Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1469942
36 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – SUMMER 2022 by Anna Wilborn The scent of the top drawer on my dad's sound cart has never left me. An odd combination of black foam rubber padding, electronics, and Juicy Fruit gum. It was the gum I was hunting for every time I visited my dad on set. I can still feel the satisfying way the two side locks unlatched allowing the drawer to slide out on its own to reveal my prize. His crew christened the giant road case cart "The S.S. Wilborn" and printed it across the lid in big cutout stickers. He thought it was hilarious and left it. I loved watching their easy camaraderie. My dad, Charles M. Wilborn, begged me not to go into production. The hours, locations, and grind were no way to live, he insisted. Oddly enough, on this very rare occasion, I listened. When visiting my dad on location, he'd always arrange a day for me with the Editors who, back then, went with the shooting crew to prep and screen dailies, as well as begin cutting the film. Everything was still on film and 35mm magnetic tape. I'd watch Billy Anderson ACE work the flatbed and puzzle together a scene for Peter Weir's Dead Poets Society. It blew my mind. I started my film career right out of USC in post production. I was thrilled to get an unpaid internship on Cruel Intentions, with John Morris, Sound Supervisor at Sony Studios. Pro Tools was in its infancy and besides the manual, there weren't any books about it yet, nor an internet to learn from. On-the-job training was the only way. I was using version 3.4 to load sound effects and dialog off of DAT tapes in real time onto clunky SCSI hard drives that only held a few gigs. I'd then deliver the drives to the Editors who cut the clips into the soundtrack. Even with this advancement, we still had to lay back their Pro Tools Sound Mixer: A Family Business Career Achievement Award honoree Charles Wilborn CAS with daughter at the CAS Awards 2003 Anna in scrubs for the show Scrubs