Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/635406
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y W I N T E R 2 0 1 6 27 I am here with the delightfully infamous Doc Kane! Doc, I can't even begin to express how honored and grateful I am to have this opportu- nity to talk with you. [Sheepish laugh.] Awwww, thank you so much, Jesse. First of all Doc, congratulations on receiving this year's CAS Career Achievement Award! Thank you. Thank you! I am not deserving, but they—well, it's pretty cool [laughing]—and very nice of the CAS to choose me. How long have you been in the industry? I have been here at Disney for 26 years. That can be disputed. Some say 28 years, but I say 26, because—it makes me feel younger !!! I was at Warner Hollywood prior to Disney for five years. Why ADR mixing and not dubbing mixing? That is a great question!!! I had a chance to try dubbing mixing when I was at Warner Hollywood. In those days, the re-recording dubbing mixers would gladly let some of the kids come and sit in on the stages during mixes to get a feel of what it was all about. I did a couple of shows and, to be honest with you, I found it to be, not very fun. Because I am more a people person, and you have to be a very, very brilliant and special person to be a dubbing mixer!!! I found it confining. So I went and talked to the powers that be and said this is just not my thing. They were extremely gracious and said, "If this is not for you—it's not for you." Not everyone is built for that gig. I always say "Do what you know" and I know microphones, recording, and people. What was your industry path? I was trained during and right out of high school by a gentleman named Richard Einfeld, who had a shop with Frank Warner. As soon as I got out of high school, I knew what I wanted to do and Richard would train young people. So I got his phone number and called, and worked with him about a year or two. During this time, my mom and dad said, "If this movie thing does not work out, you might want to go back to school." So, much to Richard's disappointment, I went back to school in Orange County for two years. I then returned to Richard and got more education. He was a great picture editor and an equally great sound editor. He was the one who taught me the importance of how to record and edit sound correctly and why it is so critical to be able to make a single, exact 1 to 1 (exact replicas of a sound medium)—which is the basis of all ADR mixing. Richard also intricately taught me about various tape machines and field recording. He would take us out on these San Diego & LA Sheriff Deptartment training films. He would put us in charge of the sound—in the back of a car with no seat belts at 100 mph flying down the freeway in a mock pursuit and we would record it all! Failure was not an option!!! So, needless to say, "trial by fire" is an understatement!!! [ Both of us laughing.] Later, I was actually hired by Don Rogers to come into the Sound Transfer Department at Warner Hollywood as they needed people to come in to do 1 to 1's. At the time, they Doc Kane, a 35-year audio veteran, has deserv- edly been chosen to receive this year's CAS Career Achievement Award. He is world renowned and, by all standards, "The" premier ADR mixer in the film industry. ADR (After or Automated Dialog Replacement) is the necessary portion of the film process that allows the actor to come onto the stage and re-record lines in sync with picture. As an ADR mixer myself, it is my honor to share my recent con- versation with him. Doc grew up in La Canada, CA, and from an early age, realized he had a gift for technology and sound. During his teenage years, he gravitated toward radio and was an on-air DJ at St. Francis High School. As a young adult, he would hang out to learn the ropes with the likes of Paul Haggar (Head of Paramount Post Production Department), Terry Walker, Frank Warner, Richard Einfeld, and Don Rogers—just to name a few. While hanging out (aka working for free), Doc learned all he could under the watchful eye and tutelage that was so graciously offered. One day at Paramount while watching them do the score to none other than Lady Sings the Blues, the light went on, and the decision was made to try his hand at audio recording as a career. And thus, a budding legend was born. It is a beautifully clear, crisp, and sunny Southern California afternoon when I drive through the Disney Studios gate. I have been here before, but this time is different! As I walk into the highly acclaimed and illustrious Disney ADR Stage B, I am greeted by multiple hellos and smiles on the faces of producers and sound supervisors sitting and happily glowing in the aftermath of the day's ADR session. As I reciprocate in kind—in walks DOC, with the look of a child in his eyes, a welcoming grin the size of the Grand Canyon, but a humble essence that leaves no doubt as to who is in charge. An Interview with Doc Kane b y J e s s e D o d d C A S