and went back to the set.
   
Roger Corman
As I’m writing this, I’m finding out that Roger Corman just passed away. This is powerful, I am crying. That man gave us the passion for the art and craft of filmmaking. Rarely, he came on the set of his movies. When he did, we knew it was important. On one appearance, he asked to see the director’s script and announced that we were four pages behind. He took the script from the director’s hands, tore out the four pages, folded them into his pocket and walked off, saying, “So, now you’re back on schedule!” Another time, he appeared and stopped everything. He announced that we were taking too long lighting and working out camera moves. He gave us a lesson on the spot. With two people seated on a couch, two end tables with a lamp on each and a large picture frame behind them, he proclaimed we could shoot a wide master, a medium two, two tight profiles, opposing over the shoulders and two tight singles, all without moving the camera or one light. I won’t take the time here to offer the lesson, but please know he enlightened us with the magic of filmmaking.

Thank you, thank you Mr. Roger Corman, for taking a chance and trusting us with so little money and hardly any time that we could be good enough to make releasable feature films. You gave us the opportunity to trudge this path, sharing your film knowledge with us. No one else was willing to do that. As an homage, many of us have used you as an actor in our films, as we grew up. We will miss you. God bless.

Currently  
After a mix of one hundred fifty-seven documentaries and features, and over fifty-seven years, I’m doing television, for the first time. The Morning Show, for Apple TV+ is one of the largest projects I’ve ever done and possibly the most complicated. It’s such a good vibe, from the bottom up and from the top down. It’s a gift to get to work every day. How are we so lucky that when we walk on the set, we might hug or blow a kiss to our stars, to our amazing director/producer, Mimi Leder, crew and the rest of the talented production. I realize after decades of therapy and a long career; the set is my home, and the crew is my family…

On this job, I have an amazing, four-person sound crew. My utility and technical genius, equipment builder, tech-digital master and partner in sound is Tom Giordano. We’ve been on projects together for twenty-six years. My phenomenal Boom Operator, Johnny Miller, can do anything with a microphone, besides he’s a full mixer himself. And the love of our lives, our fourth person, Krysten Kabzenell. Krysten can radio mic perfectly the craziest clothes or a character with no clothes at all. She might be the smallest on our crew, but she wields all the power.

I thought I’d reflect on my gratitude for some magical and privileged moments a film life has gifted me, beyond those childhood moments by my father. 
As a single parent for thirty-six years, my career supported the three of us, and put my daughter through medical school to be a Veterinarian Surgeon, and promoted the know-how for my son’s business of constructing TV broadcast studios, after he worked on several huge films

A brief gratitude list, from my career in sound.
I got to: 
Two interviews in India with Indira Gandhi, as she teased us about phony gurus in America… Recording the singing of prayers in the Taj Mahal… Accidentally baptized in a Doughboy pool, documenting Christian baptisms… Getting to walk the life of Jesus in Jerusalem, from his manger, down the Via Dolorosa and to Cavalry… Walked with Frank Sinatra in The Vatican City… Went around the world three times… Worked in more than twenty-eight countries… Doing behind the scenes of several world-famous rock musicians all over the world (and somehow lived through it)… Lived aboard active-duty US aircraft carriers, three times… Recorded sync dialog in F-14’s beyond the sound barrier… Secret interviews with still unnamed fugitives… Got to drive every Formula-1 race track in Europe… Got to be friends with some internationally, well-known people, being able to know them merely as regular people… Been blessed with seven Oscar nominations, received the CAS Award for Forrest Gump, the MPSE Award for Crimson Tide, and the CAS Career Achievement Award… Tom Giordano and I have been privileged to mentor up and coming film students on productions, through an Oscar-supported program… My sound career is where I have met my greatest challenges, learned to appreciate my victories, and to gracefully accept defeats as wonderful lessons.
There is nothing more fulfilling than giving back.

by Devendra Cleary CAS

CHASING THE MOVIE

In late 2022, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting and working with the very talented director Lee Isaac Chung. We met on the first day of filming his episode of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. And as much as I’m excited to write about Star Wars, this article is about chasing tornadoes! Isaac had told me after the Christmas 2022 holiday break that he was asked to direct Twisters for Universal Pictures and was hoping to get me on his team. It was early in the process, but hopes were high. My name was certainly in the hat and I had several instances of correspondence with the production team. It was just a waiting game. There were many decisions yet to be made on the studio level as to where filming would take place before settling on the decision to shoot the entire thing in Oklahoma where the story is set. Then, on an afternoon in mid-February 2023, I got the call from the UPM offering me the movie! I was shocked and ecstatic and at a loss for words. Filming was set for early May 2023 and we’d be in Oklahoma the whole hot summer.

CHASING MY CREW

I have time-stamped proof in my phone that the absolute first thing on my Twisters checklist was to hire Patrick Martens to be the Boom Operator. This is a supervisory position and a highly skilled, technical, and artistic job that requires people skills and both an immense amount of knowledge and experience with sound. I’ve known Patrick since the first day filming second unit of Angels & Demons in 2008 where I was his Utility Sound Technician. His express set of skills, experience, and charm (plus the fact that I consider him a very close friend) made him a shoe-in to fill this extremely important position that I could not do the job without. Luckily, Patrick was a go for Twisters!

Next on deck was to navigate the process of hiring a local Oklahoma Utility Sound Technician. I didn’t know anyone in this particular market, so I had to start from scratch. Production provided a list of local union and nonunion sound professionals and there is a community of expats and crew residing in the area that are covered by the Area Standards Agreement. I interviewed six candidates before landing on Brian Gililland. Born in California on an Air Force base, Brian traveled around as a military brat before he finally settled in Oklahoma City. He’s a member of IATSE Local 484 in good standing, a phenomenal human being, delightful to be around, enthusiastic about the craft, and way more experienced than I realized when I picked him. Basically, we hit the jackpot and I felt very lucky to have him on board.

CHASING A PROCESS

Most of us in production sound have done a fair share of moving-vehicle work. The big differences on this production were the sheer amount of it, the fact that we intended to do it practically, and the overwhelming variety of principal picture cars that were intended to interact in both a stunt and dialog capacity simultaneously. This is a tornado-chasing movie after all, so working at a fast pace while block shooting multiple versions of the same characters’ picture cars with very high expectations from a director whom I adore and producers whom I had yet to win over was on the forefront of my mind. I’ve been trying to find a stronger word than “intimidating.”

During pre-production, I learned that only a very small percentage of the car scenes were going to be done static on stage as “Poor Man’s Process” shots. Only very, very heavy wind, rain, hail, and destructive tornado elements were to be done on stage, overseen by our genius Special Effects Artists and with our VFX Artists filling in the rest. This was a creative decision born out of necessity owing to just how powerful the weather conditions in the storyline were for each of those specific scenes. But the production’s goal was to shoot as much heavy wind, rain, hail, and tornadoes practically and out on the real dirt roads.
My team needed multi-pronged solutions to achieve practical moving-car work with a large cast, a lot of chaos, and a heavy reliance on pod-driven picture cars instead of more typical tow-rig configurations.

