Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521562
64 S U M M E R 2 0 2 4 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y ads. We certainly have some big films and some Hollywood- style studio films, but a large percentage of it is indie films, documentary, nonfiction, reality TV. So, I've worked at a bunch of studios where they're going to keep taking these little springboard projects, and keep trying to get bigger and better work, and not go back. So, from The First 48, we landed OJ: Made in America with ESPN. I had been doing other ESPN documentaries, but this one was just "the one." Ezra Edelman, the director, was incredibly talented, and wove that story together so well, and that led to a bunch of other projects. Which then led to High Score, and The Last Dance, the Michael Jordan documentary which we did during the pandemic. These were the bigger springboards that kept us going. And The Last Dance led to 100 Foot Wave, and that led to working with Chris Smith, which led to working on a bunch of the great projects that you mentioned earlier. One time, we were mixing an episode of 100 Foot Wave, and Chris Smith passed on an observation I will never forget. I was busy scrolling furiously through effect after effect, paging up and paging down through my Pro Tools session searching for a wave sound effect—not too heavy, not too light. And this mix is the biggest session, most sound effects, most mixing of any job I'd ever done. It was then that Chris said to me, "I've got to say, this is amazing. I'm so proud of the audio that we've done, I'm proud of the sounds, I'm proud of what we've created, what we've sculpted, what we've given moments for, but you're not going to be recognized for anything. People are just going to think that this is real. Like this is what we picked up." Because the reality was our focus. How do we saturate things, how do we EQ things, how do we give it some bit-depth reduction to make it sound like it was actually recorded on location and settled in there. Well, I think you succeeded at that fundamental truth of sound—when it's really working, the soundtrack should feel like it was always a natural part of the scene and story. It's been a pleasure chatting, and I'm so happy that your excellent work has been recognized and rewarded by the CAS. Congratulations! Thanks so much, Kurt!