Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1122868
34 S P R I N G 2 0 1 9 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y things were good or when something needed addressing. So, I ended up doing a few projects with Lee. Honestly? I hope I'm a better mixer than I was a boom op! Sounds like an awesome first on-set experience: The beach and Lee Orloff! (Laughs) Yeah, Lee was great. One of the main and most basic things I learned from him is how to mix by feel instead of always watching the meters. After working as a boom op on a couple of projects, I mixed a few freebie short films just to get more experience and meet new people. Then there was this project called True Love that no other sound mixer wanted to do because they paid $750 a week flat—with equipment. Lee was one of those mixers and he was kind enough to pass the script on to me and I got it! That's so funny that you remember the rate! I wanted a feature on my résumé, so I was happy to get it even though the pay was what it was. I remember that it was scheduled for seven weeks but took 12. And then, you know, you meet people and if they're working on something, you get a call and you call people as well. The work started to be steady, so I borrowed some money and bought my own basic kit. There's a point on IMDb where your documentary credits stop for a couple of years and the credits are for scripted projects. I guess your approach worked. I did this freebie short called Scene Six, Take One that people liked. They were able to raise enough money to turn it into a feature, which became the cult classic Living in Oblivion, directed by Tom DiCillo. That led to me working with Tom on four films and I worked on some Ed Burns films. I became one of the more noted nonunion mixers in the NYC area—doing a lot of indies. I wanted to join the union so that I could work on larger projects and because I always believed in the mission of unions, so I joined Local 52. I then ended up at the bottom of a big pond! (Laughs) Sometimes you have to take a step back to get ahead! Yeah, but it was short term and I progressed well. It's probably safe to say that your best-known work is for The Sopranos. How did that gig come your way? The unit production manager that I worked with on the Scene Six, Take One freebie was working on the pilot of The Sopranos. There was some issue between the sound team and the 1st AD on the first day of shooting and she called me. I came in a day or two later and stuck around for 10 years until the end of the series. I bet you're glad you picked up the phone that day! Definitely! You never know where life will lead you or where opportunities will come from. It was great to be able to work on a project that had such a huge cultural impact, not to mention just being a fantastic show—one of the greatest in the history of TV. That series brought you and the sound team a lot of deserved attention through the multiple Emmy and CAS Award nominations, including a CAS Award win and an MPSE Golden Reel. Your firsts! And now we're talking because of accolades for another series. How did you end up on Maisel? I had mixed a couple of films directed by Tamara Jenkins (The Savages, Private Life) and edited by Brian Kates, who was also cutting the pilot for Maisel. He actually told them that they should hire me. It's another example of why a good relationship with post is so important! Tell me about the series. It is so much fun. I feel very grateful that I landed this show. It's not totally uncommon for TV shows to lav everybody, place three cameras, and shoot everything, including rehearsals just to get it done. Here, we shoot each episode like a Technicolor MGM movie musical; taking the time to set up and make sure all performance and technical aspects are done well. And it's big, too. With some of the bigger musical numbers combined with so many talkers while shooting it as "oners," we've had a six- person sound department more than once. How about the sound approach? Amy (Sherman-Palladino, the show's creator) wants all of the music performances to be prerecorded in the space that we actually shoot in. If there's a band, for instance, either my team or Stewart Lerman (music producer) will come in and record before the shooting crew's call. Then we'll hand the tracks to our Pro Tools guy, Egor Panchenko, to play back during the L to R: Egor Panchenko (Pro Tools Playback), Spyros Poulos (2nd boom/utility), Carmine Picarello (boom op), Mathew Price (mixer). Photo: Nicole Rivelli