Features

by James Delhauer

As vaccination rates continue to rise and COVID case numbers steadily decline here in the United States, it feels as though we have turned a corner in the pandemic. Life begins to resemble its old self. However, the effects of this global event continue to be felt.

Technological developments spearheaded by a need for a remote society are here to stay. We are more reliant than ever on communication tools. A record 2.26 billion internet-enabled devices were sold in 2020. All of these gizmos and gadgets require resources to manufacture and the pandemic has strained supply lines. This has resulted in a global shortage of semiconductor chips, integrated circuits used in the manufacturing of electronic devices. This chip shortage has resulted in limited availability of consumer electronics across the markets worldwide, leading to sharp price increases on goods. However, this might just be the beginning. As the current estimates foresee the shortage lasting until 2023, this shortage will have long-term consequences across every tech-reliant industry. The industries of film and television will be no exception.

To understand this situation, some context is needed. Integrated circuits are complicated to manufacture. Specialized machinery is used to integrate components that would be far too small for the human hand to manipulate. This is a delicate task. The slightest contamination of dust is enough to disrupt the process. And so the machinery is housed in air-tight clean rooms and a conveyer system is used to pass components from clean room to clean room, so as to prevent any chance of contamination. This sort of assembly line is expensive to manufacture and it is common for semiconductor fabrication plant construction costs to reach four billion dollars. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s most valuable semiconductor company, estimates that its upcoming facility may reach costs of twenty billion.

Despite these exorbitant costs, fabrication plants are relatively short-term investments. The fabrication designs used in each plant are often obsolete within just a few years. As our need for faster and smarter devices grows, so do the demands we place on any given circuit board. A practical example is the 3.5-inch spinning disk hard drive. Fifteen years ago, these drives were commonly sold in units measuring in the gigabytes. Today, you can buy an 18-terabyte drive that conforms to the exact same size and specification. Increasing the data storage by that amount without changing the size required that more transistors—components used to conduct electrical currents—be packed into the same space. In fact, it has commonly held true that the number of transistors in a densely integrated circuit roughly doubles every two years. And this principle applies across the entire spectrum of electrical manufacturing. Smartphones, tablets, personal computers, televisions, gaming devices, cars, and anything else you can think of with a screen or plug. Therefore, each multi-billion-dollar facility only has a short window of time before they are manufacturing hardware that is no longer in wide demand. By the time one facility begins production, its replacement is already being built. It is a constant race to put up the next plant in time to keep up with innovation.

Then the pandemic hit and everything stopped. Demand for electronic devices skyrocketed. COVID-19 forced us to become more reliant on our phones and computers than ever before. Schools raced to send hundreds of thousands of laptops and tablets home with students in order to enable remote learning. Companies were forced to set up infrastructure in their employees’ homes. Assets had to be distributed via the cloud like never before. All of this required record amounts of hardware. And all the while, production on new fabrication plants had shut down. Intel, Samsung, and TSMC—the three largest suppliers of semiconductors globally—all have new plants in various stages of construction, with plans for additional plants being rushed into action to catch up with demand.

In the meantime, we find ourselves in a deficit. The gaming industry finds itself caught between two hardware generations as Sony and Microsoft’s new consoles remain difficult to procure at market value nearly a year after their launch. High-end graphics cards, essential to gaming, video processing, and crypto-mining alike, are impossible to find in stores, with scalpers charging more than double suggested retail value on sites like eBay. The dwindling supply of high-capacity media drives has already forced data storage costs to rise. However, auto manufacturers have been hit the hardest so far. The growing ubiquity of Wi-Fi access, global positioning systems, Bluetooth integration, and advanced safety features in cars combined with the rising demand for all-electric vehicles lead auto manufacturers to integrate computer components like never before. Now production has slowed to a trickle as companies struggle to source the necessary components.

Though initial projections hoped for an end to the shortage by early 2022, complications arose. Drought conditions in Taiwan have slowed production in TSMC plants, which can consume up to sixty-three thousand gallons of water per day. Trade disputes between the U.S. and China in 2020 have impacted supply lines today. Now the situation is expected to last until at least 2023.

Political leaders around the world have pledged to end this chip shortage as swiftly as possible. In the United States, President Joe Biden signed a February 23 Executive Order, directing U.S. agencies to work with industry leaders to strengthen supply of semiconductor and, after a 100-day review period, recommended Congress allocate fifty billion dollars for the construction of new plants within the nation in order to reduce U.S. dependence on overseas manufacturing. Unfortunately, industry experts expressed concern with such a figure, with Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger referring to it as “a great first step.”

If further steps are not taken, the problems we’re facing today may only be the tip of the iceberg. Our industry, one of the most tech-driven industries in the world, will be particularly susceptible to the rigors of this problem. So what should we expect to see?

The cost of gear is going to go up. Film and television sets use highly specialized tools and all of those tools will be more difficult to source. New hardware releases may see delays as developers struggle to meet manufacturing quotas. Those that do see release will likely do so in limited supplies at a premium. Software releases may stagnate as companies struggle to acquire hardware for product development and testing. Moreover, storage media will likely become a problem. Our productions burn through terabytes upon terabytes of data every day. All of it needs to be acquired, copied, backed up, distributed, and stored using drives and as productions migrate to higher resolutions and larger codecs, the number of drives used on a given production increases. All of this will drive production costs up. As budgets balloon, pressure will grow across all areas of production.

The somber reality, however, is that it is difficult to predict exactly how this situation will unfold. The uncertainties of weather conditions, international disputes, and emerging viral strains cast a shadow of doubt over any projections made today. The only common consensus is that things are going to get worse before they get better. Violence has already broken out over product launches and restocks. Unrest is likely to grow as supplies run dry. Members are encouraged to take ample care when handling or transporting expensive equipment. Common sense practices should be observed. Never leave gear unattended or unsecured. Never leave equipment visible in a parked car. When coordinating third-party rentals through platforms such as ShareGrid, never invite renters to your home or equipment-storage location. If coordinating a large rental with strangers, bring a friend to the drop-off/pickup with you. Conduct rental drop-offs and returns in public, well-occupied locations. Take great care to preserve equipment for as long as possible. Replacements may not be as readily available as they once were. Above all else, be safe.

