Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1469840
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y I S U M M E R 2 0 2 2 47 How did you become involved with the Mare of Easttown project? Steve Morrow CAS put me up for Mare of Easttown, and I think I just hit it off with several people there. Mare has the best group of producers anyone could ever hope to work for. Writer/showrunner Brad Ingelsby is fantastic. Being a part of stories like Mare are why I'm in this business. This limited series has lots of characters and many locations. The cast count on Mare was large, very large. If I'm not mistaken, there were around 150 numbered cast. It was cross-boarded so we shot the seven episodes like a feature; only returning to a few locations at a later date. Being out- and-about in Delaware County, PA, was great as we had the opportunity to really get to know the place where the story took place and met lots of people everywhere we went. It was also often cold, very cold. Some nights in the single digits. There were scenes under noisy bridges, and in very tight quarters. One of your more recent projects, 1883, is quite popular in, among other places, Nashville, where I live. How was your experience working on a period piece? The DP from Mare, Ben Richardson, was also the DP on 1883. As a matter of fact, Ben directed several episodes of 1883 as well. 1883 was basically six months of day exteriors in Texas and Montana. With very few exceptions, I spent the entire time mixing from the back of a four-wheel drive Gator. I was incredibly lucky to have the same crew with me from Mare; Tanya Peel booming and Kelly Lewis as utility. It was very hard work, but extremely rewarding and I'm very proud of the sound we were able to capture. Working on a true period Western was a dream come true for me, a real bucket list item. Great cast, great crew, but boy was it hard! What do you like to do when you're not on set? When I'm not working, I love to cook at home. If it's been a short day at work, I'll cook dinner for my wife Jean when I get home. I always look forward to cooking on the weekend. About 10 years ago, we bought a place out in Marfa, TX. When we're not working, that's usually where you'll find us. It's a nice, small, high desert town with some really wonderful people. Giant was shot there in 1956—Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Rock Hudson. More recently, There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men. It's really special and beautiful, I wish we could spend more time there. Anyone interested in shooting out in Marfa? Need a sound mixer? (Laughs) Any closing comments? The only closing thoughts I have are what I wrote to the directors and officers of CAS when I won for Mare: I want you all to know how much it means to me to be part of an organization that supports and heralds the work and achievements of sound professionals in film and television. I truly am honored. Joe DeAngelis CAS: Re-recording Mixer Where did you grow up and what sparked your interest in audio? I grew up in Lancaster, CA. My dad was an Aerospace Engineer at NASA Edwards Air Force Base and my mom was an elementary school teacher. I remember being interested in hi-fi stereo systems and music at a young age. I would earn money to buy the different components (receivers, turntables, speakers, etc.) and just listen to music for hours on end. How did you get your foot in the audio door? After I graduated from L.A. Recording Workshop, I worked in music studios as a second engineer, mixed live sound at many of the clubs around Los Angeles and Hollywood, as well as stage shows at Universal Studios Hollywood. I was able to get my foot in the post-production door through a family friend, Rick Kline. Rick and my uncle were in a band together back in the '70s and have remained close friends to this day. Rick was working at Universal in the late '90s and introduced me to Bill Varney. When the era of MMR and MMP digital recorders and players came along, I was hired by George Borghi to work in the vault and manage all the hard drives for the facility. In those days, they were four- and nine-gig drives in removable sleds and we had around 700 drives being used at Universal. Your consistent series work seems to have started around 2011. What was your position/duties prior to then? I see a number of "sound recordist" credits. As I stated, I started as a Y-16 in the vault managing hard drives. I transitioned to recordist working on Dub 3 at Universal, where I worked with Bill Meadows, Andy L-R: Re-recording mixers Joe DeAngelis CAS and Chris Carpenter. Photo: Alex J. Berliner