Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1500189
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 29 told them I had to leave by 6:00. So I worked through every lunch. I just worked my ass off to make up for that time. But it was also really nice when my kids were infants, when they were hungry, they'd call me and I just go down and feed them. My husband Jeff was so supportive of my career and motherhood. He made it all possible. And my extended family, too—when I was traveling for ADR, my mother-in-law and my brother-in-law would come out to help Jeff with the kids. Or my sister and my mom would come. It definitely took the whole family. But I think my kids benefited from it because they know the East Coast family really well now, too. VRS: Did you ever get any discrimination because you were/are a working mom? GYW: I always made it very clear that I had kids and this is what I had to do, and no one ever gave me a problem with it, especially not from the director's side. Every now and then, some crew members I worked with gave me a little bit of hard time and I told them, 'Get over it.' So I never took it to heart and actually, most people were really supportive. So when I was working on Wild at Heart (1990), that's when I had the daycare schedule conflict and I had to stop work at six. I was an assistant then, so I arranged to split the job with a man named J.R. Grubbs. I would come in the morning and he'd do the afternoon, but it turned out everybody loved J.R. so much that they hired him full time! And now he's one of the best effects editors at the ranch. That was an opportunity for him and he was willing to split the day with me and it just kind of blossomed into a beautiful career for him. VRS:. How do you balance your work/ home life? GYW: When our kids were little, I was lucky to have a husband who is a phenomenal father and house husband. He rearranged his work so I would do the mornings and drop- offs and he would do the afternoons and evenings. My family from both coasts would come out to help when I needed to travel for ADR or a mix. Our kids know all of their relatives in a deeply bonded way—the super plus side to my job. Now that the kids are adults, my husband travels with me. Work-life balance is hard on a 45- to 50-hour week and doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room. I do my best to work out at least a few times a week, and see friends who have nothing to do with the film business as often as I can. They offer excellent reality checks! I couldn't have worked the way I did without my husband. He was the one who would cook great dinners, arranged the playdates and kids' doctor's appointments. He was really good. I met my husband at the ranch. That's because I was always at work! I didn't know how to meet anybody else because I was always working and there he was! He worked in the transfer department at the ranch. I met him because he couldn't read my handwriting. We had to interact so I could translate what my transfer request was! Then he worked at Fantasy Studios—Saul Zaentz's place for 12 years and then at Pixar for another 13 years. He's retired now and I think it really helped our relationship that he understood my hours. He understood what I needed to do for my job. I think people who are not in the business have a harder time understanding. They would ask: 'How could you not have known you're working late tonight?' kind of thing but there was never any of that because he got it. VRS: How do you describe what you do to people NOT in the industry? Gwen's family, L-R: Hooper the cat, daughter Madeleine, Gwen's mom Tania Yates, husband Jeff, son Harrison, and Gwen with Possum. Midge Costin, Gwen, and Vickie Sampson at this year's MPSE Golden Reel Awards. Photo by Chris Schmidtt Photography.