Though we hope we are beginning to see the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no doubt that its effects are going to continue to be felt for years to come. This global chip shortage highlights just how delicate our technological infrastructure can be and should serve as a warning of the dangers we face when it is disrupted. With climate projections predicting greater drought conditions in the future and a rise in natural disasters, we need to innovate like never before to ensure that we are ready for the problems of tomorrow. Our infrastructure will continue to face challenges but Local 695 and the whole of IATSE comprise some of the finest technical minds in the world. It is our job to lead the way in dynamic thinking and problem solving so that we can overcome the obstacles we are about to face and be an example to others in times of adversity.

by James Delhauer

Few things in our history draw people together the way that professional sports do. Stadiums fill to the breaking point with roaring fans dressed in memorabilia, each ready to cheer their team to victory whilst casting aspersions on the opposing team’s parentage. From the earliest Olympic Games some seven hundred years before the common era to today’s mega-events, competitive sports have been a cultural staple for all of living memory. In the modern era, broadcast sports generate more than twenty-two billion dollars a year in the United States alone.

The task of broadcasting these events, replete with live commentary, instant replays, and information graphics is an enormous undertaking. Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Local 695 member Edgar Lopez, an EVS Operator who was kind enough to share some of his experiences working sports broadcasting

Edgar grew up in Anaheim and later studied television at Chapman University, where he fostered ambitions of becoming an editor. Despite enjoying the creative process of the craft, the slow and meticulous process of cutting content in a nonlinear editing platform proved tedious to him. Opportunities soon emerged in the world of sports, however, where Edgar first learned of the position of EVS Operator—a job which allowed him to edit content in fast-paced environments. After graduating, Edgar found opportunities substituting for other operators in weekly sports working for the NFL, NHL, NBA, and NASCAR. Coming up in Orange County, however, Edgar and his family had always supported their local teams—the Anaheim Angels and the Anaheim Ducks. Therefore, it seemed fitting when he was asked to become one of the lead EVS Operators for both teams, positions he has now held for over ten years. “It’s kind of surreal,” he told me. “My brothers and my family are all sports fans and they’re always talking about the games or specific plays that I was there for.”

Though critical to live events and sports broadcasting, the role of the EVS Operator is not as commonly understood as those of our brothers and sisters in production sound. These technicians are tasked with a variety of responsibilities and are often simultaneously responsible for juggling large amounts of data, recalling and cutting content moments after it occurs, sourcing clips for playback. The job is one- part tape operator, one-part editor, and one-part playback specialist all at the same time. At the heart of the operation sits the EVS media server, which Edgar describes as being like “a DVR on steroids.” This digital video production system is capable of recording, editing, and playing content from a wide variety of sources and in an equally wide variety of formats. The current line of XT media servers can support up to sixteen channels of HD video, ultra-high-definition resolutions of up to 8K, HDR encoding, and both traditional SDI-routed signals or those from a network-based IP source.

In a sports environment, EVS work can become hectic. The randomness of chance that makes sports so exhilarating to fans poses unique challenges to those broadcasting them. Games often require a dozen or more cameras in order to achieve proper coverage and all of those feeds need to be ingested. Instant replay packages need to be generated and rolled out before the moment of opportunity passes. New content must be generated in direct response to the game itself. In complicated environments, this can require teams of EVS Operators working in tandem with one another, each responsible for their own set of feeds but cutting and distributing packages for communal use.

“It’s not easy. It’s really hard,” Edgar told me. “We’re human. We make errors. We try to be perfect but mistakes happen. We don’t always see everything. For the first few years, it’s difficult to build up to the speed or know what kinds of footage producers might be looking for. Then, once you’re there for a while, you start to know what to expect and you have a Plan B in case it comes down to the wire. Experience prepares you best for any situation. If a home run happens, we’re usually editing it as the player’s rounding the bases so we have it ready to go.”

Despite the difficulty of the job, Edgar was quick to share many positive career-defining moments as well. The most significant came following the death of Tyler Skaggs, an Angels player who passed away in 2019.

“The game following that day was very difficult for everybody. You get to know the players pretty closely and it’s always hard to lose such a good guy. But we came home and they were having a big ceremony at the Angels Stadium. All the players were wearing his jersey. His mom got to throw out the first pitch. And at the end of the night, the team got a no-hitter. They all started taking off their jerseys and throwing them on the mound. It was just such a perfect baseball moment. It was like a dream for the Angels and all of us. And we all felt like we did a really good job at the end of the night. We felt like we represented the team and the player, so we were all pretty proud.”

It goes without saying that the world of sports was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In March of last year, sports seasons saw unprecedented disruptions as teams that had played through fire, storm, and flood were forced to return home. Stadiums that had once been filled with screaming throngs of fans sat in silence. The Summer Olympic Games were postponed, a disruption not seen since the cancellation of the 1944 Games during World War II. SoFi Stadium, finally complete after four years of construction, celebrated its inaugural games behind closed doors without any fans present. As one might expect, this impacted the jobs of those working in sports broadcast.

“There’s a lot more remote work now,” Edgar told me. “You were already starting to hear people saying, ‘Hey, this could be done remotely,’ but no one was willing to try it. Then last year, everything shut down. People weren’t allowed to sit in a truck for ten-hour days. What’s the solution? Well, we could try doing it remotely.” This was achieved by sending EVS controllers home with operators, who could then wirelessly access their machines at work and remote control them from home. This allowed productions to build their video infrastructure in a singular location and allow remote workers access rather than sending expensive encoding servers home with each operator. “The feeds aren’t as good though,” Edgar commented. “The biggest issue with remote work right now is the delay. The video they send home to you is compressed and isn’t as high quality as in the truck, which they do so there isn’t a major delay. But sometimes it still gets to you like a second late. So if we need to freeze the video, we aren’t really freezing it at the exact point because of the delay. When I hit stop, it takes a split second for the signal to get back to the truck. It’s not exactly frame accurate.”

These changes brought about by the pandemic have been positive for Edgar, who hopes to see remote work continue going forward. “Before COVID, I was traveling with the Angels and the Ducks. I’d be on their planes and stay in their hotels. If they were playing in New York, I’d fly out, do all the games there, and then move onto the next city. Now it looks like I won’t need to travel as much anymore. I get to stay home, sleep in my own bed, and see my kids every day. I have an eight year old and six year old. I’ve been home for the last year and now when I’m gone, it’s sad for them. It’s sad for me. So hopefully with this remote stuff, I can be home and spend more time with them.”

I would like to thank Edgar for taking the time to sit down and speak with me about his job, his career, and his family. More importantly, I’d like to extend a sincere thanks to him and all of his colleagues for bringing us our games week after week, year after year, and fighting to continue doing so even in the midst of a deadly virus. As we head into fall and turn yet another corner in the story of this pandemic, the world of sports has come back to life. Fans have returned to fill their stadiums with the cries of jubilation and frustration as they watch their teams go head-to-head. The now inaccurately named 2020 Summer Olympic Games are behind us, reinvigorating spirits of sportsmanship and competition across the globe as we look toward next year’s Winter Games.

by Jennifer Winslow

On a hot June day, as the new Local 695 Women’s Committee gathered for our first official meeting, a dream of mine was realized.