What is a pod-driven picture car? Otherwise known as pod cars, they are modified cars used in production. Typically, a driving pod is mounted on top of the vehicle and a series of cables connect the controls with the drive train, steering, and brakes. As I’m sure this voids the car’s warranty, saying it’ll be driven by a stunt driver probably accomplishes the same. These pod-driven vehicles allow for the actors to sit in the car without being burdened with the dangerous task of driving and acting at the same time. It also allows for more complex maneuvers at faster speeds that aren’t always possible on a camera car rig that tows the picture car.

We did still in fact utilize camera car tow rigs. We had a bespoke vehicle called the “MTV Rig,” which was a camera car with a Pro Cam-provided Technocrane mounted on it. This rig would tow the picture car and perform dynamic crane shots of the cast while moving. This rig had the traditional sound mixer spot up front in the passenger shotgun seat. However, with all the camera assistants, lighting programmer, assistant director, crane operators, and special effects technicians; there was not enough room for both Brad Ralston (our Video Assist Operator) and myself, plus all of our gear to conformably operate on this rig. The possibility of finding a spot for me on the rig without being near video assist posed major director monitoring challenges and made it difficult to provide a robust audio feed to Brad for clip review and playback. So, we were constantly stretching the wireless range of our audio equipment to its fullest capacity.

On top of those challenges, the plan, as mentioned earlier, was to have the ability to “block shoot.” This meant we would be set up in one particular character’s picture vehicle that was being towed by the MTV rig and then set up in a double of the same character’s picture vehicle outfitted as the free-driving pod car.

For us, this meant it made way more sense to ride in the follow van alongside video assist. I set myself up with a miniature sound cart in the back end of the follow van. This was nice because I was able to keep everything built, including a PSC EuroLiFe power system, a large video monitor, and my heftier bag rig that consisted of an Aaton Cantar Mini, five Lectrosonics DCR822’s, an antenna distribution unit by Audio Wireless, and two Lectrosonics IFB T4’s; all bound together in a custom-made Protogear bag and a custom-made Sound Guys Solutions shelf bracket. The video monitor allowed me to both interface with my Lectrosonics receivers using Wireless Designer, as well as receive the SDI video feed. Video assist was in the front side of the same follow van, so we provided a hardwired feed to them, with a close range IFB feed to the director and producers who were also in the van with us. This was something of a double-edged sword. We never needed to de-rig from the MTV tow rig and then re-rig right back to the follow van for the pod-driven shot. When we would hurriedly swap over to the pod-driven version of the picture cars, we were only a few plant mic tweaks and bag-drop rig position swap away from being ready to roll. On the other hand, this meant that when we were filming coverage using the MTV rig, we were much further away. Instead of being just twenty-five feet away from the picture car with my receiving log periodic shark fin antennas, I was more like two hundred feet away with the tractor/trailer length, plus the speed space distance from the picture car.
Production would favor the pod coverage often because it was much faster and nimbler. The real treat of the pod-car coverage was it was fairly close to our follow van and without the giant wall of metal that was the MTV rig.

For Patrick and Brian specifically, this meant planting doubles of our plant mic arms, doubles of our mic hangers, doubles of our digital wireless transmitters (when possible), doubles of our XLR patch cables and doubles of our rooftop-mounted transmitter antennas and corresponding transmitter antenna cables. Even though the pod cars were typically very close to us, they would occasionally be used in such a way that allowed for free-driving greater distances from the follow van; but with these special instances, I was glad to have such a fast, flexible, and hardworking crew working with me, as well as some of the extra special tools I will describe below.

OK, a few things that I think bear some detailed explanation: our plant mics and what we used, our rooftop transmitter antennas (which were to my surprise, the first layer of the “secret sauce” that really made achieving all of this possible), and then my bag-drop rig which performed well above my wildest dreams! So much that it deserves its own section.
But first, the microphones and transmitters. I’m a little bit old school, so I favored the use of my Schoeps CMC6/MK41 mics. The transmitters for these plant mics were all digital Lectrosonics DPR-A plug-on transmitters with phantom power. For the majority of our practical driving work, I really needed the reach and isolation that the Schoeps provided Plus, I really like how they sound. So, I purchased two more Schoeps microphones, but this time I opted for the CMC1 pre-amp body and two more MK41 capsules. There’s no such thing as having too many microphones in your kit. This was super handy for the very common scenario where we had all four seats in a vehicle occupied by a principal cast member. For these scenarios, we would plant all four Schoeps mics. Typically, the CMC6’s in the front and the CMC1’s in the back. We maintained this configuration even in scenes with just two performers because of the tendency for the blocking to include the actors turning around and looking backward. Two plants per actor, no waiting! They were all mounted with swappable length “Ken Strain Arms,” low-profile right angle XLR patch cables, and then 12-foot-long thin wire SMA to SMA antenna cables that ran all the way to the roof of the picture vehicle to the Audio Workbench mag mount antennas. These antennas (shown in the flowchart at the end of this article) use a magnet that is connected to the ground and shield of the coaxial antenna connection and when it is magnet-mounted to the top of the steel rooftop of the vehicle, it uses the entire steel outer body as its ground plane. The effectively turns the entire moving metal machine into the antenna for the transmitters. I don’t use this cliche lightly. These rooftop antennas were an absolute game-changer! We used one antenna per plant mic and they we’re photographed and established in picture! All vehicles were storm chasers, so antennas galore right? For our end of the bargain, we agreed to help the Property Department and set decoration by placing them in picture even when we didn’t need them. These antennas allowed me to use each and every plant mic to provide a flexible dailies mix as they reached up to a quarter-mile of range to my follow van when needed. Typically, we were not that far away, but wow. When we were that far away, this really made my days easier. This doesn’t mean my time capturing the plant mics in these vehicles from the follow van were drop-out free. They weren’t. As much as I feel we achieved very impressive long-distance range results, the occasional digital RF drop out would occur.

Another layer to this were the actor-worn lav mics. With the distance and physics working against them, for the most part, they would not reach all the way to me in the follow van no matter which picture car or camera car we were using. It was just too far away, the car was a metal box with faraday properties, and the transmitters were hugging the actors’ flesh. The only thing we could have done to improve this (if we had time) was to run and safety pin a mini six-foot-long dipole antenna to each the of actors’ shoulders. I have these antennas, but it also wasn’t going to be fool proof as the actors were still inside the faraday cage. So instead, I decided to use my crew’s time and energy to mount the rooftop antennas for the individual plant mics and a larger, custom-tuned one-fourth wave mobile CB radio mag mount antenna for the “Bag-Drop” rig.

