Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1353865
12 I M PS E . O R G MPSE PAST P R ES I D E N TS BY MARK LANZA MPSE MARK LANZA: What got you into the industry? SAMUEL CRUTCHER: I am a third-generation family member in the industry. My grandfather was the secretary of the negative cutter's local in the 1930s and he was blackballed during the '41-'42 international strike that preceded the IA. My dad went into the Signal Corps during WWII in which he acted, did voiceovers, and edited war "industrials" for the troops and the home front. After the war, he eventually became a picture editor and then switched into sound editing. He was a sound editor all of my life. I grew up playing with reels of film, cores, splicers, and rewinds. Some of my earliest memories were in the editorial rooms and hallways of Four Star and MGM Studios. I was enamored with the business, but my dad did not want me to be in the industry; he thought it was too unpredictable. My first job was in 1968 on The Secret of Santa Vittoria, edited on the Samuel Goldwyn lot next to the famous landmark, The Formosa Cafe. I took a few years off to live a more unconventional lifestyle and became a hippie until 1973, I then returned to the industry up to my recent retirement in 2014. I have worked with many of the leading supervising sound editors of our industry: Frank Warner, Sam Shaw (on Star Wars), Bob Henderson, Steve Flick, and Chuck Campbell to name a few. I have been extremely fortunate to have worked on more than 100 features (supervising or co-supervising about 20 of them) and about 25-30 TV shows. Most of that work was on film at the time, up until the late 1990s. I was on the Board of Directors of our local Guild for 23 years. I have been fortunate in receiving one Emmy (Deadwood) and have worked as an editor on two shows that have won Best Sound Oscars (E.T. and Back to the Future). In 1997, I became a member of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences. ML: How did you get started with the MPSE? SC: In the 1950s, the sound editors of that period had established the MPSE and were running the organization, it had started to lose momentum and the numbers were dwindling. Dick Glaser Jr. and the other Board members had done a great job, but it was 'somewhat' old school and needed new direction. In the late '70s and early '80s, myself, father Norval D. Crutcher Jr., Larry Singer, Stan Gilbert, and Cece Hall joined the MPSE and began the process of updating and reinvigorating the organization. Our mission was to raise the credibility and visibility of our members within the industry and beyond. This is when my mother Ethel Crutcher got involved. Part of my mother's magic was that she wasn't afraid to call and talk to anybody: studio heads, PR people, whoever she could get to buy tables to our events and take out ads in the souvenir program … she was fearless in that regard. She made it her personal mission to create sound editor recognition and visibility with the industry. She also helped a lot of people get their starts into the Hollywood scene, finding or giving them places to stay when they first arrived here. She was also instrumental in assisting the CAS (Cinema Audio Society) to become more visible and financially viable working with Jim Corbett. ML: What are you doing now? SC: I am retired. I have a Mac mini and Pro Tools and I do occasional Foley work or sound effects work. I have a big library, especially Foley FX from all my years in the biz (I mean, who doesn't, right?). I also make custom leather goods which I sell on ETSY.com, do a lot of reading, playing guitar, and playing golf. ML: How do you like the direction of the MPSE since your presidency? SC: I am extremely impressed by the innovation and the use of technology for the advancement of the MPSE name and its mission… I didn't know about the merchandise line or the "Sound Advice" events. I am about to order some merch right now. Sam Crutcher comes from a family dynasty in film. The family has three generations of Crutchers who have dedicated their lives to the craft. If not for his mother Ethyl, whom our student scholarship fund is named after, the MPSE probably would not exist anymore. Samuel created a name for himself during his career both editing and supervising on many high profile features. Samuel Crutcher MPSE PRESIDENT 1984