Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1261193
28 I M PS E . O R G RD: Well, wow, there's a short version and a long version of that story. I didn't know I wanted to become an editor until I got hired into post production out of the mailroom at Stephen J. Cannell in 1987. I started as an apprentice in their post production TV department. And it wasn't until I got hired into features over at Gordon Ecker Productions that I finally found interest in sound. I sent out 62 résumés and one person called me back, and it was Gordon Ecker. And that's how I started. I said, absolutely, I'll come interview. I got hired as an assistant editor and started just doing the assistant editor thing. I started going out recording sounds with them and sat in on mix sessions and ADR sessions. So I really got a feel for what it was all about and I liked it a lot. PL: So I guess he's the one that gave you your first big break? RD: Well, actually, it would have to be attributed to Mark Allen. He is one of my best friends and this is a great story. Mark gave me a sound effects library and a video clip. It was some sort of gun battle in U.S. Seals, their first one, and he said, "Practice, cut this, keep the sound effects, give it back to me when you think you've got something good." So I cut what I could. I tried my best and I gave it back to him and he said, "You got potential." So he hired me on a show, and he kept throwing work at me and I got better and better. He taught me all kinds of things and, and here's the best part of that story. I was able to hire him for Barry, the episode we won for. And so I felt like I got to pay him back, so he won the MPSE too. I look up to Mark, he's a great editor. PL: Mark is great. I hired him on an HBO documentary, which was probably one of the hardest jobs I've ever had and he was a saving grace. Okay, so what's the biggest mistake you made as an editor in your career when you started out? RD: I've got two answers for that question. PL: None of your business and none of your business? ( laughs) RD: I'm not sure I want the entire sound business to know the answers to this question (laughs). I wasn't even an editor yet when the first incident happened. I was an apprentice editor, which meant I did some driving. We had boxes of film to deal with and take to the mix stages. The boxes of film were in my car and I was supposed to show up on the dub stage with them first thing in the morning and I overslept. Renny Harlin and Mike Wilhoit were waiting for me for about three hours until I finally showed up. And when I delivered everything, he said, "Okay, you can go now and I'll call you if I ever need you again" (laughs). So basically I got fired and that was on Cutthroat Island. PL: Okay, so as an editor what was your biggest mistake? RD: Not backing up my hard drive. I have a designated hard drive for editing. I was working to finish editing and a conform for another upcoming temp mix, and then it happened. I heard a noise that most editors do not want to hear, that dreadful, rapid clicking of your hard drive trying to work properly, along with the occasional high-pitched scream tonal sound. The drive was gone. I lost basically an entire reel of editing, a conform, and fixes and adds. I had to recut practically the entire reel in three days. This was for The Lake House with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. I had to stay up 24 hours a day until it was done. The moral of this story is, back up your drives! PL: Okay. So that actually answers my question of sometimes editors, to meet a deadline, basically don't sleep. What job did you get the least amount of sleep on? Is that one it? RD: That's it, The Lake House. Frank Gaeta was the supervisor on that. I'm not sure he wants to be reminded of that (laughs). PL: What show has been the most fun? RD: Hands down without question, Barry. There are a lot of reasons why. The collaboration on that team is between all elements; music, dialogue, sound effects, mixers, sound supervisor, everyone is fantastic. It's the best collaboration team I've ever been a part of. Alec Berg and Bill Hader are two of the most talented and creative people I've had the pleasure of working with. We've got season 3 coming up and someone told me it was busier than season 2 and I was like, "Well, I guess that's more fun for me!" (laughs) "Practice, cut this, keep the sound e‰ects, give it back to me when you think you've got something good." So I cut what I could. I tried my best and I gave it back to him and he said, "You got potential."