Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1535806
36 S U M M E R 2 0 2 5 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y M E E T T H E W I N N E R S It was a pleasure to interview the crew from this year's winner in the Television Series – Half Hour category, production sound mixer Scott D. Smith CAS, re-recording mixer Steve "Major" Giammaria CAS, ADR mixers Patrick Christensen and Kendall Barron, and Foley mixers Ryan Collison and Connor Nagy. They've all been on the show since Season 1, and they shared a common joy in capturing the improvisational fire and "first take energy" that make the show so deep and engaging. Everyone on the crew came out of college with a passion for sound, and all underlined the importance of being in the right place at the right time in order to achieve success. Re-recording Mixer Steve "Major" Giammaria CAS On his start in the industry: "I went to school at SUNY Fredonia for recording music. While I was in school, the recording industry collapsed, so I did live sound for a little while. One of my buddies was working [in NYC] at Sound Lounge. There was a day somebody got fired and somebody got promoted. They're like, 'Hey, we need somebody,' and I started in the machine room when I was 22." He shares, "I started in commercials, but there were a few folks doing film and television. I came up under Tony Villa, a brilliant mixer. When he moved on, they [Sound Lounge] were like, 'Try and make a go of it.'" And he's had a successful go at it for many seasons, including his work on The Bear. "The first season just had that raw energy. I thought, 'People are gonna watch this!' It's just such a treat being on a show that thinks about sound from the script stage through production and post—fully conceived." When asked about the sound process: "There's a spotting session with the editors and post producer. The producers are usually shooting right up until the last couple weeks of post. They hit the highlights of what this scene is: Let's do this, let's do that. After the first season, they could just say, 'They're in the kitchen talking,' and we know what that sounds like." Major continues: "I have to give it up to my dialogue editor, Evan Benjamin; one of the top guys on the planet in my opinion. He knows exactly how to prepare the cut properly, wading through all the tracks. There's a scene coming up where there are only eight or 10 characters, but 32 channels of audio recorded. Evan used one line from a random TELEVISION SERIES – HALF HOUR THE BEAR S3 Ep. 3 "Doors" b y K u r t K a s s u l k e C A S