Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521235
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 57 to handle such situations was to let the work speak for itself. Instead of trying to persuade directors to drop their ideas, he executed them. And when those ideas inevitably fell short, the creators accepted Avram's advice, but only if he remained humble about it. "I told you so" was never to be uttered or even thought. The only way to prove a point was through action. No matter how wacky the suggestions might seem, the only appropriate response would be, "I'll look into that." Nobody wants to hear that their notion sucks. In the '80s and through the '90s, the Motion Picture Academy nominated the mixers with the Best Sound category and the sound editors with the "Best Sound Effects Editing," or in the case with RoboCop, a "Special Achievement" Award for "Sound Effects Editing." Stephen Flick and John Pospisil won the "Special Achievement" Oscar for their "Outstanding Sound Design." Although it was subtle, sound design was also applied to RoboCop's dialogue in the first half of the movie. Once becoming a machine, Peter Weller's speech was looped so that it could be processed in the mix using a guitar distortion booster to make his voice sound metallic and less human. As RoboCop connected with his feelings, the distortion feed was slowly mixed out to bring him back into the world of real people. As movie soundtracks became more and more complex, dividing the supervision between dialogue and sound effects became more common. And consequently, credits then recognized equal status and responsibility for the finished sound experience. Yet, the Motion Picture Academy still failed to honour Avram's dialogue supervising challenges. In 1997, Avram was invited to join the AMPAS and was soon asked to join the Rules Committee. Don Hall then appointed Avram as chair of a special subcommittee to update the definitions of what constituted motion picture sound work, its supervision, and the general intentions of the Sound Branch. A small group of Academy Board members met at Weddington's annex a few times and hashed out a refocused set of "rules" which were tweaked and then passed by the Sound Branch Executive Committee. Shortly after that, Avram was invited into the Executive Committee where he continued to press for redefining the sound editor's Oscar to include dialogue supervision. Consequently, for the 2000 Academy Awards, "Best Sound Effects Editing" was shortened to "Best Sound Editing," thereby allowing dialogue supervision to be awarded an Oscar. Avram is pleased to have helped facilitate that significant change. Avram's involvement with the Motion Picture Sound Editors began early in his career, shortly after he arrived in Los Angeles in 1978. It was Lenny Jennings, a fellow editor, who first introduced him to the organization, mentioning the meetings held on the TBS lot where they worked. Initially, Avram's participation in the MPSE Avram and Tina in Antarctica, January 2023.