When I joined 695 in 1990, we had about as many female members as I could count on my two hands. Women were not welcomed into our industry. To the contrary, there were many who wouldn’t consider hiring women onto their crews at all. I was even subtly brainwashed into thinking two women on a sound crew would never work out! Can you imagine those days? The first sound and video women members were trailblazers in every sense of the word, breaking barriers and opening doors for future generations. Back then, I wondered if I’d be one of the few to continue with a career as a Sound/Video Tech. I was harassed, told by some men on the crew that their boss made less than me and I should feel ashamed, and generally bullied because of my gender.

Despite the cards stacked against me, I persevered, pushing myself to become a better sound technician and continued learning, and as a result, I enjoyed the high level of success surrounded by my union brothers and sisters, from my early years, all the way through to today.

Fortunately, over my thirty-three years in the business, the tide changed, and the number of women working in sound and video grew. Female technicians were becoming a part of every film and TV crew. This level of growth and progress was much needed, and as fate would have it, we now have enough members and interest to warrant a Local 695 Women’s Committee.

With Jillian Arnold as our stereotype-smashing, ceiling-breaking president, the times have certainly changed. (Interesting fact: We’ve recently grown from six percent to eight percent of 695 represented by women and female identifying members.) And this growth is far from through, a PA on my current job just applied to the Local 695 Training Program hoping to become a Utility Sound Technician in her future career.

So, the launching of this committee was a big deal and our first meeting is a huge moment in our Local’s history!

Thanks to Mixer (and longtime 695 member) Anna Wilborn for generously hosting our meeting at her beautiful home. Under sunny skies, our committee gathered with positive energy, all joining together in community and forging a much-needed connection. A connection that has been lacking in years past (and especially over the last year with the Pandemic Social Distancing, Safer at Home Orders, and Safe Way Back to Work COVID Restrictions on set). After an extended period of emotional darkness, we’ve arrived in a new era of understanding, empathy, and progress.

Here comes the sun! It was so great to see everyone again after the difficult year that was 2020.

The committee is composed of more than forty Local 695 women, female identifying members and allies, twenty of whom were present, to support the committee’s work. Many members have expressed interest in joining us for our next quarterly meeting, to be held in the fall.

I’m a female mixer working in Los Angeles, and this opportunity to meet with fellow technicians old and new made me so grateful. Discussing matters that mean a lot to us, and hearing everyone’s feedback was so beneficial. I really value the relationships that we as a community are growing. It makes me feel very empowered. Can’t wait for the next.
Thank you. Chantilly Hensley

A post-COVID quandary arose as we faced the dilemma of how to navigate our first social gathering. Coming out of a worldwide pandemic wasn’t an easy task, and some anxiety existed: To mask or not to mask? Would single-serve packages of chips, or pre-packed cheese and crackers suffice? Would a large bowl of guacamole be OK? (Answer: Guacamole is always OK!)

As the afternoon unfolded and members arrived, we all realized how nice it was to see faces and smiles again! Soon enough, talk about masks was replaced by easy conversation amongst our sisters and kin. As we relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company, we shared stories, ate and drank, laughed, and commiserated, we listened with empathy, to the horror stories many have lived through in our past. The food was plentiful and the mood was powerful!

It wasn’t all social however; we tackled some tough issues facing women working in tech within the film and TV industry.

I had a goal to achieve for this first meeting. In particular, I was determined to identify four to five objectives for the committee to work on this year. I designed a group activity that I called the “Hot Topic Boards.”

The activity began with poster boards (decorated beautifully by Anna’s daughters) with large colorful Post-it notes, listing issues ranging from unequal level of promotion, to microaggressions at work. Together, members chose their top five issues from more than forty hot topics presented.

When the results were compiled, we sat down and got to business. The meeting portion was rather spirited, and the survey of topics led way to epic levels of conversation. As soon as we selected five pressing issues of focus for the committee’s first efforts, many members came to a consensus that we have much work to do to create lasting change amongst our ranks.

The Women’s Committee meeting was engaging on many levels.
The members in attendance put forth what they felt were the most pressing in order of priority and it was a very welcoming environment all around. Hats off to Jennifer Winslow for putting it all together and for Anna Wilborn’s use of her lovely home.
Best regards, Heidi Nakamura Assistant Business Agent

The members read, discussed, and shared their valuable feedback on the following Local 695 Women’s Committee Mission Statement.

Mission Statement: The Local 695 Women’s Committee
The committee is dedicated to serving our members by providing networking and mentorship, promoting and celebrating our diversity, and encouraging growth. We plan to engage in social and community activism and outreach, provide resources, oversee educational opportunities for the women of IATSE Local 695, allies, and kin. The committee will endeavor to foster a deeper sense of community, set goals, and highlight the achievements of women in order to enhance all women’s advancement, and increase the potential for success in our union and industry.

After the meeting ended and official business was taken care of, I was able to relax and enjoy the rest of the time with our awesome members. I felt we did much more than dip our toes into the pool. We have our five top issues to dive into. We will focus our group’s attention, and continue to keep up with the growth cycle we are now enjoying. Co-chair Sara Glaser and I are already planning our next meeting.

The Local 695 Women’s Committee meeting turned out to be much more than I’d ever hoped for. Change may be a slow-moving train, but the new face of the members onboard will shape our future into a more diverse and dynamic community. I thank all who participated. See you this fall!

All Local 695 members are welcome!

