Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1543098
Spring 2026 – LOCAL695.COM 43 Patterson, take it. He's the greatest guy ever." I tracked down Geoff's number through the union and called him. He told me he had something coming up but had not made crew decisions yet. Time passed, and I hadn't heard back, so I called again. Armed with Beau's advice and my impression of Geoff, I knew I wanted to work with him. I rambled, I begged—not just for a job, but for the chance to work with him. I think he hired me just to shut me up. That was The One, a Jet Li action film. It was the first time in twenty years of doing this work that I realized how much fun making a movie could be. Geoff made it different. From that moment until I retired, I worked with Geoff on many shows. More importantly, we built a relationship that started with a chance meeting and grew into years of friendship. During the time I lived in Minnesota, Geoff opened his home to me in Los Angeles, whether we were working together or not. There were years we spent nearly every hour of the day together— working, carpooling, sharing a house. Through all that time, not once did Geoff ever treat me with disrespect. Not once, even under the pressures of a film set. For those who know him, you'll agree, Geoff Patterson is a wonderful man. The kindness and grace you see on set is exactly who he is in life, twenty‑four hours a day, seven days a week. Not only is Geoff a great guy, he was also a great Sound Mixer. With two Academy Award nominations and multiple Emmy and CAS Award nominations, I don't think that he ever got the accolades he deserved. It seems that people in our business get recognition because they've worked on a number of high‑profile projects throughout their career. Geoff made different decisions in his life. He didn't want to leave his family to go on locations when his two boys were young, so he chose to stay and work in Los Angeles, turning down projects that would take him away. He chose a different path. He didn't care about any recognition. It was more important for him to stay home so he could run his boys' track club, and just be with them, than it was to accept movies that would force him to leave town. Lee Orloff I think it's safe to say that most people in our sound community either know Lee or know of his reputation. I certainly knew who he was when he offered me the Boom Operator position on Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3. Quite honestly, it was kind of intimidating. My first day working with him involved flying down to the Bahamas and walking out to the dock to board the Black Pearl. I remember the first scene that we did together like it was yesterday. I was on the deck of the Black Pearl, and like most scenes, there's a lot of people talking. This scene was no exception. But it timed out, and the sun was in the right position, and I was able to boom everything. After the rehearsal, I went down below deck where Lee positioned himself, and he asked me, "What do I need to know?" Rather than go into some long explanation, I simply said, "It's gonna be great!" I think he wanted a little more out of me by the puzzled look on his face, Sound Mixer Art Rochester Jeffrey Humphreys (center) with the late Don Coufal and Jeff Wexler L-R: Don Coufal, Lee Orloff, and Jeffrey Humphreys