Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1178376
20 F A L L 2 0 1 9 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y VERY GOOD! BUT YOU WERE NOT WORKING ON DIALOGUE? Not at that time. As an editor, I did mostly sound design and sound FX. I did that pilot as a sound designer and supervising sound editor. We then brought on another supervisor, Wade Barnett. He ended up taking over everything and I started mixing that show as the FX mixer. At the same time, there were several other shows I was mixing during the summer and whenever I had a hiatus. I did an HBO show with a director who prefers that I mix both sides because that's what I've always done for him. In fact, we also did a film together around this time. tape formats to send out to editors. All that good stuff. My shift was from 2 to 11 a.m. But, I never really got off until 2 or 3 p.m. because there was an earlier graveyard shift and they usually weren't finished with their shows, so I took them over before I started my own. GEEZ. So, I worked on The Closer at that time and Nip/Tuck and Monk. THOSE ARE BIG SHOWS! Yeah, but no one who worked on those shows ever knew I worked on them because I was back in the way back! All the while, I knew that Todd-AO at that time was owned by Ascent Media, and so was Encore. So every night before my shift, I would come in 10 minutes early and check the board to see if there were any openings at Todd because I thought that was the ultimate goal; to get over there. Finally, there was a job for a scheduling assistant. I went for that job and luckily met Steve Bartkowicz, and Steve was like, "Why do you want this job? You have a technical background, you have all this audio knowledge, and you've already been mixing." And I said, "I just really want to work in the daytime!" HA! So, Steve says to me, "Come in and train to be a recordist, but I can't guarantee you a job. I don't know how long you'll train for, if you're up to speed by the time something comes up, I will maybe consider you." When there was finally a job, I still had to be interviewed by the producer of the show. They were like, you're not going to leave and you have to work all the overtime… THE SHOW'S PRODUCER WANTED TO IN- TERVIEW YOU FOR THE MIX TECH GIG? HOLY COW! I know, it was crazy. WELL, NEEDLESS TO SAY, YOU GOT THE GIG! HOW LONG WERE YOU A MIX TECH? I was mix-teching over the course of, I would say, seven to nine years, because I started editing two years in. I had a lot of side work, and I started mixing three years in. I was doing all kinds of projects at night and on the weekends. IT'S AWESOME THAT YOU HAD THOSE OPPORTUNITIES! Yeah, I made myself available for those opportunities because mixing was such a big goal for me. So, eventually they started to put me on M&E's after a couple of years stage-teching. Then I got the opportunity to mix some Comedy Central shows and some lower budget things. Basically, whatever came in that was lower budget and that, you know, people weren't available for. I got a lot of experience that way. I was kind of hybrid mixing, editing, and re-recording for the last five years before Todd-AO went down. RIGHT. I was so fortunate. But, I had proven myself to all these different people, all these supervisors who have heard my editing work and all these mixers who heard my mixes. I thought I'm going to have to go somewhere else and completely re-prove myself. YEAH, BUT IT'S THE SAME GROUP OF PEOPLE, RIGHT? Yeah! As soon as Todd-AO went under, I had a couple of people call me with opportunities, but it was editing because there weren't any stages. It was a crazy time. So, I went to Warner Bros. and did some sound design very briefly. Then I got a job as a sound supervisor on a show called Scorpion. I ended up taking it to Sony and that client also had a new pilot. That turned out to be Timeless, and I was hired as a sound designer and supervising sound editor. I'M CONSTANTLY LEARNING; EVERY DAY. THAT'S WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS JOB! EVERY DAY I GET A NEW CHALLENGE.