Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1545099
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 17 while pursuing music. However, I soon tired of that lifestyle and found work, by chance, as a runner at a nonunion local post sound house in Hollywood called Coley Sound. They needed someone to answer phones and get lunch, and I thought, "Perfect, I'll do that for rent money while I keep working on the band thing." This was 1994. I was fascinated by what they did there, particularly the sound effects side. I was amazed that people actually did this for work. The seed for this was planted back at UCLA. There was a kid there I worked with who endlessly talked about Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, and this odd thing called sound design, which sounded interesting but mostly mysterious to me, and it wasn't until I got to Coley that I realized, "Ooooh… I think this is what he was talking about." At that time, sound effects were cut on this behemoth of a machine called the New England Digital Synclavier, a beast that looked like a big piano but with cool red flashing lights, so it was a natural fit. I loved the musical approach to cutting sound effects on this thing and how you could "perform" sounds. Soon I went from runner to assistant and helped prep cue sheets, cut backgrounds, learning the room as I went. Then the FX editor I assisted and who was a mentor said something that changed the trajectory of my life: "You know, Angelo, you really have an instinct for this." That was it. Not a profound statement, but it's all I needed to hear to help decide that all this SFX and sound design stuff was so cool and fun that I was going all in on it. I never looked back. My big break happened when I landed a gig with Alan Howarth. Landing that felt like a big deal, but funny enough, we didn't actually work on movies. Alan at the time was involved with a company that designed audio experiences for event venues. We worked on those mostly and I learned a ton: how he created sci-fi explosions and lightning sounds with his guitar amplifier. How he did the spaceships for Star Trek. The creative FX he pulled out of a Prophet-5. His innovative experiments reversing sounds (Poltergeist, anyone?). Those reversing tricks stuck. For a while there, no sound left my Synclavier without being pumped through some sort of processing and reversed and morphed somehow. If you are trying to break in, I would stress having a good grasp of the technology you're working with. Most of my early gigs materialized because I knew how to work a Synclavier. The equivalent today would be Pro Tools, of course. Back then, I wasn't known yet and was just starting to build a reputation, but I would be asked, "Do you know how to work this thing?" and I'd say, "Yep." "Cool. You're hired." Knowing your equipment and software is a given now, but having a solid grasp on it so you can get creative right away is key. Through Alan, I met Steve Flick and landed a gig at Creative Cafe over in Atwater Village back in 1998. Good times. So much talent there. Steve sponsored me into the union, and I've been going ever since. Jamie Hardt Supervising Sound Editor/ Re-recording Mixer As far back as I can remember, movies have been a big part of my family's life. My parents were and are avid movie watchers: New movies, TV shows, entertainment industry news, and gossip were routine conversation topics around the dinner table. My parents were especially passionate about the classics, and from an early age, I was exposed to a steady stream of Golden Age Hollywood cinema. I grew up in Minnesota and nobody in my family had ever worked in any kind of creative or production job, exactly, but it always felt like a generational aspiration in my famliy. My paternal grandfather had worked, prior to his service "... build and nurture your relationships and bring as much value as you can to a project. Your referrals and reputation are everything, and they all start with your relationships." To anyone trying to work their way up, I'd say build and nurture your relationships and bring as much value as you can to a project. Your referrals and reputation are everything, and they all start with your relationships. You have to be talented at what you do, of course. That's a given. If you're not, we'll find out soon enough. But beyond that, people need to know you and trust you before they can consider hiring you. It can be a slow process unfortunately, but it's the only one I know works