I just have to express how wonderful our June 13 meeting of the Local 695 Women’s Committee made me feel. It was so inspiring to hear a cohort of our intelligent and committed members identifying and addressing issues that have needed changing for decades. Mary Jo Devenney

As a female Video Maintenance Engineer in a male-dominated occupation, I really appreciated the opportunity to meet other women in technical roles in the film and television industry and discuss the unique challenges that our group faces on the job. Lara Jessen

The breadth of experience in the Women’s Committee is inspiring. Lots of the issues brought up come from lived experience, and are things that would likely benefit all members. There are definitely issues that were brought up that resonated. I know if more voices (members) speak up and help make these changes possible, all members will benefit from a more equitable workplace. Daniel Martinez Local 695 member

It is absolutely critical for us to support each other. I really enjoyed learning about all the different paths our sisters have taken within our union. By coming together in a fun, relaxed atmosphere, we could really open up and discuss our ambitions and encourage each other to reach our goals. Anna Wilborn 

Filming the Perfect COVID-Time Movie

The Guilty is a feature film produced for Netflix based on the 2018 Danish film of the same name (Den Skyldige). Directed by Antoine Fuqua and produced by and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, the story follows a Los Angeles police officer awaiting a hearing for an undisclosed wrong-doing (you find out later) and is assigned to answer emergency calls at the LAPD Communications Division. The film takes place during the evening and night shifts of a single workday.

by Ed Novick

Upon being hired as the Production Sound Mixer, the challenge for me was detailed two months prior to filming: the audience will never see, nor will the filmmakers ever photograph, the 9-1-1 emergency callers that the officer speaks with. Rather, the audience will hear what the officer hears and a good deal of the story will be told by off-camera actors and rich sound design. To make the workflow more complex, our main character will be switching back-and-forth between two communication devices: a cellphone and a Bluetooth headset. I knew I’d have to coordinate with Props and Set Decoration to make sure the devices worn by the officer would be practical and functioning. With that in place, patching the actor’s phone or computer into my mixing panel would be straightforward. Of course, having the off-camera actors in a room close to our set would be a given. How else to ensure quality audio recordings and allow for ease of communication with off-camera talent?

Here’s the problem: It’s 2020 and we live and work in an ongoing COVID-19 environment, so none of the callers will be on stage. In fact, they will all be working from home, wherever that might be. How to proceed?

I knew I’d need a reliable system that actors could easily operate without too much audio know-how. I created an “actor’s kit.” Each one was identical and contained a Sound Devices MixPre3, a Shure SM58 microphone, a desk stand, a flexi-arm with a clip, Sony 7506 headphones, and a pair of USB cables (depending on the user’s computer). Factory-sealed, disposable, screw-on mesh windscreens were included with every SM58 to assure COVID safety protocols. SD cards were formatted, folders were created, and the gain was set (based on Zoom rehearsals. I had a rough idea of how loud each character would be). In fact, with 32-bit float recording, I had ample dynamic range available. Instructions were created to help non-audio professionals succeed, including photos and YouTube videos. A spreadsheet was also created to map out which actor had which rig on which day, and were recording to which folder. I intentionally did not include batteries or a power supply for the MixPre3, thereby requiring it to be bus-powered and allowing it serve as both an interface and a recorder. Interface? Yes. All actors would be on a Zoom call (it’s 2020, remember?), as well as myself, the AD’s, and, of course, the lead actor. Off-camera actors were asked to join a separate Zoom call before joining the larger production Zoom. This first Zoom call provided the actors with basic instruction on (1) how to operate the rig; (2) how to assign their audio to the correct folder; (3) how to operate the MixPre3 faders; (4) how to get timecode and jam it into the recorder. Their instructor was Utility Sound Technician Richard Novick, my co-architect on all systems used on the movie.

Oh, yes—timecode. With actors working from home—and home meant Los Angeles, New Orleans, Austin, New York, Toronto, and elsewhere—how to get all recorders in sync with each other, as well as with my on-set recorder and the cameras? My research found three different products that provide satellite-broadcast timecode. After considering price, availability, and ease of operation, we selected the Betso system. A Betso GPS calibration module, connected to a Betso SBOX-1N sync box, would be able to output timecode on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) to the recorders used by the actors, as well as to me on set. We contacted Betso, learned they had eleven units left in stock, and production purchased all of them. This meant that we could provide timecode to ten actors’ kits, and to me, and everything would be in sync.

Rehearsals commenced in the week prior to production start, but with actors at home. Jake Gyllenhaal was given a duplicate Bluetooth headset to practice with, as adjusting the attached boom mic was important to his action. Zoom worked well enough to get everyone connected, at least for these rehearsals.

Admittedly, Day One of shooting was buggy. The issues we encountered were too many Zoom users, not enough bandwidth, as well as a lag that proved to be inconsistent, causing a varying offset between “real time” and “phone call time.” I pivoted quickly for Day Two (and beyond) to a cellular-based system, where everyone phoned into a conference call and remained muted until their turn. I had two cellphones in the conference, one for output (I captured the aggregate phone call on an isolated track) and one for input so I could provide sound effects and vocal cues to the actors in the conference. JK Audio’s Bluekeeper provided the interface between cellphones and the mixing panel, and the application Soundplant was employed for triggering audio cues.

Multiple audio sends had to be used as well. For example, the lighting dimmer board operator, who needed to coordinate the illuminated call signal at Jake’s desk with the calls occurring in the story, wore a Lectrosonics M4R receiver with pre-fade boom mic in his left ear, post-fade phone call track in his right ear, and channel one of the walkie-talkie in both, all routed through my Sonosax mixer.

As much as possible, the filmmakers wanted to film the drama like a play. That is, let it run as long as the narrative (or the camera card) would allow. With takes that often exceeded twenty-five minutes, the strain on Knox White, my Boom Operator and frequent collaborator for twenty-five years, would be substantial. Production agreed to rent an exoskeleton system for Knox to wear that would help alleviate the physical strain on his body from holding the boom for such long periods of time. Fellow Boom Operator and Local 695 member Bryan Cahill was able to set us up with a rig and instruction.

Knox was able to monitor his boom mic in pre-fade listen, while Comtek and the dailies mix were fed the scratch phone call, allowing both sides of the call to be heard. Granted, the phone call and the picture were out of sync, but that’s a matter easily fixed in Editorial. I monitored the phone call, Knox’s boom, the actor lavs, and my laptop, busily switching solo between them. When production was completed, I was able to retrieve the actor-recorded audio from all ten actors’ kits and at last, provide clean isolated tracks to post production.

In all, this little COVID-friendly movie, simple on the face of it (one main actor, mostly seated, in just two rooms), had a great many moving parts and proved to be among the most challenging projects I’ve worked on. But since the craft was able to assist the star rather than hinder him in order to best tell the story, then I’ll say all the extra effort was well worth it.

