Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1491103
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y I S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 19 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y I S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 19 THE CAS CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENT: Production Sound Mixer Peter J. Devlin CAS I'd like to start the conversation with your early years growing up. Did you have any family or close friends working in the entertainment industry? Well, let me take you back to the '70s in Belfast. My grandfather was Joseph Finley, who was a composer and conductor for the silent movies in Belfast. I can remember as a kid when I'd stay over at my grandfather's house, he used to talk about the silent movies, which was obviously a period that he made his living in, and that he had a love for that art form, the art form of the silent movies. I think just that, maybe I'm looking through kind of rose-tinted glasses here, but just sitting down with my grandfather and he's laughing and maybe that's what kind of stirred an interest in the industry. What a unique and interesting job to have! The other thing that I can talk about here is that I, instead of studying, which I really should have been for my O levels, I used to love sitting, watching some of the old episodic TV shows that came out of Universal such as The Six Million Dollar Man and The Rockford Files. On a Friday night, my mum Peter J. Devlin CAS has been working behind the mic for four decades. His broad credit list, which includes numerous TV series, small-budget films, and mega- blockbusters, while working with some of the industry's most noted directors and actors, has garnered him numerous CAS Award, Academy Award, and Emmy nominations. Peter also lends his time to the service of the sound community, previously serving on the CAS Board of Directors and currently serving as a Governor of the Sound Branch of the Academy. Peter and I have been friends for many years, and I am happy to share our conversation about his early days, his career, and the CAS Career Achievement Award. b y P h i l l i p W . P a l m e r C A S would send me out for fish and chips and I would get a burger and we would watch The Six Million Dollar Man [chuckles]. So anyway, it's kind of been in my blood through my grandfather, through that love of silent movies, but it really was the film Jaws that kind of changed the course of my life. I had read all about the film ahead of seeing it, so I kind of knew what went on behind the scenes to making that film and that what was supposed to be a short shoot turned into a long shoot and how the shark, known affectionately as "Bruce," kept breaking down. And because of that, Spielberg had to rely on his editor, Verna Fields, to basically do sleight of hand. When you think that the shark doesn't make that much of an appearance in the film, it's all created by music, sound, moments. So that was the film that absolutely changed everything for me. I remember going to see it like it was yesterday. That was me hooked into a desire and a passion for somehow figuring out how to get into this industry. That's brilliant because what many consider the epitome of the summer blockbuster, Jaws, was what ushered in the concept of the summer