Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546054
world I barely knew existed, and it made me feel like there might be a place for me after all. The week that job ended, I dropped off my resume at another Chicago post-production house, Swell. By some strange bit of timing, their audio assistant gave notice that very same day. I got the job, which was either fate or the most productive resume drop- off in history. It became the training ground I desperately needed. Even with an audio degree, a great internship, and thousands of edited dialogue lines for a major video game behind me, I quickly realized how much I still didn't know. Fortunately, I had landed somewhere generous enough to teach me. I sat next to the lead sound designer and mixer, asking endless questions while doing my best to keep up with my mix tech and assistant duties. After a little over a year, Swell shut down. The owner no longer wanted to run the studio and couldn't find the right buyer. It was a hard reminder of how fragile this kind of work can be, and also that "stable career in audio" is sometimes a phrase that deserves air quotes. A few months later, I interviewed at an ad agency that wanted to build its in-house audio department. They had just won a large account that required producing 30 new radio commercials a week, and they wanted to bring all that work inside. At the time, in-house agency studios had a bad reputation. The prevailing attitude was that if you had real talent, you didn't work in-house, and even some copywriters and producers were hesitant to use them. But I was 25, hungry for the next step, and very interested in the radical concept of being paid regularly. So I took the job. I ended up staying for 14 years! What began as a tiny studio tucked inside an office building, recording and mixing radio spots for one client, slowly grew into a three-suite operation with a team I led. We sound designed and mixed every piece of content the agency produced. Along the way, I got to collaborate with incredible directors on projects that challenged me, shaped me, and made me better. After applying to Blizzard Entertainment at least three times, I finally got the opportunity of a lifetime: joining its venerated cinematics audio department as a sound designer and re-recording mixer. Six years later, I have never felt more appreciated, and I have never appreciated a team more. I learn something every day. And it still amazes me that the same person who was once cranking out 30 radio ads a week is now trusted with linear media audio for some of the most beloved franchises in games. Korey Pereira MPSE MPSE Vice President/Dialogue Editor/Supervising Sound Editor attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts as a viola major. I remember, as a senior, a member of the Cleveland Orchestra visited and pointed out that there are only a handful of top orchestras in the country. That meant there were equally few principal positions at the top of our industry, and in all likelihood, none of us would end up in one of those slots. Brutal? Yes. But it also provided a reality check that I feel many college- bound students never receive. Don't get me wrong, I was a strong violist. I auditioned at both the University of Oklahoma (OU) and The University of Texas (UT) at Austin and was accepted to both. OU even offered me a scholarship. I ultimately chose UT, largely because they were launching a new music business program. If I could not make it as a violist in a major orchestra, why not start a record label? As I began taking business classes, I quickly realized I lacked one critical thing: capital. During my sophomore year, I started taking recording classes and fell in love with the process. At school, I had access to a world-class mic locker, a Harrison console, and more outboard gear than a new engineer could reasonably hope for. I also built a much more modest home studio in my apartment and started recording rock bands and rappers. My second reality check came when I saw an advertisement on Facebook offering studio time at a well-known, multimillion-dollar facility for $50 per hour, including an engineer. At that moment, I realized the path I was on had a relatively low ceiling. As luck would have it, my recording professor, Mark Sarisky, knew I had an interest in film and put me forward for an internship on a feature. I began editing dialogue and, with access to the school's facilities, talked my way into recording and editing Foley on the same project. My supervising sound editor was Tom Hammond, who has worked on all of Richard Linklater's films. While I did not start working with him immediately, a few years later, after a stretch of very low-budget films, Tom invited me to audition for a position at his studio. I landed the job and was immediately thrown into the fire. I worked on reality television, including Shipping Wars and My 600-lb Life. Soon after, we began work on Linklater's 12-year project, Boyhood. That was the first time I felt I was part of something truly special. I went on to work on many of Rick's films, through Hit Man. During this time, I also launched I