Special thanks to:
Peter Schneider and all the helpful folks at Gotham Sound for their support. Patrick Martens and Stephen Vittoria, whose command of language is enviable.

by Simon Hayes AMPS CAS

The first part of Simon’s article appeared early this year when No Time to Die was originally scheduled to be released in the spring. But like everything COVID, the release date has been pushed to October. –Editors

Jamaica, our next location, presented new challenges. We had a lot of vehicle dialog to record, including one scene with Bond on the back of a scooter. Cary Fukunaga favours realism and it was no surprise when I learned he wanted to shoot the dialog with the scooter being self-ridden, rather than being pulled on an A frame or on a low loader (flatbed). We always placed a lavalier on the exhaust of the scooter so the sound post team could give Cary options in the final mix on how loud he wanted the engine to be under the dialog. With the actors’ radio mics, it was a case of getting the lavs as close to their mouths as possible to try and increase the signal (dialog) to noise (scooter engine). We rigged the lavs far higher on the chest than we normally would. We try to keep the dialog sounding natural, and our usual placement would simply mean any quiet words, or times when the engine was revved harder, would have drowned out the dialog, so all bets were off, and we just aimed to record the dialog absolutely as close as possible.

We also had to mic up Bond’s open-top Land Rover. As well as mic’ing the engine and exhaust as previously discussed (stereo lavs), we also had to capture his dialog. We did our usual workflow of rigging a Schoeps CMC6/MK41 capsule, using an active Colette cable to allow the capsule to be rigged remotely in the sun visor, as close to Bond’s mouth as possible. Unless the vehicle wasn’t moving, this placement wasn’t too successful. The exterior background and engine noise were just too loud to get what I considered to be rich, up-front dialog. So, once again, the DPA 6061 was my favourite choice in this scenario. The beauty of having twenty-four tracks was that I didn’t have to decide on the set; I could record all the elements and choices on the ISO tracks and making clear notes on the sound reports of what my preferred tracks were and what the components of the mix track were, giving the Dialog Editor a heads-up, and a starting point.

We also had scenarios where Bond would drive into shot, come to a halt and talk to someone on the sidewalk or in another vehicle. We could now swing in the booms with Schoeps Super CMIT’s due to the Land Rover having an open top, and capture the static dialog, creating another choice for post.

I had been looking forward to a nightclub scene in Jamaica. Cary said it was going to be a very high-energy, dancehall-type scene where the music would be loud and there would be a large number of dancers. Usually on these types of scenes, I use earwigs (wireless inductive earpieces) as my ‘go-to,’ but as we had no lip sync to worry about, and the set would be very dark and the dancing extremely energetic, I was concerned the generic earwigs we carry (i.e., not bespoke custom fitted to the individual ear canal) would potentially fall out of dancers’ ears and get lost, slowing the shoot down and costing production. I decided to go old school with our large JBL PA rig, including a high-power subwoofer, and about 15kW at our disposal. I asked Cary if he was cool with me using a thumper track. Cary was really excited about this, as he felt keeping the sub bass going during the six pages of dialog at a table on the edge of the dance floor would really help to keep the energy up, not just amongst the dancers but also from the actors. We have all been in situations where we are recording a nightclub scene and the actors start the scene talking loudly above the music, but as the scene progresses, their dialog levels slowly reduce, as they feel quite exposed speaking very loudly when there is no music in the background during the shooting. The beauty of using the thumper track is that it can be played loudly throughout the scene without being recorded by the microphones, and if there is any low frequency spill picked up, it can easily be filtered out in post. I chose 35Hz to create the thumper, as I feel that is low enough not to have any harmonics that will interfere with the dialog on the mics, but high enough that everyone in the club can hear it.

A really important point regarding the scene was Daniel Craig’s support of this workflow. On Layer Cake, more than a decade earlier, after much discussion with the director and Daniel, we used a thumper track on a nightclub scene with excellent results. The actors kept their level up throughout, allowing the Re-recording Mixer and Director to really push the music cues in the mix without having to pull down the music for the dialog which, in my opinion, always sounds a bit wrong and weird. Daniel remembered that and was fully supportive of my decision to use a thumper again. On the rehearsals, he asked that we play the music tracks full range through the JBL’s, so he and the rest of the cast could find their level Cary had chosen these, and they were extremely bass-heavy dancehall-style tracks. I suggested to Cary, Daniel, and Jon the 1st AD that as soon as Jon called, “Standby!” I would start playing the music very loud, full range through the PA, while Jon got the sound and cameras rolling, and leave the music playing during the clapper boards. We were shooting two cameras then on the “A” of “ACTION!” I would drop anything above 35Hz and just continue with the thumper. This really helped the cast keep fresh in their mind how loud the music would be in the club and the vocal level they would use. As I was recording the dialog, I knew it sounded completely real and that Paul, the Re-recording Mixer, and Cary would really be able to go to town with the Dolby Atmos mix. Keeping the music level high without the fear of swamping the really important plot line dialog.

Cary and Linus’s decision to shoot with the same lens sizes on both cameras meant that we could get the booms in nice and tight onto the edges of frame without being pushed wide due to a ‘wide and tight’ scenario. Cary would now allow the actors to overlap when they felt the script would benefit from it.

Shooting cross mid-shots and then cross close-ups, always keeping everyone at the table in shot regardless of where they were sitting, gave Cary the ability to use direct action cuts on the overlaps. He spoke to me about this strategy and I wholeheartedly supported it. I always want to help and encourage anything that makes the performances more believable, and the scene really benefitted from the overlaps, bringing about an energy that can be difficult to find again in the edit. What was fantastic by keeping the lens sizes the same, was Cary and Linus knowing exactly how to make this work for the production sound. This enabled me to prioritise the booms and record really rich dialog. Although the nightclub was an interior, I decided to employ the Super CMIT’s, as they would be helpful at reducing the footfall from the dancers (I also had our 2nd AS, Ben Jeffes, removing the shoes of any dancers whose feet were not in shot), but I also knew the Super CMIT’s would be great at reducing, if not removing, the 35Hz thumper track. One of the issues of using a thumper is that sometimes the sub bass can rattle the set, or the glasses on the shelves behind the bar if they are touching, so there is a certain amount of audition time, playing the thumper before the shoot begins, and walking around to find rattles and reduce them. This can be by simply removing offending items, getting a standby carpenter to nail stuff down, or working with the set dresser to adjust any set dressing that is noisy. Once this is achieved, it is a good idea to use a volume that is loud, but just below the threshold that will rattle what is left, as the rattles could well be within the dialog frequencies and won’t be as easy to remove. I also put a very gentle slope 90Hz low-frequency cut onto the mix track. This is something I rarely do—I usually record completely flat with no bass cut, unless we have wind on the mics on an exterior, but I felt it was helpful to gently reduce the thump from the dailies and I knew 90Hz would not negatively affect the dialog.