CHASING MY BAG-DROP RIG

OK, the bag-drop rig. For many readers who have done plenty of car work in their careers, this will come as no surprise. But if you haven’t, please heed this advice: Creating a well-organized workflow for doing a bag-drop rig in picture cars is the most important thing you can do among all of the layers of your car- work procedure. Even with all the impressive range we achieved with the DPR-A transmitters utilizing their own rooftop antennas and allowing me to mix each plant mic from the follow van with ease, there is no way one should do this type of free-driving work without this failsafe in place. Not to mention there was no other guaranteed way of capturing the actor-worn lavs with this kind of reliability. I would never want to just “drop a bag” either. That should rarely be part of the equation. We use the bag-drop as a failsafe for post-production in the event of RF dropouts, and we also use the bag-drop as an additional layer to mix with in this twofold scenario: part one is to have the bag-drop rig equipped with an output or “hop” transmitter that I make sure has an absolutely spotless carrier frequency.
In the case of the various towns and rural areas in Oklahoma, this was in the upper B1 band around 590.000 MHz. In the event that the pod-driven vehicle got too far away from the follow van, I would subtly mix out the plant mics and mix up the feed from the bag-drop which had a more powerfully signal-boosted transmitter associated with it. Then using the aforementioned custom-tuned CB radio rooftop-mounted antenna from the bag-drop boosted transmitter, I would often get about a half-mile range! This came in handy several times and I was grateful for it. Part two of this scenario was how I would also use the bag-drop to provide me with mixable lav mic feeds from the actors. Imagine a scene where an actor is lifting himself out of the moving vehicle to do some heroic work reaching out his window up to the roof of the picture car. There is no usable plant mic near him and there is certainly no boom operator near him and the only shot at getting his dialog is by using his lav. I could just say to the director: “Don’t worry, it’s getting captured on the bag-drop!” But instead of even having that conversation, I would just mix up the bag-drop feed which I intentionally manually mixed as a heavy output of the lavs and this particular actor’s lav when I had custody of the bag-drop rig earlier before heading out to shoot the scene. I would also utilize this technique when I really needed to use an actor’s lav for a quiet line. Basically, in the absence of any auto-mix utilization, I chose to manually “mix set” the bag-drop to favor all the talent lavs so I could use those signals to my advantage in the dailies mix.

Here is a full breakdown of what was recorded as part of the bag-drop rig: ISO tracks 1-4 were redundant recordings of each plant mic that I successfully received from the follow van (but hey, redundancy is good). Then, ISO tracks 5-8 were each actor’s lavs recorded just feet away from them and likely with no RF dropouts. Timecode matched my main recorder and I had plenty of 256GB SD cards at my disposal as that recorder would often roll for hours on end, only really stopped during lunch breaks. The equipment used for the bag-drop rig was as follows: one Sound Devices 833 mixer/recorder, two Lectrosonics DSR4’s mounted inside a PSC RF 4 Pack feeding out all eight channels via AES connection, one Lectrosonics LT transmitter in B1 band to an Audio Wireless Power Booster set to 250mw feeding a DPD Productions one-fourth wave custom-tuned CB radio antenna, and finally, one Ambient Tiny ACN Lockit box keeping it all in sync. The entire bag was powered by a PSC PeliLiFe battery feeding every device except the Audio Wireless signal booster. For this, I had an isolated power source with a half-sized eSmart battery both housed together in a bespoke 3D-printed holster by Coga Sound.

CHASING THE WEATHER

The downside in shooting this film in the summer in Oklahoma was the real possibility of seeing (and then getting shut down by) incoming severe weather. Our Camera Operator once said to me one of the more frustrating things about doing this movie was right when the sky started to get beautiful with ominous weather, it was time to shut down for what was typically a lighting delay. The studio mandates a protocol where any severe weather that includes a lightning strike within eight miles of the work area requires the work to stop, and crew must take shelter immediately for a half-hour. Every new lighting strike resets the clock. This would often lead to us waiting around for hours after not completing the scene at hand. And oftentimes after a few hours, we would have to wrap as the storm would linger on past when our day would have completed. This made things complicated and sometimes it would take us longer to complete certain sequences than originally planned. When I would take shelter either in a store front or our own cube truck, I would often have a stereo mic already planted outside and I would record hours of thunder sounds while we waited.

The waiting was made easier by the good conversation with our colleagues. People were always eager to get back to work, but also grateful for the safety protocol and the opportunity to take a beat and get to know their fellow crew members without the hustle of the day-to-day work. Between the challenges of the weather and the anticipated WGA and SAG-AFTRA labor strikes, we were racing to the finish line.

CHASING COMPLETION

As I write the majority of this article during the months of the SAG-AFTRA strike, it bears some explanation that we had to shut down filming with just under a month left until completion of principal photography. My intention was to write half of this section on this side of the finish line, and the second half once we made it over the line! We have such wonderful cast and crew who have worked so hard to bring this movie to fruition. During this strike time, I have been watching dailies every day and getting really nostalgic. I also had some additional equipment modifications done and bespoke accessories made with the express intention on using them on the shoot when we can finally reboot the production. I’m so excited to use the newly developed tools and am happy to be continuously learning from every shoot that I embark on. But most importantly, I can’t wait to get back out to Oklahoma and see everyone’s faces again and bring this very special production to a successful completion. Wish us luck!

OK, Future Devendra here. Now I can open up my laptop to finish this article as I just got back to LA after a whirlwind of a three-week shoot back out in Oklahoma! This time, we filmed in Spencer, Oklahoma, to finish up our rodeo and motel work, Chickasha, Oklahoma, to finish up some major storm aftermath in a neighborhood we took over out on Drummond Ranch in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, to finish up some very scenic work for some pivotal scenes, and then of course, we competed several days on stage at Prairie Surf Studios in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. This leg of production was an absolute dream! Pretty much everyone came back to finish, which I believe is a testament to their love of the project and big affection for our director Isaac and the production team. An admirable detail I noticed as we powered through the remaining work is that pretty much every department must have also done some sort of bespoke tweaking to their kits that had inadvertently or deliberately made their jobs more efficient and customized to the movie. This made me feel so at home to work with a crew at this level and with a little bit of vindication instead of feeling “nerdy” for doing the same with my kit. The three weeks went by so fast and as I write this around the holidays, I’m not quite settled in, and I haven’t left “work mode” yet. I’m really missing Oklahoma and the team of absolute stellar professionals all around. Our wrap gift from our department were Twisters sound jackets and they were a hit! Thankfully, we handed them out in the winter instead of summer! I hope everyone enjoys the movie as much as we enjoyed making it! Come see it on the big screen and “if you feel it, chase it!!!”

by Beau Baker CAS

So, let’s get this out of the way right now. Yes, working twenty-one seasons on the same TV series is hitting the jackpot, the lotto, the blue ribbon at the Holy Wow Cow County Fair. Especially if the TV show in question happens to be filming in your hometown, and really really especially lucky if you are able to be in your home to watch your kids grow up. And that decision to “do TV” instead of pursuing the “feature” career, was simple: If I wanted to live in LA, I’ll be “doing TV.”

And this decision was a fairly easy one to make. After booming three features in a row, for just about a year, all out of town, my then 3-year-old daughter said this upon my return: “Are you going to stay in mommy’s house now?”

Friends, that’s called a guilt grenade, and it went off in my face. I was therefore ready: physically, emotionally, and spiritually to “move up” to Production Mixer, and that simple sentence was the Universe shouting: DO TV, STAY IN LA WITH YOUR FAMILY.

