Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/778398
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y W I N T E R 2 0 1 7 27 Interestingly, the next movie listed is your first movie with Robert Altman, Streamers (1983). From a storyline perspective, it's 180 degrees from Play Dead. How did you get the nod to work on a project from such a revered direc- tor, given your limited credits at that point? There were only four film and TV sound mixers in Dallas at that time because it was a small market. Two of them were more into doing TV movies. Altman lost [sound mixer] Bob Gravenor after Popeye, and he needed someone with multitrack experience—but Bob was the only one really doing it. Well, Altman interviewed me and I got the gig. I actually ended up buying Bob's equipment, as well. Interestingly, Altman owned a matching set of that gear and also had this Stephens one-inch 8-track machine that was converted to work in the field so you could record iso's. So on Streamers, everybody was wired up and we shot the whole thing inside on a stage. Altman was quite the forward thinker with regards to sound if he was iso-ing everyone. Oh yeah. Early on, he didn't understand why actors' dia- logue couldn't overlap, as it naturally would, so he wouldn't stop them. Well, the sound union grieved him to the studio and they fired him. That was his inspiration, trying to get around this limitation. It grew from actors wearing iso's while a mono mix was created to recording iso's on multi- track. I think it began with Jim Webb. Then Bob Gravenor inherited it and then, I inherited it. That is wild! So, I guess, you guys are to blame for the crazy number of iso's required on set these days! [Laughs.] Yeah, I blame myself! It was inevitable, though, given the way we shoot these days with multiple cameras— it makes booming nearly impossible. And Bob Altman didn't want any limitations. He didn't want to worry about any boom shadows. In fact, for his movie The Player [1992], we even had 15 mics for the opening scene—which went to my 8-track. Well, with all those iso's—and this is back in the early '80s—how did Altman hear the mix? Well, before me, Altman would have to choose three iso's from each scene that he'd want to hear on the dailies—and they'd be printed to three stripe. Coming from the mixing world, I interfaced a Nagra so there'd be the iso's on the 8-track and a mono mix on the Nagra—which they could also use for dailies. Altman was so thrilled with this, and that's how I ingratiated myself to them. From that point, you continued working in film, but have some TV movie credits mixed in. In fact, you're even listed as a second unit director for one TV movie, 1988's Lip Service. You mentioned your early live broadcast expe- Did you, basically, learn how to engineer on the job? Yes. However, I did have a background in broadcast from college. So you studied broadcast in school? Well, my degree is actually in psychology, but most of my hours are in broadcast. So much so that right out of college, I got a job at a Dallas public TV station as a camera opera- tor. There wasn't a union presence in TV stations in Dallas at the time, so they were able to hire me. I ended up getting into directing live television as well. On the side, I was play- ing in a band. Some people knew me as a cameraman, some as a director, and some as a musician. What happened with the recording studio? Eventually, my buddy and I ended up forming a produc- tion company in addition to having the studio. We bought a video camera and other gear and would work on all types of projects. We had it in our minds that we wanted to do things that didn't really exist at that time—making music videos, in particular. However, that never really took off. You then moved on to working freelance doing location sound. How did that come about? My buddy and I ended up having a falling out, so I was working freelance doing different jobs; directing, camera, and location sound. I ended up focusing on the one where I was getting the most work and that was location sound. And, I was able to get my first sound package because I met a banker who was tired of doing home and car loans and thought the reason for my loan sounded exciting—so he leant me money. Did you just learn as you went along? My first boom operator was a former location mixer and a great teacher, so he taught me all kinds of stuff. There was also a good mix of local sound guys who would show me things and aim me in different directions. I also had a good background in physics and electronics, so all of this, along with reading and just talking with people, helped me develop. Your earliest scripted film credit listed on IMDb is Play Dead (1983). The synopsis reads: "A woman uses her magic powers and a vicious Rottweiler dog to murder her relatives." Do you recall anything from this shoot, which, by the way, has a 3.6/10 rating?! [Laughs.] I think there may have been another one prior to that, but I did a couple of low-budget horror films for this company where they'd bring in some actors who were near the end of their careers. I do remember Yvonne De Carlo [best known as Lily Munster from The Munsters] being in it. But, yes, that was how I started.