We used three booms, all of them with Super CMIT’s, as there were some very hard spotlights and mirrors in the club. We all felt that employing three booms would reduce the likelihood of shadows or mics in the mirrors, and reduce the swinging by placing a boom on each character. The scene worked really well and when I phoned Picture Editorial the next day to ask how much of the thumper they were hearing in the Avid, they said, “What thumper?” When I explained what we’d done, the 1st Assistant Editor couldn’t believe he couldn’t hear it and told me he would go into the ISO tracks and have a listen, as they had only been using my mix. When I called back, he let me know that on his studio monitors he could not hear the thumper on any of the booms or the lavs. This was really great news!

Our next location was the beautiful city of Matera, Italy. Constructed in 10 BC, it resembles a city in the Middle East. It is one of the oldest cities in Europe with its original architecture still intact. This location brought its own share of physical issues due to the restrictions on vehicular access, which meant carrying the sound cart and ancillary equipment up and down thousands of stairs per day. It was extremely physically demanding. For this work, we reduced the weight of my usual Eurocart, which is based around an alloy-tubed Ursta cart, which UK readers will be familiar with. We already run a very light 100Ah lithium battery on it, but for Matera, we removed anything that was not strictly necessary. We probably reduced its weight by around 10kg (25 pounds). I don’t like working in a bag for a lot of reasons; mainly the difficulty in watching three or more cameras without my usual monitors, and the compromises regarding radio and comms reception. I will go handheld in extreme circumstances, but for Matera, we decided to build an extremely lightweight cart for situations where we wanted to have access to all of our radio mics, sound crew comms, and picture monitoring, but in a location where it was impossible to carry our 80kg Eurocart. Our lightweight cart was the Cannibal Industries/Tone Mesa “Super Zuca” cart. These are great little Zuca carts, expertly modified for our industry to add some extra strength where required whilst still retaining the extremely lightweight and small footprint of the Zuca. I basically mirrored the equipment and capabilities of my main cart, but without the large 12-channel Audio Developments mixer board that I like to use. The Super Zuca housed a Zaxcom Deva 16, a Sound Devices 688 (for safety copy and additional output routing), a Lectrosonics Venue field receiver, along with a slightly simplified version of our Sennheiser RX/TX array for sound crew comms. This tiny cart was powerful, but could be carried up multiple staircases by one person. It also had the ability to become a true “bag” in a matter of seconds, simply by detaching from the cart and switching the power source. This was especially useful for interior car shots, or any ridiculously difficult locations that needed accessing.

Our main Eurocart, once it had been on its ‘diet,’ was fairly easy to get into places so we only used the Super Zuca about three or four times while we were in Matera. When we did need the Zuca, it was invaluable and did its job adeptly and elegantly. The only compromise I had to make was mixing without Penny and Giles sliding faders!

The vast majority of our work in Matera were action sequences, generally involving vehicles.

Cary and his stunt team worked with the mantra of ‘keeping it real’ on the stunt and driving sequences. If Bond and his passenger had key dialog in a vehicle as it was being driven at speed, Cary still wanted to capture it, rather than putting the car on a low loader, limiting the speed the vehicle could travel and, consequently, the energy that real driving brings to the screen. A long time ago, I decided when faced with this kind of scenario, rather than try to keep within radio range in a follow vehicle, which is notoriously difficult to trust with so many elements that could conspire to leave us too far away. My strategy would be to use the huge dynamic range digital recording affords us by placing a bag in the trunk of the hero vehicle, strap it in, set reasonable levels based on my knowledge of what the vocal performances will entail, and leave the recorder running without me directly monitoring as we shoot. This means I am less able to supply an elegant mix for Picture Editorial, instead simply opening up the actors’ mics onto the mix track. The positive is, in my opinion, that sound post and the final movie will get better production dialog as the antennas and receivers are inside the vehicle with the actors, so range is perfect throughout. It also allows me to hardwire the Schoeps CMC6/MK41, so I am delivering a lav and a hardwired hyper-cardioid on each actor (the latter generally rigged in the header or the sun visor, depending on the shot).

When using this methodology, I have some limiters set up at the higher end of the dynamic range, so if there is a sudden scream or a shout, the limiters save the recording from square wave or digital overload. In the same token, I make sure I am using enough gain and set the mics close enough that if an actor reduces their level to a whisper, I still capture that and, though it may be at -40dBFS or -50dBFS, it can be boosted by the Dialog Editor without increasing electronic noise/hiss. For me, this is the safest way of delivering high-quality dialog in this kind of extreme circumstance, rather than trusting radio range and working from my cart in a follow vehicle. Although I can’t deliver a more crafted mix track, I know the Dialog Editor will remix the ISO’s in Pro Tools anyway.

I still ride in a follow vehicle, monitoring a Sennheiser EW pack (the UK version of a Comtek), so I can get a feel for the performance and hear if something disastrous happens, like a lav falling off an actor or a battery mysteriously running out. That way, each time we stop at the end of the ‘travel,’ I can get out, access the sound bag in the trunk, and fine-tune the ISO track gain levels based on the performances I am listening to. If necessary, I can also adjust the input gain settings on the actors’ Lectrosonics transmitters with the app.

On these types of days, I would recognize the fact that my crew would probably have some downtime and sent our 2nd AS, Ben, out to capture stereo atmosphere tracks of interesting sounds unique to the location. This was something Cary specifically asked for, as he prefers using real ambience, feeling there is a truth within them, rather than synthetic or ‘built’ atmospheres. He likes to use a real atmosphere ‘bed’ for his sound designers to then build layers. At each location, at those times where I did not require my full crew, Ben would go off to harvest interesting sounds in M&S stereo, using my Neumann 191 mic. Oliver Tarney had asked that these tracks be delivered in M&S so he could decide later whether mono or stereo was appropriate, depending on the finished scene, the rest of the sound design, and the exact ambience he was using.

When we arrived back in the UK, our work was mainly on interior studio sets. There were a lot of important storytelling scenes taking place in the MI6 offices, including M’s office. I have always loved these scenes in Bond movies, feeling they provide a quintessential British charm, in which Bond’s colleagues are usually relaxed, unruffled, and professional, despite the frenetic and energetic action sequences of the story they are often intercut with. I really wanted to use sound to help support this. I decided that all of the MI6 scenes were an excellent opportunity to let the dialog breathe by prioritising camera perspective. I knew that much of Bond 25 would require the Re-recording Mixer to use the close-up mic perspective choices on most scenes, to allow the score and sound effects volume to be raised. Whether the final choice was to be boom or lav was immaterial, it would be whichever sounded closer and richer. On the contrary, I felt it probable, based on the script and the way Bond films usually sound, that when we cut to the MI6 offices, the score would probably be lower in level and the sound effects sparse. It was an ideal opportunity to prioritise and celebrate camera perspective. We did this with three cabled booms on everything. At all times, we had the three boom poles cabled up and ready to go, with Ben Jeffes available to jump on to the third boom, joining Arthur Fenn and Robin Johnson whenever necessary.

