Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1061972
96 CINEMONTAGE / Q4 2018 working with tracks from all over the place," Dichter says. "He shot it over many years because he didn't have the money. With the restoration, we put some new music over the dialogue, so we had to dip things in and out and go around and use all kinds of equipment to try to clean up the tracks." LABOR-INTENSIVE Yet his years at Sound One were not limited to creative challenges. Equally significant, if not more so, was the part he played in organizing the non-union shop, which became a signatory to the IA contract in 1996. "I was union, and there were a few other union members there," says Dichter, who also supported the rights of sound professionals across New York. "I was trying to at least get parity for the members — the young fellows who were coming in who were in the machine room. My drive was just to have equal pay across the board from different companies in the city doing the same work." In 1999, Dichter became a proud member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, IATSE Local 700 (formed when Locals 771 and 776 merged in 1998) after Local 52 ceded its re-recording jurisdiction in New York to the national Editors Guild. With the same spirit of collegiality that he demonstrated in the organization of Sound One, Dichter also strove to provide guidance to re- recording mixers as they rose through the ranks. "Young mixers have sat next to me many times and they want to know: 'Why am I doing this? Why am I doing that?'" he comments. "Michael Barry had a background in music mixing, and he was making a transition into film mixing, which means learning the dialogue. He sat with me for weeks while I was working on a film. It takes a long time to really become a good mixer." Dichter feels it is imperative to pass along knowledge from one generation of mixers to the next — especially important in light of his decision to retire last year. After mixing Allen's most recent film, Wonder Wheel (2017), he opted to call it a career. "The last three or four years, my hearing has been slightly decreasing," Dichter explains. "I did not want to compromise the soundtrack. I wanted to end my career on a high." Yet, in a sense, Dichter's career has been one continuous high point. "My wife, Sophie, says to me, 'You don't realize how lucky you are,'" the mixer reflects. "I say, 'What do you mean?' She says, 'You never had to sell. You never had to go out and try to get a movie.' And it's true; I never made one phone call. You build up relationships with editors and directors, and they come back." f Top: Lee and Sophie Dichter in San Francisco in 2008. Photo by Michael Kirchberger Above: Working on the mix of The Shipping News at Sound One in 2001 are Lee Dichter, ADR editor Jane McCulley and music editor Tom Drescher. Photo by Michael Kirchberger Right: Lee Dichter, left, with fellow re-recording mixer Roberto Fernández during the mixing of Changing Lanes at Sound One in 2001. Photo by Paul Soucek