Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1500189
24 M PS E . O R G and over. She told us she would never use Ivory soap because it was too harsh. The idea that someone's hands was their job was amazing to me. We saw a kid doing a hot dog ad, and watched him spit out the hot dogs after every bite was filmed— over and over. The whole thing was such a leap from real life—it fascinated me, and probably sparked me toward the film world. VRS: Did you go to film school? GYW: Not film school per se but I did graduate from NYU. I was a very antsy kid. I went to a very small all-girls college prep school, Buffalo Seminary, in Buffalo, New York. Everyone assumes I'm from the Midwest. Maybe I look cornfed! But I'm from New York. After the prep school, I was an exchange student in Germany which was a challenging year—pre-computers. I didn't speak any German when I got there. So it was kind of like being a full-grown infant because I just couldn't communicate and English wasn't as ubiquitous as it is now. So I had to learn the language. By the time I left, I was dreaming in German, which was actually kind of cool! I'm sad that I didn't keep it up. After Germany, I went to four universities in four years, graduating from NYU film school. VRS: What was your very first job in film? GYW: My very first film job was through an NYU internship in the wardrobe department where my job was to buy underwear for Griffin Dunne! VRS: What movie or movies sparked your interest in wanting to work on films? GYW: I saw so many films during my time at NYU. I loved Days of Heaven, The Black Stallion, Rumble Fish, Harold and Maude are the ones that pop to the top of my mind from then. Advertising was a theme in Gwen's life, starting with her father. In an NYU sound editing class, the teacher worked in advertising for his "day" job. Gwen recalls, "He gave us a roll of mag with the dialogue from the ad. He told us that he wanted us to cut it with the words in a specific, crazy order. I was the only one who got the breathing between the words right! That should have told me something!" huge support from my family and my colleagues, which allows me to thrive in a very competitive industry, still be in the thick of it, and work with the most creative people from all over the planet. Huge thanks to all the people who have mentored, supported, and encouraged me through the last 30 years plus. I am eager to see where this takes me next." VRS: Who do you consider to be your mentor? GYW: My dad worked in advertising, and I went to the set with him a few times. I remember seeing an Ivory soap ad being shot, watching the hand model clamshell the soap over The 2023 76th Annual BAFTA Film Awards at the Royal Festival Hall in London for Best Sound nominee Avatar: The Way of Water. Dress by Nazlicouture (Nazli Eslami).