We used my all-time favourite film dialog capsule on the booms—the beautiful Schoeps MK41 hyper-cardioids, which I have always felt sound completely natural whether in close or wide positions. I had also just been sent some new prototype preamps by Schoeps to evaluate. They were the CMC1, a miniature version of the classic CMC6. There is no compromise: The CMC1 sounds just as good as the CMC6, and on paper are actually slightly better due to the modern circuitry within them. To my ears, they sounded exactly the same, but were smaller and lighter; a ‘win-win’!

As far as ‘prioritising’ the camera perspective, I was still using DPA lavaliers and Lectrosonics transmitters on all the actors. However, I decided to never fade them into the mix track on these scenes. They were there as a fallback in case the Picture Editorial team or Oliver were presented with circumstances that really required close-up dialog on a mid or wide shot. I wanted to create a confidence and familiarity within the Avid cut for Cary and the Picture Editors that would promote the sound I was trying to deliver on the MI6 scenes; an old school fully boomed sound that matched the camera angles. We were able to use cables on all scenes apart from one Steadicam walk and talk through multiple offices. Cabled booms are always my priority, and aside from an ‘on-mic’ bass cut of 60Hz between capsule and preamp to reduce infrasonic disturbances from any boom handling, all of the MI6 dialog was recorded without any EQ to really deliver the rich dialog I was trying so hard to achieve.

Worthy of mention was another big scene we shot on the sound stage in the UK was a huge black tie event that Bond and actress Ana de Armas were attending. In this scene, both actors are able to talk to each other at a distance in whispers, via hidden comms, as they make their way separately through the party in constant covert communication. A lot of this scene would be covered by two cameras in real time, one camera on Bond and the other on Ana’s character as they navigated their solo routes talking to each other. This gave Cary the ability to use direct action cuts, but it also meant we couldn’t cheat the comms, they had to be real and reliable. We used our tried and tested ‘musical’ system of huge induction loops around the set, with Daniel and Ana fitted with bespoke earwigs that would be invisible on camera, unless Cary wanted them to be seen. The earwigs looked exactly the same as the items a real Secret Service agent would be using. I fed Daniel’s lavalier into Ana’s earwig and Ana’s lavalier into Daniel’s earwig, using auxiliary outputs on my Audio Developments AD149 mixer. This gave them the ability to communicate covertly and discreetly with each other in separate rooms exactly the same way two real agents would. It was a complex scene, and had we not have been able to deliver this audio solution, it would have compromised the approach Cary and Linus wanted to use with the cameras. I am very happy it all worked so smoothly.

One of the rarer sound workflows we used on No Time to Die was the VFX paint out. It was a big scene with Rami Malek shot in a huge, beautifully designed set with very hard lights, precluding the use of booms. It was a performance-driven scene with pages of narrative as Rami encountered different characters. Cary chose to shoot on three cameras with two of them using very long lenses to get in close, but the third camera shooting extremely wide to capture the architecture of the set in all its splendour. After a rehearsal, I knew that Rami’s costume was not going to allow us to get usable production dialog with a lavalier regardless where we placed it. Our booms could never get close, and even if we busted the wide shot, the booms would create shadows on the closer angles. I didn’t have much time before shooting, so I quickly called Arthur over and asked him to go and talk to Rami and his hairdresser and ask if we could place the lav in his hair. Arthur was, of course, concerned that we would see a cable running down Rami’s neck to the pack and I said, “leave that to me.” I immediately went to our VFX Supervisor and explained the issue. I told him that I’d watched the rehearsals and the chance of us ever seeing the back of Rami’s neck in the final cut was low, but if we did, could he agree to painting out the lav cable. The VFX Supervisor was extremely quick to agree to this at the last moment when time really was of the essence. All it took was for me to explain that his decision could potentially stop Rami and Cary having to ADR the whole scene. I think I was also helped by the fact this was the only time I asked for a paint out in the film. I went over to Arthur, Rami, and the hairdresser, who were in the middle of rigging the mic assuring all of them that VFX had given the all clear, reducing the concern (especially from the hairdresser). I then went to see Cary and Jon, the 1st AD, and explained that if they caught a wire on the back of Rami’s neck, not to be concerned because VFX were kindly going to remove it in post.

One of the great things about working with Cary was his ability to take in information like this and trust his crew. He was aware that the booms couldn’t get in close enough and he asked me, “will this mean no ADR,” which I replied, “yes,” and he immediately said, “that’s fine.” I usually like to have everything planned and agreed to in advance, especially when it comes to painting out lavs or booms but in this instance, it would have been impossible to plan ahead. Cary’s ability to support me instantly was incredibly motivating. The scene ended up sounding absolutely fantastic with Rami delivering lines captured by a close DPA 4061 right at the front of his hairline, expertly hidden by his hairdresser. This is exactly the kind of collaboration that was present between all departments through the entire shoot.

On reflection, shooting a Bond movie was indeed everything I hoped it would be. The crew were always treated by the production as if we were all collaborating at the highest level of filmmaking. This atmosphere was promoted by Producers Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson, Gregg Wilson, Chris Brigham, and Chris Brock. I cannot begin to explain just how much effort Barbara Broccoli puts into the minutiae of every detail. It honestly feels like you’re working on an intimate, independent project, where everyone’s opinion is valued and each crew member, from the HOD’s to the set PA’s, are treated with the utmost respect and supported throughout. I had often heard this was the case, but to actually experience it was something I will treasure for the rest of my career.

