Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538144
flowing through to very happy clients is what makes me a proud papa. Speaking of clients, we find we get the best results with clients who trust the process. Clients who can clearly direct but not try to tell a sound designer "how to do it" get the best results. My advice to newer, younger dev/ad/client teams is to not tightly handhold every detail. Hire the team you can trust for your sound design and mix and let them flourish. You can't expect a Picasso (or one of Dane Davis' amazing paintings) when you hold the sound designer to a house painter's standard. One of our best-known car pieces never had a review until the final version and had one note. It went on to win seven industry awards. They trusted the process, the team, and reaped the benefits of it. Future Can you share some of your thoughts on AI (artificial intelligence)? Charles Deenen: We've been fortunate to be as diverse as we are. This kept us going through the COVID years, union strikes, and other industry downfalls. I'm preaching to the choir, as we all know AI is coming upon us. While traditional artful sound design will not go away, great sound painters will always create something only a human can feel. We do know that AI is going to take over repetitive, learnable sound tasks. Without breaking NDAs, I can say that's a big opportunity for growth. While a new generation is growing up with AI on the forefront of creation, the traditional role will not be abandoned. That role, however, will become more specialized in non-repetitive (read: learnable) audio tasks. Recording of sounds for machine learning is getting huge. But that's a wave that'll last for 2–3 years and then it's gone. Growth during the next 10 years is all about embracing and adapting quickly. Now, I'm stubborn. I still want to create that perfect musical explosion 5 years from now, but my realization is that a machine can generate 500 104 M PS E . O R G