So, I did.
In early 2005, I was mixing a 13-episode series called The Inside. From day one, the crew was looking for the next gig, and I heard about a new TV show called Grey’s Anatomy. The first season of twelve episodes had been shot, and the show premiered as a Sunday-night mid-season replacement that March. Obviously, the show became a sensation, and I heard they were “crewing up” for the second season. I pulled out all the stops to get an interview, and for some reason (maybe they were tired of interviewing sound folk?), I was offered the job before I drove a block from the studio.

What makes this a story to be told is that, in these twenty-one years, the technology and culture of filming a TV series has evolved and I moved along with gear upgrades, producer regime changes, a pandemic, the collapse of the network TV series paradigm, several strikes, and the ever-growing frantic desire to “shoot quick.”

To begin this rambling saga, 2005: I had a HHB Portadat and a Sound Devices 744. I turned in the CF card and the DVD-RAM, plus the DAT “backup” tape. The 744 gave me two ISO tracks, as well as the L=0vU/R=-10vU. I had six Lectrosonics SMV transmitters, Schoeps mics, Sennheiser 416 mics, and a Mackie 1402 mixing panel. Maybe eight of the old crystal Comteks. I used the Schoeps mics indoors, the 416’s outdoors. I used the Wideband Low Field Venue for wireless receivers, then added the Venue rack mount receiver, still in use today. I still had a quad box of the 187 Lectrosonic VHF receivers and four of the transmitters. They worked, though the quad box had to be on the edge of the frame for reception. Good news: They did not get ruined.

History lesson: The DAT (digital audio tape) system was a small cassette with varying lengths of a very thin magnetic tape. It recorded two tracks of digital audio, a generational leap from the analog reel-to-reel system that the venerable Nagra recorders delivered. The DAT recorders were not without their quirks. The digital tape recorded in a linear fashion, so transferring the audio was a “real time” affair: a five-minute take took five minutes to transfer. The cassettes were fragile, and prone to mechanical failure after storage. Still, IT WAS DIGITAL.

At that time, there were two cameras, the Arricam that used these long reels of plastic with holes in it called “film.” The B camera was typically used as a Steadicam, rarely were there the “wide and tight” nightmare setups. With a three-perf pulldown, a 1,000-foot camera mag runs about fourteen minutes, and there was hardly ever a take that ran over five. We only put body mics on actors for un-boomable shots, usually the Steadicam walk and talks down numerous corridors. The camera video tap was transmitted over a system that had rock-steady reception, but with a three-second delay. I had an audio delay box for the video village Comtek send, and a second Comtek transmitter for “live” sound. This way, the sound was in sync with the delayed video at the village. The delay would annoy the actors if they could hear a delayed Comtek “leak” on set; on occasion, the wrong Comtek would be grabbed and the special effects people would get embarrassed when their dialog cue to open an elevator door came three seconds too late!

This particular video system was abandoned by the second season, and the camera video was transmitted over a UHF TV channel. The picture was crappy but at least it was “live.” The second season of Grey’s was twenty-eight episodes long: Four episodes were held over from the first season, since the reveal that McDreamy had a wife (“So, you’re the woman that’s been screwing my husband!”) was a great cliffhanger for season one. We shot twenty-four episodes. The Veterans Hospital in Northridge had built a new shiny outpatient building constructed after the Northridge earthquake, and we used as much of it as we could. The iconic catwalk with the vast window wall was a trademark Grey’s Anatomy setup. It had a cavernous interior, open to three floors, the bottom floor housed the outpatient clinic, open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the place sounded like Union Station, or, on some days, like the Chicago Board of Trade. We could not interfere with the VA (Veterans Administration) business, so the catwalk scenes always had a, um, “stadium” feel to the dialog.

The hours were long, we worked on weekends occasionally. The scripts were sometimes more than sixty pages for a 42-minute show. At the beginning, there were seven principal actors, and a lot of elaborate scenes, and extremely accurate operating (OR) scenes. Often the medical terminology in the OR dialog wasn’t vetted yet, so, the actors, with masks on their faces would utter filler dialog like this:

DOCTOR 1:
He’s about to medical! I may need to remove the medical—

DOCTOR 2:
No! If you medical the medical, he might medical! Clamp the medical while I stitch his medical!

One of the early season’s DVD boxed sets included a behind-the-scenes vignette of the “medical medical” scenes. It’s quite amusing to watch the actors emote, “HE’S GONNA MEDICAL!”

By the fourth season, I upgraded to a Sound Devices 788, with the DVD-RAM burner connected to it. The HHB Portadat was still the backup recorder. The DVD-RAM was a non-cartridge disc with 4.7 gigabytes of storage. The 788 could record in real time to the internal hard drive, the CF card, and the external DVD-RAM drive. We did a “film break” at lunch and of course, at wrap. There were still paper sound reports, though with multiple tracks, I graduated to the full sheet reports so I had enough room for track notes. My mix now included Boom ISO tracks and some wireless tracks.

I upgraded to the Mackie 1642VLC mixing panel. The Mackie board had the ability to pull audio out of the insert jacks, so I could now record six iso tracks with the two mix tracks. A Velcro strip along the bottom of the channel faders allowed me to make track name stickers that could be moved around. And by season five, the interns became residents and five more actors were cast as interns. A couple of new attending doctors were cast, so the scenes were more and more populated. Another innovation: We began “doubling up” episodes, another crew would start the next episode while we finished the last one. So, countless extra sound crews came in to do these double ups. This helped with shorter days, and of course, a shorter shooting season, and I can’t list all the names, but my eternal thanks go out to all of them.

This was the happy setup for the next couple of seasons. Then the world changed. In 2007, the Writers Guild struck on November 1. Grey’s was one of the first shows to shut down and one of the last shows to resume production. That season, we shot seventeen episodes.

Netflix premiered House of Cards in 2013. Before that, HBO had original programming, along with a few others, but episodic TV was still raking in the ratings. Since Grey’s then aired on Sunday nights, it became the must-watch water cooler show for the Monday morning at work recap. To give you an idea of how ratings have changed, the Grey’s episode that began right at the end of the Super Bowl that aired on ABC, more than thirty million people hung around and watched. (I’m sure the cold opening that presented a fantasy scene with the four leading ladies naked in a steamy shower might have helped.) When Netflix premiered House of Cards, the world of streaming took off, and with the rise of smartphones and iPads, sitting in front of a TV on the night the show aired became increasingly irrelevant. So the vintage Nielsen ratings became less than an accurate way to determine how programs were watched. But Grey’s was now streaming past seasons on Netflix and every year, a new batch of young viewers had to start from the beginning. As of late, Grey’s is still in the top five streaming shows, crazy, but true.

To create the energy of a busy Seattle hospital, there would be around fifty background artists a day, pulling gurneys, IV racks, etc. We did elaborate shots, say, of a camera in an ambulance, dialog inside, while it pulled into the Emergency Entrance, the breezeway that had the big elephant doors to the stage dressed to resemble the entrance to the ER. The patients would be off-loaded, the EMT’s would describe the patients’ ailments, and the camera would follow the doctors and actors into the ER and usually into a trauma room where the scene would continue.

