Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1543098
42 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Spring 2026 Geoff Patterson I first met Geoff Patterson while filling in for the legendary Boom Operator Randy Johnson on a movie called Little Giants. Randy is one of those amazing people I met along the way. In all my many years as a Boom Operator, I think Randy was responsible for giving me more work than anyone else. He's not only a great Boom Operator, but a mentor, and a friend, and I'll always be grateful to him. Back to Geoff. We were on a makeshift football field at the Burbank Equestrian Center, standing in front of his meticulously engineered sound cart—perfectionist to the core, never compromising, but never obsessive. I introduced myself, as I always did when there was a chance to get in front of a Sound Mixer. I don't remember exactly what we talked about— probably cramming my whole life story into five minutes—but what stuck with me was simple, Geoff was a great guy. Years later, another longtime friend, Sound Mixer Beau Baker, told me, "If you ever get the chance to work with Geoff Jeff Wexler As many of you know, we recently lost Jeff, and I count myself incredibly fortunate to have worked with him. We also lost Don Coufal, a dear friend who passed not long ago. When I think about the great production sound teams across the decades, Jeff and Don were the pinnacle—the standard by which all others are measured. Before I met Jeff, to me, he was bigger than life. Then one day, I got a call from him to see if I was available. I remember thinking if I was on the top of Mount Whitney, I would've run down that mountain immediately to make a 6 AM call in Long Beach. I honestly didn't know what to expect when I met Jeff. I really didn't. But it didn't take long to see what an incredible man that he was. He was soft spoken but engaging. As a Sound Mixer, he was totally focused, and I mean all the time. Jeff genuinely showed an interest, not only to the people on his crew, but to everyone around him. Jeff retired a few years back and I always kept in touch with him. I called him at least once every month. I had just spoken with him a couple of weeks ago. We lost a legendary Sound Mixer, but more importantly, and sadly, we lost an amazing human being that I will always miss. Lee Orloff