Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/790371
35 Q1 2017 / CINEMONTAGE A DR/Foley mixer Jesse Dodd, CAS, MPSE, never doubted that her career would be in show biz. "When I was a kid, I knew that I wanted to work in the TV and film industry," she emphasizes with a steely look. "There was never a doubt, although my mom wanted me to be a lawyer! When I was five or maybe six, I sent a letter to Carol Burnett about my dream of being part of the entertainment industry. I was surprised when she wrote back. I got to work with her years later on Noises Off [the 1992 feature comedy directed by Peter Bogdanovich]." Dodd's first job in post-production was within a sound department at the former MGM- Canon facility in Culver City, now owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment. "The then-director of sound, Corey Bailey, brought me in for an interview," she recalls, "and then sent a letter to the union on my behalf, so that I could work in the Sound Transfer Department. Eventually, I became the department supervisor. Corey was my mentor during that period. I owe a lot to that man; he recently retired from Warner Bros. in Burbank." Conceding that she never wanted to be a re-recording mixer — "ADR and Foley remain my favorite functions in post" — Dodd moved from MGM to Skywalker Sound West's former Lantana Facility in West Los Angeles, where, aside from Noises Off, she worked on such films as JFK (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993) as a dubbing stage recordist and ADR-stage recordist, before moving on to Warner Bros. as a sound-transfer and ADR- stage recordist. She then spent six years at Technicolor as an ADR and Foley mixer, going on to Todd-AO's Vine Street and Lantana facilities for another six years, again focusing on ADR and Foley. In 2007, she started at NBCUniversal, working primarily on ADR mixing for Dick Wolf 's various franchises, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999-present) and Law and Order: Criminal Intent (2001-2011), in addition to the Chi-Town triumvirate, consisting of Chicago Med (2015-present), Chicago Fire (2012-present) and Chicago P.D. (2014-present); Chicago Law is scheduled to begin airing in the fall. "The former vice president of Studio Services at NBCUniversal, Steve Williams, hired me," she recalls; her current boss is Larry Ellena, Director of Studio Post. "My workday involves a bit of everything, which keeps the schedule from becoming mundane!" She also works occasionally on Code Black (2015-present) as well as Girls (2012-present), Scandal (2012-present), Colony (2016-present), Patriot (2015-present) and the upcoming 10-episode Shots Fired miniseries about racially charged urban shootings in a small Southern town. "Also for Baywatch, a feature film scheduled for release in May," she adds. "I get my hands on a little bit of everything. It's a good match." The mixer readily concedes that ADR and Foley are different post endeavors, with contrasting demands. "For Foley, I am concentrating totally on the specific sounds made by the artist, whereas for ADR, I need to focus on the vocal sounds hitting the various microphones I put out, together with the overall In Search of the Perfect Take ADR/FOLEY MIXER JESSE DODD'S WORKDAY INVOLVES A BIT OF EVERYTHING by Mel Lambert portraits by Wm. Stetz Girls. HBO