There were also lots of walk and talks down corridors. The early seasons depicted the series stars as intern doctors, the five interns following the chief resident into patient rooms where they would describe the patients’ condition. Sometimes there would be ten or more actors in the room, including the patient, their families, and all the doctors.

The main challenge to these scenes were the real medical devices running, including respirators, X-ray machines with video displays (and interior fans). Sometimes the windows would have rain falling outside.

A typical episode would be a 9- or 10-day schedule, working out to about 6-8 pages a day, depending. Remember that the patients had to be hooked up to the IV’s, and other devices, there could be blood spurting, lots of prosthetic makeup to touch up and reset for the next angle or take. This was and still is very time-consuming.

The OR scenes were very detailed with real bone saws, respirators, video screens, and actors wearing headlights with fans. The saving grace, of course, was that they were wearing masks, so most scenes we did wild tracks of all the dialog without the machines running. Wild tracks of the machinery, too.

Grey’s Anatomy was probably the last show to abandon film cameras and move to electronic cameras. This didn’t happen until season eleven in 2014. Alexa cameras replaced the film cameras. And with that, another thing became history: the “rollout.” When a film magazine ran empty, the take-up reel would spin with a TWACKA TWACKA, and even the most determined director would have to yell cut. Here’s my wish to the Alexa people: Could you install a small speaker on your cameras, and when the memory card is full, it could play the TWACKA TWACKA again? Is that too much to ask? When the Alexa cameras arrived, I retired the Schoeps mics and began using the Sennheiser MKH 50’s on the booms, both inside and outside. The old Schoeps were becoming more susceptible to interference from the Alexa camera-mounted transmitters.

Somewhere around that time, the DAT format finally died. And by died, I mean there were simply no more functional DAT machines, and the “double up” mixers were struggling to find one that worked. The “backup” DAT was replaced with the CF cards from the 744, so I was turning in BOTH the CF card from the 788 and the 744.

Also, the paper sound report sheets were getting harder to find, and various software options for creating electronic sound reports began to be available. I started with Sound Report Writer, and still use it, though I believe support for it has ended. It also generates a PDF file, which the post people found more accessible than the CSV files generated by the 788. The other casualty besides DAT was the DVD-RAM. The blank discs were increasingly rare. The post house had to move to a different archival protocol, since they no longer had access to hard media. The CF cards were sent to the post house, copied, and returned to be reformatted and used again. I installed an external CF card reader/writer, with the 788’s firewire output. Now I could turn in three CF cards, one from the 744, two from the 788.

The original crystal Comteks were getting long in the tooth. When I sent one in for repair, the note came back, “THIS WAS MANUFACTURED IN 1978!” So I replaced them with the 216 MHz models. As we have all discovered, no matter how many Comteks you carry, there always seems to be demand for more. I have fifteen now. My request for the next generation of IFB receivers is to contain a GPS chip so they can be tracked. Or the capability to be geo-fenced: They let out a screech if they are accidentally taken home … just a thought… I upgraded to a 664, with the 788 as backup. I replaced the Mackie panel with the Sound Devices CL-12. I now had the ability to create a separate private Comtek feed for the sound crew.

Then the world changed again.

When COVID hit, we were in the middle of episode seventeen, in the middle of a scene. Mid-day on March 13, 2020, we were sent home and that episode was the last that aired that season.
In a typical year, we would start a new season beginning late July or early August. With COVID, we didn’t begin until September, after several weeks of Zoom meetings to figure out a safe filming protocol. The COVID restrictions brought along major changes to the way we worked. Firstly, they added a third camera on a telescoping crane. All the Camera Assistants were separated from their cameras and worked the focus remotely, away from the cast peering at small video monitors. The third camera made it necessary to wire all the actors all of the time, since the third camera made booming a scene nearly impossible.

The storyline that season involved COVID in the lives of Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital. The actor doctors had to wear a PAPR mask: PAPR=powered air purified repirators. The entire head was covered with an inflated mask, the front was full-face visible clear plastic. On the belt was a battery-driven air pump, about as loud as a hair dryer. The air came up the back through a wide tube, and spilled out over the actor’s forehead. If the blower was turned off, the clear front would fog up almost immediately. To mic these actors, it was determined that “ear set” mics were the only option. There simply was no place to hide a lav in the mask where it would not be seen or hit hard by the incoming air. It became necessary for the actors to wear earwigs to hear each other. The ear-set mics had to be taped to the inside of the masks since they shifted a lot if hung over the ear, making matching difficult. Surprisingly, this setup worked, as the isolated mics inside the masks so close to the actors’ mouths, eliminated most of the fan noise. The only time the fan blowers were a big problem was if the masked doctors were around a patient’s bed, who wasn’t wearing a mask. We did what we could with turning off mask fans if possible, but with three cameras and three different angles, this was also challenging.

When the COVID season brought the third camera, I was able to bring in an extra utility person. They were sequestered with the cast in a separate area and were wired there. We still use three cameras and I still have an additional utility. Three timecode slates, last-minute camera moves, a very large contingent of background artists that may need to be foot foamed, all of the Comtek’s, all of the mic’ing of actors all the time continues to keep the entire four-person sound crew busy.

Following the COVID season, the storyline moved on, though on the set, protocols stayed. The actors would block a scene, and the crew watched the marking rehearsal from a ring-style “surveillance” camera off a remote monitor. The second team would rehearse with the cameras and when the cast returned, filming began without a rehearsal. My collection of body mic transmitters had by now grown to fourteen, and I upgraded to the Sound Devices Scorpio recorder and the CL-16. I am using that to this day, and it’s a great tool with easy track naming and assigning. (Since COVID protocols forbade the distribution of physical media off the studio lot, the SD cards are now uploaded to a hard drive with the camera media and that hard drive is sent to the post house.) I also have one Lectrosonics DSQD receiver for the two digital boom mic transmitters; I am still using most of the SMV transmitters, but replacing them slowly to all digital transmitters. The last few years has seen major changes in other departments. The set lighting is now mostly networked LED instruments. It is a bit surreal to see a SLT walking in with a lighting instrument already lit!

And so the beat goes on. Due to last year’s strikes, season twenty is only ten episodes long. There are about six people from the season two crew left, and, as one put it, “I intend to ride this pony till it dies, then carry it the rest of the way.”

by Josh Levy

Earlier this year, I was approached by Local 695 about joining them at the upcoming AMPTP negotiations. They were looking for a member with real-life on-set experience to sit at the table and speak to the producers about why now, more than ever, we need to address additional staffing of the Video-Assist Department. My mind immediately flashed back to a conversation I recently had with Sound Mixer Steve Nelson about what actually takes place at these meetings. He told me the negotiations are actually a fairly daunting experience. When you enter the “Big” room, you see the room filled with lawyers and studio representatives all dressed in suits, staring at you face-to-face across the table as you try to get your point across.

