Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1061972
120 CINEMONTAGE / Q4 2018 120 CINEMONTAGE / Q4 2018 project. Thanks, Lee. Tom Nelson, CAS Colleague; Production Sound Mixer n I met Lee in the Stone Age: the mid-'60s, when he was a sound mixer working for his father and I was a would-be production mixer. I was doing documentaries and I went to Lee to ask him how I could make my work sound better. Although we were the same age, Lee had grown up in the business and he always had ideas about how to make the sound better. He was always willing to share what he knew. It was a funny thing — with Lee around, everyone's work suddenly sounded much better. We started working together on features later in the decade — me as a production mixer and Lee as a re-recording mixer. I had the pleasure of working with him for 30 years. We worked on a soft porn film in the early '70s called A Place Called Today. We did a rather better film called Sophie's Choice in the '80s. Then there was a bunch more movies, including Beat Street, Dream Lover, Power and Valmont. We continued working together into the '90s on You've Got Mail and Primary Colors. Lee contributed taste, excellence and high standards to every movie on which he worked, and to many movies he didn't! For 30 years, regardless of with whom I was working, I could always go to him and ask, "Lee, how the hell do I fix this…how do I make it sound better?" Lee would always know. And he would always tell me. Chris Newman, CAS Friend/Colleague; Production Sound Mixer n I have a very distinct memory of watching Lee interacting on the mixing stage with my late husband, Sam O'Steen, and Mike Nichols on every film they did together, beginning with Biloxi Blues. I also remember Sam speaking of him very fondly over the years as a professional and as a person. I have the sense that Lee instinctively knows how to listen to a room. By that, I mean not just the material with which he has to work, but the personalities and tastes of the directors he has to manage. It was obvious to me that Lee put everyone at ease, and was such a calm presence at a time when the anxiety level of a production can be pretty high. This was particularly significant because Mike was exacting, very much a perfectionist, particularly about performance and dialogue. As Sam said, "Words were everything to Mike." And Lee works so hard and adeptly on those aspects of the film. I also know that sound editors and designers trust him because he takes care to make their material shine. I have no doubt that Sam — and I would imagine everyone with whom he has collaborated — considered Lee to be one of the greats, as a sound mixer and as a human being. Bobbie O'Steen Colleague; Author, Film Historian n I was instructed to use no more than 300 words to write why I Love Lee so much. Three hundred words? I don't need no stinkin' 300 words. I have nothing to write about working with Lee. That's because I was hardly working with Lee. Along with his sound compatriot, Ron Bochar, Lee would be on automatic pilot. As I realized early on, "This guy doesn't need me." So I would go in, give him a few notes on the first reel, leave, have breakfast, read the paper, whatever, until I was called. I would then go to the mix studio to see the finished reel. I would make a few notes, then give a few notes on the next reel, then leave again, maybe for lunch or maybe catching some Zs at my home. Then I'd get the call saying that Lee was finished with reel two. I'd go to the mix studio again and give my notes and we'd go on to reel three, and onward. I would hardly call that working with Lee, even though he did mix about a half-dozen movies for me. Is that why I love him? No. I love the guy because he's a mensch. And because he is so damned adorable. It has been an honor and a pleasure for me over the years to know and almost work with Lee. Frank Oz Friend/Colleague; Director n I shtar in 1985 was my introduction to this wizard of mixing. From the start, it was apparent that he was not only a genius with the tracks, but was also dazzling with his skills at dealing with everyone in the room — from the loftiest producers, stars and the wildly talented and strong-minded director, to the machine room recordists, apprentices and the entire crew. Lee has always been happy to share, with whomever is interested, what he's doing and why. He was so generous and excited about the work. Bottom line: Lee is a mensch in the truest and most sincere sense of that word. I could go on (as so many others surely will and have) about his creativity, craftsmanship and wonderful ears — how he massages the tracks over and over, each time improving them until, little by little, they are just what they need to be and the narrative is wondrously lifted by his efforts. This is Lee's magic, and it's both inspiring and comforting to see him at work. You just know that the end result will be as good as possible. But the other side of Lee's greatness is his ability to command a room without ever being demanding or impatient — to communicate with a gentle, level-headed voice what can and should happen, while all the time being keyed into everyone's ideas and ultimately the director's wishes. It's because of all these talents that Lee is so loved and respected by all who have had the honor to sit by his side. And it's because of his great work that the world has benefited from hundreds of beautiful- sounding films. Eliza Paley Colleague; Sound Editor n L ee Dichter's talent, art and expertise in crafting the sound mix are always boldly in evidence, even when nuance and understatement are in order. When I met