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www.postmagazine.com 31 POST DECEMBER 2017 OUTLOOK O AUDIO Electric Dreams (here, and below) 'haves' and 'have nots,' if you will. You'll see bigger and bigger tentpole movies with good budgets that value sound and you'll see the opposite end, too, with meaningful and important dramas at the bottom end that have no money but still want excellent work even though they don't have the funds to pay for it. There'll be an erosion of the middle ground, the everyday movies that the studios used to be successful with but have disappeared. They ceded that ground to cable and streaming services, which are arguably doing a great job with that middle ground film with a middle ground budget. They're making the dramas that studios don't want to make anymore." MARK LANZA Mark Lanza has created audio for films, games and TV series, but it's the latter category where Lanza has shined for the past five years. He earned two 2012 MPSE Award nominations for sound editing on the series Homeland, and won a 2012 HPA Award for Outstanding Sound on the Grimm series. His most recent credits include such series as Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams, Scorpion, Preacher, The Goldbergs, Empire, Unforgettable and Sneaky Pete. STRENGTHS: "The biggest strength in TV audio this year has been a plethora of quality programming. It makes you want to go the extra mile sonically to get the story told. The stories, acting, effects and diversity in both cast and types of pro- gramming have made television fun again. TV used to be a second-class citizen. Now people stand around the water cooler talking about the latest TV shows even more than movies. This makes us all step up our audio games. I have friends winning Emmys for upside-down worlds and drag- ons. I was given an amazing opportunity to help bring Phillip K. Dick's work to life once again in Electric Dreams for Amazon. I gave it everything to design new sounds to compete. My editor and co-designer Harry Snodgrass did as well." WEAKNESSES: "With more immersive formats going into homes, I hope the studios and producers will see the value of how great sound contributes to their stories. I would also love to have more time to create original sounds." OPPORTUNITIES: "Over the last few years, I've seen tremendous growth in audio post in terms of quality tools. There have been amazing improvements in new products for cleaning up dialogue and creating new sounds. Every time I get a new plug-in I can't wait to learn it and try it on a project. I look forward to when the client asks how the heck I did that. I think this trend will continue and editors will have even more amazing tools in the next year to help them impress audiences and help us meet our deadlines." THREATS: "With so many new players all trying to get quality content on the air, I feel this golden age of TV is just starting. The amount of quality content has gotten to the point that people cannot watch all that they really want. Too much choice in programming may be watering down viewership. When there were only four channels on TV, a show could be marginal and still have millions of viewers. Today, that has changed. Keeping shows on the air isn't easy. Keeping sponsors is not easy. This means a higher turnover rate for what are great shows. I also worry about budgets for a great show that might not have a large audience." OUTLOOK: "I am a TV fan as well as a creator. I can't wait to see the new seasons of my favorite shows and hear the creative input from my friends around the sound industry. I am glad we all seem to be working a lot and I see that continuing for the foreseeable future. I am excited about the new multi-channel field recorders I have been seeing lately and the great new mixing consoles. The gear I have in my office is much cheaper than it used to be. That allows more people access to cutting- edge tools."