I thought to myself, “Hmm, I think I might sit this one out.” However, this did not sit well with me. I asked myself, “What if this is the only time to really get the point across to the ‘higher- ups,’ the decision-makers, the ones that have the power to remove you from the call sheet?”

I started speaking to fellow Local 695 members; a mix of Video Operators and Sound Mixers to get their opinion on whether or not this would be worth my time. I wanted them to tell me, “You will be wasting your time; they won’t listen to you.” However, I found their responses to be anything but the answer I was expecting or hoping for.

Over the last few years, I have dedicated time and effort into forming a national video-assist group. It is a peer group of Video-Assist IATSE members across the nation with various backgrounds, personalities, and skill sets. Wonderful people who all share a common bond and share a common goal. This has been rewarding and inspiring, especially with the momentum and current gains that have been made regarding Non-Record Video-Assist. But helping unite members across the nation to become a strong voice for the issues we face is truly something I enjoy doing. I would say this is in my comfort zone. I feel at ease speaking with all the members, which is a far cry from sitting in a stuffy room across from a bunch of suit-and-tie seasoned executives who have spent a majority of their lives in professional negotiations.

Then I thought to myself, “Who has ever made a difference staying in their comfort zone?” My mind did a 180-degree turn and I knew that if I had a shot to get a message to these executives, I’d better swing as hard as I could, because I didn’t know if I would ever get up to the plate again.

So, I said, “Yes.”

I won’t lie. With only a few days before the negotiations, I was still pretty nervous about what I was facing. I wanted to be perfect. I wanted to walk out of there with the golden ticket. I received a well-put-together PowerPoint presentation from Local 695 that showcased all the sound and video issues we wanted to discuss with the AMPTP. I could tell there was a ton of thought, time, and effort put into the presentation, but these were not my words or my thoughts. If I was going to contribute to these negotiations, I had to be able to bring my own experiences to the table. After speaking with Business Representative Scott Bernard, he assured me I would have my time on the floor to say what I needed to say. So, with forty-eight hours until the meeting, the pressure was on.

I spent the next day speaking with my National Video-Assist group partner Sam Harrison. Sam has an uncanny ability to take the thousands of words I will throw at him and narrow it down to what is really important. We settled on composing a small speech about how on a daily basis, the Video-Assist Operators are forced to work in an unsafe environment. We are frequently OVERWHELMED, both physically and mentally. After a few hours, we finalized a two-page document that listed all of our concerns and had bullet points on how the Video-Assist duties had grown exponentially with the advancement of technology. With this final draft in hand, my confidence grew. At least I had something in my hand that I could stick to; a script if you will.

But even with my script, I found myself doubting what I was about to do as I drove to the AMPTP offices. I kept thinking that what we had written was not good enough. Do they really want to hear another sob story? Am I just going to appear to be whining? Will I lose their interest? Will someone actually fall asleep during my rant? I needed a plan B; something that would stick—I need a game-changing moment.

I arrived and, once I made it through security, “I was greeted by Scott Bernard, who led me into our caucus room. My first thought was, “I am really underdressed.” Being a native of Los Angeles, I spend most my life in flip-flops and T-shirts. The closest thing I have to a suit is a collared shirt.

There were some new faces in the room, but I knew most of the members of 695’s Bargaining Committee and had even worked on set with a few of them. I knew most of them had been a part of past negotiations. Everyone appeared to be pretty relaxed. I had a nice chat with Joe Aredas and was actually beginning to relax myself when Scott said, “OK, it’s our turn to go into the big room. Let’s do this.”

Suddenly, I was not relaxed anymore.

As we walked into the big room, I thought to myself, “Wow, this is exactly like Steve Nelson had described.”

There were lawyers and executives as far as the eye could see, all with microphones sitting in front of them. It all looked very official. We sat at a table, face-to-face with the top negotiators. Sitting center stage on the other side was none other than Carol Lombardini.

Scott opened the negotiations, got the ball rolling, and then went into the slide show. This was a lengthy presentation, with a lot of information to digest and cover. Each point on every slide was just as important as the next. Every issue needed context and evidence to support our Local’s proposals. When the presentation transitioned to the subject of video-related issues, Scott introduced me and put the ball in my court. Heads turned to my side of the table. What seemed like one thousand eyeballs turned to stare at me.

I had a choice: read my script or just go for it. I chose the latter.

“Hello everyone, thank you for having me here today. I am not sure how many of you actually have spent a lot of time on set and have seen the day-to-day work levels of a Video-Assist Operator. So let me tell you all about my last Monday.” I remember a brief moment of silence and few members from our side of the table looked over at me.

I took them through my day.

The previous Monday, I arrived on set via shuttle van to set up with no help. The sound and video trailers were three blocks from the set. The trip from the truck to set was predominantly uphill. I had fifteen hundred pounds of equipment to transport. Video-Assist was the only department with that much equipment that did not have an assistant or a utility. By myself, it took four trips to move all that gear. By 7:30 in the morning, I had already walked fifteen blocks and was falling behind schedule before the start of rehearsals. To make matters worse, we were shooting in an old, two-story house that day and, naturally, we were starting on the second floor.

So, after pushing fifteen hundred pounds of gear up hill, I had to haul a lot of it up the stairs. By the time that was done, I was drenched in sweat and before I could even catch my breath, the 1st AD comes up and asks, “How long do you need, because we are minutes away.”

I rushed and scrambled to set up, ducking and dodging around crew members having their morning conversations about their weekend and enjoying their boxed breakfast orders someone in their department had kindly delivered to set. I barely got my system up and running before I hear, “We are rolling.” I just barely managed to avoid holding up production. Luckily, my equipment booted up without a problem. If there had been any technical issues, it would have delayed the first shot of the day. In the middle of the first take, a PA frantically ran up to me and told me a producer, some writers, and the VFX supervisor watching remotely were wondering why they could not see the feed yet.

I politely said, “I am working on setting up the remote streaming system. I am by myself, I am a little overwhelmed this morning, I am working on it.”

We shot the scenes in the house. I did not have a chance to eat, drink, go to the bathroom, or take any break in five hours. I was either recording, playing back, moving, or setting up. We finished our scenes and were immediately on the move. The 1st AD screamed out to pack the trucks for a company move, but while the rest of the crew started packing and loading trucks for the next location, the director decided he wanted to watch playback of some older scenes we shot at the next location. He needed to mentally revisit the scene so he could be more prepared.

There was nothing unreasonable about this request, but I knew it was going to be a problem.

We spent ten minutes watching multiple scenes. When he was done, the director stepped into a van which ushered him off to the next location. That left me, a department of one, to move hundreds of pounds of equipment downstairs, wrap hundreds of feet of cable, pack up multiple carts, push them one at a time down the three blocks I’d pushed them that morning, and load them into the equipment trucks. The entire crew had already packed up and left. I was alone, overwhelmed mentally, spent physically, and it was not even lunch yet … on Monday.

The worst part was that I had requested help from production and was denied. In the negotiating room, I explained that I felt that this put a liability on production if I was injured.

