Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538144
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 13 leap into freelance, kicking things off with Band of Brothers. From there, the world opened up. I worked on projects in Paris, kept close ties to London, and somehow managed to visit all seven continents. Meeting people from all walks of life, hearing their stories, and immersing myself in different cultures gave me a broader lens on storytelling—and nudged me into screenwriting. I've written some absolute shockers, but I've also sold a feature to Sony, so I like to think I'm heading in the right direction. Back in London, I was fortunate to work on film projects like Casino Royale, Harry Potter, and Children of Men. Around that time, I also started collaborating more with music departments, which deepened my appreciation for how sound and music can support each other and transform a scene. My music editor credits include Nocturnal Animals and the last two Harry Potter films I've been incredibly fortunate to be part of teams whose work has been recognized with an Oscar, Emmy, BAFTA, and Golden Reel. Those moments are always a reflection of great collaboration and the power of sound in storytelling. These days, I'm based in Sydney as Head of Sound at a post-production company, working with a brilliant team to help bring films and series to life. I still travel when I can, still write when inspiration strikes, and I've never stopped being curious. For me, the heart of the job hasn't changed—it's about listening carefully, collaborating openly, and helping tell great stories. Eric Marks MPSE Board member After graduating from USC with my MFA, I initially got no bites at all for any industry work for about 13 months. Finally, in June of 2010, I landed a job working overnight graveyard shifts at Konami in their quality assurance (QA) department. It was nowhere near working on audio or anything creative, but it was a job in the entertainment industry and a chance to prove myself. I was bug testing there during the wee hours of the night for a game called Def Jam Rapstar, where the player gets to karaoke rap into a microphone plugged into a game console. I worked in the Konami QA department for about six months, slowly transitioning to day shifts, onto other projects there, and getting promoted to manager. One night after work, I met with an old USC friend for drinks on my way home. He worked at EA in their marketing department and was building a trailer team with increasing responsibilities within the company. His team had just grown to three people, and luckily, he didn't have anyone with any experience in sound yet. He remembered me as a TA from USC's School of Cinematic Arts sound department, so there was a built-in level of trust that I had a solid sound education. He asked if I'd be willing to come in to do a test for him, so I took that day off of work at Konami to do that and thankfully, passed the test. He hired me onto his EA marketing team soon thereafter, and I've been working in sound ever since. About three years later though, I needed to start from scratch as I was let go from EA. Looking back on my IMDb credits at the time, I actually didn't have many projects with my name on it as I'd primarily worked on game trailers, as well as a game that was never released. As a freelancer, I made it my mission to work on as many things that could get released as possible and begin building up my credits list. Between my former EA contacts who had spread out across the game industry (and some even started their own companies), as well as my USC alumni connections, I was able to slowly start building up a great list of clients who came back for lots of projects. Some even referred me to their friends who were working on their own projects. During all of this, I took freelance jobs mixing in-house at places such as NFL Network, Mob Scene, and Shapeshifter Post. It was challenging to juggle this with my own freelance clients, but I made it work. About two years after being let go from EA, I'd built up enough regular freelance work to start my own business, Transported Audio. It came out of necessity as I couldn't do all the editorial and mixing work on all my freelance projects anymore—I needed support. And I've been fortunate to have the company blossom over the past 9½ years, thanks to my incredible team always rising to meet every challenge. It was far from a straight path, but I learned a lot each step of the way that has prepared me for the many variables that come with working in our industry. I've been incredibly fortunate to be part of teams whose work has been recognized with an Oscar, Emmy, BAFTA, and Golden Reel. Those moments are always a reflection of great collaboration and the power of sound in storytelling. Between my former EA contacts who had spread out across the game industry (and some even started their own companies), as well as my USC alumni connections, I was able to slowly start building up a great list of clients who came back for lots of projects.