I’d like to thank my sound crew for their on-going collaboration, professionalism, and skill:

Main Unit
Key 1st AS: Arthur Fenn
1st AS: Robin Johnson
2nd AS: Ben Jeffes
Trainee: Millie Akerman-Blankley

Second Unit
Sound Mixer: Tom Barrow
1st AS: Loveday Harding
3rd AS: Francesca Renda

Splinter Unit
Sound Mixer: Alan Hill
1st AS: Jackson Milliken

Main Unit Equipment
Zaxcom Deva 24
Sound Devices 688
Audio Limited 149 bespoke 12-channel mixer with AES outputs
Schoeps boom mics: CMC1 MK41 & Super CMIT’s
DPA lavaliers
Zaxcom & Lectrosonics radios TX & RX
Sennheiser EW comms

Nominations for Outstanding Sound Mixing 73rd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards

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

The Boys
“What I Know”
Alexandra Fehrman–Re-recording Mixer
Rich Weingart CAS–Re-recording Mixer
Thomas Hayek–Production Mixer
Production Sound Team: Pat Cassin, Michael Taylor, Derek Bohme,
Burton Lavery

The Crown
“Fairytale”
Lee Walpole–Re-recording Mixer
Stuart Hilliker–Re-recording Mixer
Martin Jensen–Re-recording Mixer
Chris Ashworth–Production Mixer
Production Sound Team:
Steve Hancock, Liam Cotter,
India Claydon-Richards

The Handmaid’s Tale
“Chicago”
Lou Solakofski–Re-recording Mixer
Joe Morrow–Re-recording Mixer
Sylvain Arseneault–Production Mixer
Production Sound Team:
Michael Kearns, David Guerra,
Tim Sayle, Joseph Siracusa

Lovecraft Country
“Sundown”
Marc Fishman CAS–Re-recording Mixer
Mathew Waters CAS–Re-recording Mixer
Amanda Beggs CAS–Production Mixer
Production Sound Team:
Adam Mohundro, Thomas
Giordano, Mark Agostino

The Mandalorian
“Chapter 13: The Jedi”
Bonnie Wild–Re-recording Mixer
Stephen Urata–Re-recording Mixer
Shawn Holden CAS–Production Mixer
Christopher Fogel–Scoring Mixer
Production Sound Team: Patrick H. Martens, Randy Johnson, Veronica Kahn, Patrick “Moe” Chamberlain, Kraig Kishi, Cole Chamberlain

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Genius: Aretha
“Respect”
Dan Brennan–Re-recording Mixer
Ken Hahn CAS–Re-recording Mixer
Jay Meagher CAS–Production Mixer
Production Sound Team:
Brian Didsbury, Tiffany Mack,
John Maskew

Mare of Easttown
“Sore Must Be the Storm”
Joe DeAngelis–Re-recording Mixer
Chris Carpenter–Re-recording Mixer
Richard Bullock–Production Mixer
Production Sound Team:
Tanya Peele, Kelly Lewis

The Queen’s Gambit
“End Game”
Eric Hoehn–Re-recording Mixer
Eric Hirsch–Re-recording Mixer
Roland Winke–Production Mixer
Lawrence Manchester–Scoring Mixer
Production Sound Team: Thomas Wallis, Andre Schick, Bill McMillan

The Underground Railroad
“Chapter 1: Georgia”
Onnalee Blank CAS–Re-recording Mixer
Mathew Waters CAS–Re-recording Mixer
Joe White CAS–Production Mixer
Kari Vähäkuopus–Foley Mixer
Production Sound Team: Alfredo
Viteri, Tyler Blythe, Timothy R. Boyce, Alexander Lowe

WandaVision
“The Series Finale”
Danielle Dupre–Re-recording Mixer
Chris Giles CAS–Production Mixer
Doc Kane–ADR Mixer
Casey Stone–Scoring Mixer
Production Sound Team:
Kurt Peterson, John Harton

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

B Positive
“High Risk Factor”
Bob LaMasney–Re-Recording Mixer
Jeff A. Johnson CAS–Production Mixer
Production Sound Team: Ross Deane, Mark Tarizzo, Dean Plotnick,
Dale Burkett

Cobra Kai
“December 19”
Joe DeAngelis–Re-recording Mixer
Chris Carpenter–Re-recording Mixer
Mike Filosa CAS–Production Mixer
Phil McGowan–Scoring Mixer
Production Sound Team: Matt Robinson, Daniel Pruitt, Tiffany Mack

Hacks
“Falling”
John W. Cook II–Re-recording Mixer
Ben Wilkins–Re-recording Mixer
Jim Lakin–Production Mixer
Production Sound Team: Ryan Fee, Claire Mondragon

The Kominsky Method
“Chapter 21: Near, Far, Wherever You Are”
Yuri Reese–Re-recording Mixer
Sean Madsen–Re-recording Mixer
Brian Wittle–Production Mixer
Production Sound Team: Thomas Anthony Payne, Jeremy Sugalski

Ted Lasso
“The Hope That Kills You”
Ryan Kennedy–Re-recording Mixer
Sean Byrne–Re-recording Mixer
David Lascelles–Production Mixer
Production Sound Team: Emma Chilton, Andrew Mawson, Michael Fearon

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special

Bruce Springsteen’s
Letter to You
Kevin O’Connell–Re-recording Mixer
Kyle Arzt–Re-recording Mixer
Brad Bergbom–Production Mixer
Bob Clearmountain–Music Mixer

David Byrne’s
American Utopia
Paul Hsu–Re-recording Mixer
Michael Lonsdale–Production Mixer
Dane Lonsdale–Additional Sound Mixer
Pete Keppler–Music Mixer
Production Sound Team: Betsy Nagler

Hamilton
Tony Volante–Re-recording Mixer
Roberto Fernandez–Re-recording Mixer
Tim Latham–Re-recording Mixer
Justin Rathburn–Production Mixer
Production Sound Team:
Anna-Lee Craig, John Senter

Last Week Tonight
with John Oliver
Trump & Election Results/F*ck 2020
Siara Spreen–Re-recording Mixer
Eleanor Osborne–Re-recording Mixer

The Late Show
with Stephen Colbert
Live Show Following Capitol Insurrection; Senator Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Performance by Jamila Woods
Pierre de Laforcade–Production Mixer
Harvey Goldberg–Music Mixer
Alan Bonomo–Monitor Mixer

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

The Bee Gees: How Can You
Mend a Broken Heart
Gary A. Rizzo CAS–Re-recording Mixer
Jeff King–Re-recording Mixer
John Rampey–Production Mixer

Billie Eilish: The World’s
a Little Blurry
Elmo Ponsdomenech CAS–Re-recording Mixer
Jason “Frenchie” Gaya–Re-recording Mixer
Aron Forbes–Music Mixer
Jae Kim–Production Mixer
Andy Giner–Additional Mixer

David Attenborough:
A Life on Our Planet
Graham Wild–Re-recording Mixer

Life Below Zero
“The Other Side”
Tony Crowe–Re-recording Mixer

Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy
“Naples and the Amalfi Coast”
Tom O’Pray–Re-recording Mixer
Chris Gibbions–Production Mixer

Tina
Lawrence Everson–Re-recording Mixer
Phil McGowan CAS–Scoring Mixer

Names in bold are Local 695 members

This year’s Creative Arts Emmys ceremony will take place on Saturday, September 11, and Sunday, September 12, in front of a limited live audience both days at the Microsoft Theater at L.A. Live