There was moment of uncomfortable silence. The other side was shocked and aghast to hear of my experience. They were still staring at me. I had not lost their attention. I wondered if I had enlightened them into my day-to-day life of being a Video-Assist Operator.

A little later in the presentation, I spoke to them about the benefits the production gets when Video-Assist is on the call sheet. We can add safety to the day, we can shorten the day, we can provide resources on and off set that are essential to keep production moving forward. We can save productions money. That was a language I knew that they would understand.

I explained that in my experience, we are seen as a liability, when truly we are one of the greatest assets from the very first second of the day. Video-Assist is such a powerful tool in 2024 with no ceiling for future benefits to production.

After the presentation, we returned to the Local 695 caucus room. At this point, I had no idea how my presentation was perceived by my own people. The last thing I wanted to do was disappoint them for inviting me here or to make them second-guess my attendance. These thoughts in my head were rapidly extinguished when I received praises from all around. I do not think I will ever forget the feeling of that moment. It will remain pretty high on my list.

Of course, the goal going into the day was to get additional staffing in our department. The AMPTP came back with “at this time, we will not add any mandatory staffing.” Every local heard this same response when they asked for more staffing. Did I think I was going to come in here and get this decision in one round? While some heavyweight bouts have been decided in the first round, I knew this one had a better chance at going the distance.

However, they did agree to add the term “Video” to Paragraph 56.

Paragraph 56 is a provision in the Local 695 agreement that concerns additional staffing when conditions grow beyond the scope of one person. Previously, this paragraph only made mention of “Soundpersons.” But with these negotiations, it has now been revised to read,

“If production or equipment requirements create a condition whereby an abnormal demand is placed upon the sound or video crews, such condition shall be relieved by the addition of soundpersons or videopersons to the crew until such condition ceases to exist.”

This is an important resource that clearly states, when production expectations and demands are too high or unsafe for the current staffed position, they must remedy this by adding additional members to the crew. By adding “Videopersons” in this paragraph, this means that if production is refusing to add staffing after it has been requested because of concerns over safety or excessive workload, they are violating the contract. This will make it much easier for the Local to enforce the request and need for additional staffing.

Like the long journey over the proper staffing of Non-Record Video-Assist, this too will take time to implement. The goal is for producers to add additional staffing to the budget prior to having to use Paragraph 56. During the pandemic, we were able to showcase our value to production. We broke out all the bells and whistles. They could not have done it without us. This worked in our favor at that time, especially with the producers federally funded COVID budgets which allowed us proper staffing for maybe the first time in the history of Video-Assist. We are now faced with the challenge of providing all those services, often as a solo act, as we have all been told that funding has now expired.

Fear not, as we are a resilient bunch and there is no way the membership or leadership is willing to wave the white flag on this matter. This will, like Non-Record Video-Assist, become a collaborative process between the members and the leadership.

I really feel together with constant communication, new resources like Paragraph 56 and other strategies that are on the table, we will be victorious. The next negotiation will be here before we know it, as time flies by like the landscape out the window of a moving train. EVERY Video Operator has had my last Monday. Too many of them. We deserve to be staffed properly like all other departments. We deserve safety, health, and longevity. The day should start without being overwhelmed, faced alone with so many various tasks to perform.

So, after all of this, you might ask, “Do you want to go back in to that big room with the AMPTP again? Sit face-to-face across the table and continue to fight for what is right and what is fair?”

And my answer to you would be, “How could I not?”

Thanks, that’s a wrap!

“Josh has been instrumental in protecting our Video Assist jurisdiction. In my mind, it was a no brainer to ask him to be a part of our Local bargaining committee. When he asked me what I wanted him to say, I replied, “You’re the subject matter expert. Tell them what your needs are. He owned the moment and his presentation landed. We should all be grateful for the work he has done and continues to do for our Local.”
– Scott Bernard

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour)

The Crown
“Sleep, Dearie Sleep”
Lee Walpole, Re-Recording Mixer
Martin Jensen, Re-Recording Mixer
Stuart Hilliker CAS, Re-Recording Mixer Chris Ashworth, Production Mixer

Fallout
“The Target”
Keith Rogers CAS, Re-Recording Mixer
Steve Bucino, CAS Re-Recording Mixer
Tod A. Maitland CAS,
Production Sound Mixer
Additional Sound Team: Jerry Yuen Boom Operator, Utility Sound Technicians Terence McCormack-Maitland, Luke Q. Iaciofano

Loki
“Glorious Purpose”
Karol Urban CAS, Re-Recording Mixer
Paul Munro, Production Mixer
Additional Sound Team:
Key 1st Assistant Sound Alex Bryce
Assistant Sound Alec Taylor

Shogun
“Broken To The Fist”
Steve Pederson, Re-Recording Mixer
Greg P. Russell, Re-Recording Mixer
Michael Williamson CAS, Production Mixer Takashi Akaku, ADR Mixer
Arno Stephanian, Foley Mixer
Additional Sound Team:
Boom Operators Don Brown, Darryl Marko
Assistant Sound Jenna Gouchey
2nd Unit Production Sound Mixer
Robert Hanchar
Boom Operator Martin Mitchell
Sound Assistant Patou Lauwers

3 Body Problem
“Judgment Day”
Marc Fishman CAS, Re-Recording Mixer Danielle Dupre CAS, Re-Recording Mixer Richard Dyer, Production Mixer
Additional Sound Team:
Assistant Sound, Bradley Kendrick
Assistant Sound, Nick Gladwin;
Assistant Sound, Timothee Vafeas

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Black Mirror
“Beyond The Sea”
James Ridgway, Re-Recording Mixer
Richard Miller, Production Mixer
Adam Méndez, Foley Mixer
Daniel Kresco, Scoring Mixer
Additional Sound Team:
1st AS Orin Beaton, 2nd AS Tom Pallant, Trainee Tija Skvarciute

Fargo
“The Tragedy Of The Commons”
Martin Lee, Re-Recording Mixer
Kirk Lynds, CAS, Re-Recording Mixer Michael Playfair, CAS, Production Mixer Michael Perfitt, Scoring Mixer
Additional Sound Team:
Louw Verwoerd, Boom Operator;
Valerie Siu, Utility Sound Technician

Masters Of The Air
“Part Five”
Michael Minkler, CAS, Re-Recording Mixer
Duncan McRae, Re-Recording Mixer
Tim Fraser, Production Mixer
Thor Fienberg, Scoring Mixer

Ripley
“Vll Macabre Entertainment”
Michael Barry, Re-Recording Mixer
Larry Zipf, Re-Recording Mixer
Maurizio Argentieri, Production Mixer
Michael Perfitt, Scoring Mixer
Additional Sound Team:
Alberto Padoan Boom Operator,
Andrea Dallimonti Boom Operator,
Michela Cuppone Utility Sound Technician

True Detective: Night Country “Part 6”
Howard Bargroff, Re-Recording Mixer
Mark Timms, Re-Recording Mixer
Skúli Helgi Sigurgíslason, Production Mixer Keith Partridge, Foley Mixer
Additional Sound Team:
1st Assistant Sound
Benedikt Örn Árnason,
2nd Assistant Sound Tom Hannay,
3rd Assistant Sound
Hulda Kristín Kolbrúnardóttir

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation

The Bear “Forks”
Steve “Major” Giammaria, Re-Recording Mixer
Scott D. Smith CAS, Production Mixer
Patrick Christensen, ADR Mixer
Ryan Collison, Foley Mixer
Additional Sound Team:
Joe Cambell Boom Operator,
Nick Price & Nicky Ray Harris Boom/Utility, Sound Technician Sharon Frye,
Nick Faneli Utility Sound Technician

Curb Your Enthusiasm
“Ken/Kendra”
Earl Martin, Re-Recording Mixer
Chuck Buch CAS, Production Mixer
Trino Madriz, ADR Mixer
Sam C. Lewis, Foley Mixer
Additional Sound Team:
William Munroe Boom Operator,
Utility Sound Technician & 2nd Boom
Chris Silverman,
Sound Trainee Javier Lopez

Hacks “Just For Laughs”
John W. Cook II, Re-Recording Mixer
Ben Wilkins, Re-Recording Mixer
Jim Lakin, Production Mixer
Additional Sound Team:
Ryan Fee Boom Operator,
Utility Sound Technician Claire Mondragon

Only Murders In The Building “Sitzprobe”
Mathew Waters CAS, Re-Recording Mixer Lindsey Alvarez CAS, Re-Recording Mixer Joseph White Jr. CAS, Production Mixer Alan DeMoss, Scoring Mixer
Derik Lee, Music Mixer
Additional Sound Team: Kira Smith Boom Operator, TR Boyce Utility Sound Technician/Boom Operator, Derek Pacuk Protools Playback Mixer

What We Do In The Shadows
“Local News”
Diego Gat, CAS, Re-Recording Mixer Samuel Ejnes, CAS, Re-Recording Mixer Rob Beal, CAS, Production Mixer
Additional Sound Team:
Ryan Longo, Boom Operator;
Camille Kennedy, Utility Sound Technician

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special

Billy Joel: The 100th – Live At Madison Square Garden
Brian Riordan, Re-Recording Mixer
Phil DeTolve, Re-Recording Mixer
Peter Gary, Music Mixer
Brian Flanzbaum, Production Mixer
Josh Weibel, Monitor Mixer
Brian Ruggles, FOH Mixer

66th Grammy Awards
Thomas Holmes, Production Mixer
John Harris, Music Mixer
Eric Schilling, Music Mixer
Jeff Peterson, FOH Production Mixer
Jaime Pollock, FOH Music Mixer
Michael Parker, Monitor Mixer
Andres Arango, Monitor Mixer
Juan Pablo Velasco, ProTools Mixer
Aaron Walk, ProTools Mixer
Eric Johnston, Supplemental Mixer
Christian Schrader, Supplemental Mixer
Kristian Pedregon, Post Audio Mixer

The Oscars
Paul Sandweiss, Production Mixer
Tommy Vicari, Broadcast Music Mixer
Biff Dawes, Broadcast Music Mixer
Pablo Munguia, ProTools Mixer
Kristian Pedregon, Post Audio Mixer
Patrick Baltzell, FOH Mixer
Michael Parker, Monitor Mixer
Christian Schrader, Supplemental Audio John Perez, VO Mixer
Tom Pesa, Monitor Mixer
Steve Genewick, Music Mixer

2023 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony
Al Centrella, Production Mixer
Bob Clearmountain CAS, Music Mixer
John Harris, Music Mixer
Dan Gerhard, FOH Mixer
Robert Scovilm, FOH Mixer
Mike Bove, Monitor Mixer
Simon Welsh, Monitor Mixer

Saturday Night Live
Host: Kristen Wiig
Robert Palladino, Production Mixer
Ezra Matychak, Production Mixer
Frank Duca, FOH Mixer
Christopher Costello, Monitor Mixer
Josiah Gluck, Music Mixer
Jay Vicari, Music Mixer
Lawrence Manchester, Music Mixer
Tyler McDiarmid, Playback Mixer
Caroline Sanchez, FOH Mixer
Geoff Countryman, Supplemental Mixer
Teng Chen, Supplemental Mixer
Devin Emke, Post Audio Mixer

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program (Single or Multi-Camera)

The Beach Boys
Gary A. Rizzo CAS,
Re-Recording Mixer
John Rampey, Production Mixer
Sabi Tulok, Production Mixer
Dennis Hamlin, Production Mixer

Jim Henson Idea Man
Tony Volante, Re-Recording Mixer Michael Jones, Production Mixer

Planet Earth III
“Deserts And Grasslands”
Graham Wild, Re-Recording Mixer
Oliver Baldwin, Re-Recording Mixer
Olga Reed, Re-Recording Mixer

STAX: Soulsville U.S.A.
“Chapter Two: Soul Man”
Tony Volante, Re-Recording Mixer Andre Artis, Production Mixer

Steve! (Martin) A Documentary In 2 Pieces
Pete Horner, Re-Recording Mixer Dennis Hamlin, Production Mixer Barry London, Production Mixer
Emily Strong, Production Mixer

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera)

The Amazing Race
Series Body Of Work
Troy Smith, Re-Recording Mixer
Jim Ursulak, Production Mixer
Jim Blank, Production Mixer
Emerson Boergadine, Production Mixer
Paul Bruno, Production Mixer
John Buchanan, Production Mixer
Jerry Chabane, Production Mixer
Alfredo R. Del Portillo, Production Mixer
Freddie DiPasquale, Production Mixer
Dean Gaveau, Production Mixer
Ryan P. Kelly, Production Mixer
Richard Chardy Lopez, Production Mixer
Mickey McMullen, Production Mixer
Sean Milburn, Production Mixer
Simon Paine, Production Mixer
John A. Pitron, Production Mixer
Jody Stillwater, Production Mixer
Jeff Zipp, Production Mixer

Deadliest Catch
Nautical Deathtrap
Jared Robbins, Re-Recording Mixer

RuPaul’s Drag Race
Series Body Of Work
Sal Ojeda, Re-Recording Mixer
Erik Valenzuela, Re-Recording Mixer
Ryan Brady, Audio Supervisor
David Nolte, Production Mixer
Andrew Papastephanou,
Production Mixer

The Voice
Live Finale
Michael Abbott, Production Mixer
Kenyata Westbrook, Production Mixer
Randy Faustino, Broadcast Music Mixer
Christian Schrader, Supplemental Mixer
Carlos A. Torres, Playback Mixer
Andrew Fletcher, FOH Mixer
Shaun Sebastian, Monitor Mixer
Tim Hatayama, Re-Recording Mixer
Adrian Ordonez, Re-Recording Mixer
Barry Weir Jr., Re-Recording Mixer
Ryan Young, Re-Recording Mixer

Welcome To Wrexham
Giant Killers
Mark Jensen CAS, Re-Recording Mixer

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Names in bold are Local 695 members

Disclaimer: The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) does not award Emmy statuettes or nomination certificates to those listed under “Production Sound Team”