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WHAT OUR MEMBERS DO: Kira Belin, Music Editor

by uncredited
written by uncredited 8 minutes read

 

Where are you currently employed?

I am a freelance music editor in Brooklyn, NY. The majority of my work occurs remotely in my studio in DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). I join directors and editors during spotting  sessions and music reviews. In spotting sessions, the director, post-producer, picture editor and I review the film scene by scene and identify the exact moments on screen that require music. Music reviews are discussions about whether a specific piece of music is working for a scene and how (if necessary) it could be improved to be more emotionally resonant. I attend final score recording sessions with composers. I also work in person at dub stages during final re-recording mixes. That’s when I catch up with my colleagues in the sound department and problem-solve music matters on the fly.

Current projects?

I recently started working on a musical/rock-opera titled “O’Dessa” that will be released in early 2025. Earlier this year, I collaborated on a feature, “The Friend,” that will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September. I also worked on an A24 fantasy film, “Death of a Unicorn,” and about a month ago, I wrapped up the final mix on a horror film from New Regency.

Describe your job.

Music editor is a vesica piscis between picture, sound and music departments. You get to work with the director/showrunner on creating a temporary music score that establishes the emotional and stylistic languages of the project. You then work closely with the composer on developing, organizing, recording and showcasing their original material. You work in tandem with music supervisors on selecting and presenting source material and needledrops. You are heavily involved during the final mix, providing any support that the sound team and re-recording mixer might need. 

Who gave you your first break?

It took a while. Unfortunately, there is no longer a formal path to becoming a music editor. Barely any projects have a budget for an assistant music editor, a position where you can learn more about the craft while tangibly and practically being of help in a music department. In addition, my schooling was not in the film world, but in arts and music. I have had two viable, involved creative careers before transitioning into film. In retrospect, I think it was helpful to have worked in visual arts first, in order to conceptually be able to bridge music and moving image. However, I had no understanding of how the post-production process worked or how to break into this field. After years of my futile bounced cold-call emails to other music editors in NY, a veteran editor, Dan Farkas, took a chance and arranged for me to shadow him. First, I was a fly on a wall on the “Warrior” TV series, just watching him work. Sometime later, I assisted him on a Netflix TV series, “The Sinner.”

What was your first union job?

It was a small horror feature: “You Should Have Left” by Blumhouse Productions. I was hired for the final three weeks of the project: get the score ready for the mix; the re-recording mix itself; and a few days of preparing music deliverables/wrap-up.

What credits or projects are you proudest of, and why?

All of them.  A) I still don’t believe I get to do the job that I love, considering how impenetrable this field seemed earlier in my career. B) Every single credit means so much because I get to learn more about myself and grow as a professional through every project.

What was your biggest challenge in your job (or on a particular project) and how did you overcome/solve it?

Most of my challenges are self-inflicted, and the only way to overcome them is to keep working. I tend to improve professionally by embarking on new projects.

What was the most fun you’ve had at work?

I’m having a great time on a project I’m currently working on. Although I joined the team after the score was mostly finalized, I get to attend recording sessions and score mixes. It’s such a significant part of the process because we bring to life the story and characters on the screen through balancing the elements, augmenting harmonies and refining the blend of instruments. For example, there was a rather solemn scene with a heavy brass instrumentation underscoring the moment, but by highlighting certain synth textures, we managed to tie together the hero’s grief to a dream-like vision that is woven into the final act. This has allowed us musically to bookend the tale in the most cohesive manner.

Jobwise, what do you hope to be doing five years from now?

The ultimate hope is to learn how to have more fun at work in whatever form the job takes.

What are your outside activities, hobbies, passions?

I keep my hand on the pulse of sonic art installations and multi-sensory experiences that involve music —and taste buds! I’m about to start an online course taught by a Michelin-star chef that explores relationships between taste, sight and sound. I am very curious how all human senses are connected (which in a weird way is an extension of what I do professionally). I also have two Lagotto pups that keep me very busy. They are very musical dogs, and I love coming up with marching tunes for our leash walks; it’s hard to believe it, but I find that they behave better on the leash if I sing or whistle to them.

Favorite TV program(s)?  Why?

I am a big fan on Noah Hawley’s projects. Whether “Fargo” or “Legion,” he makes outstanding music choices!

What advice would you offer to someone interested in pursuing your line of work?

In my opinion, it’s a three-dimensional career.

There is a technical aspect and importance of keeping up with the latest music technologies, Pro Tools releases, new audio plugins, music libraries, cue sheet maintenance software, deliverables  requirements, etc.

There is a social aspect. Being able to read the room. Picking up on nuances and intricacies of workplace dynamics. Establishing a rapport with director, producers, pictures editors, AE’s, sound department, music supervisor, composer. It’s a delicate web of collaborations and ideas where everyone wants to be heard.

There is a conceptual ingredient. All your creative choices are meant to support the story unfolding on the screen. Therefore, you have to have a broad knowledge base of music aesthetics and styles to underpin your technical and theoretical choices.

Was there ever a circumstance when you had to rely on the Guild for help or assistance?

There was a small project early on in my career that didn’t work out the way I had hoped it would. The East Coast branch representative at the time stepped in and advocated on my behalf. They also made sure that all contractual obligations were fulfilled by the hiring party, which I would have overlooked due to my inexperience.

Is there anything you’d like to say to your fellow Guild members, some words of encouragement?

I sincerely hope the industry will bounce back in the next six months and everyone will return to work. Crossing fingers for 2025 to become the new Golden Age for Film and TV — although perhaps not Golden, but a Copper Age? It seems to be the most in-demand metal for clean-energy technologies right now, so let’s hope there is a sustainable future for all of us in the Guild.

 

Compiled by David Bruskin. 

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Features

Veteran Composer and Music Editor Shie Rozow Talks About His New Book Aimed at Pros and Fans Alike

by uncredited
written by uncredited 6 minutes read

By Kristin Marguerite Doidge

Composer and music editor Shie Rozow has worked on hundreds of hours of television and more than 150 feature films, including major international blockbusters like “The Flash,” “The Lost City,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Hustle & Flow.”

Armed with over 25 years of industry experience and driven by his lifelong passion for music and storytelling, Rozow realized he wanted to pay it forward by sharing his knowledge with the greater editing and film community. 

“Over the years, I noticed that many aspiring and novice filmmakers, as well as composers, music editors, and music supervisors recognize the need for music but struggle with figuring out where and how to use music in their productions,” he said. “Some feel intimidated by music, too. As someone who’s created countless temp scores, this is something I’ve been doing for many years — finding the tone of a film/TV show, where to add music, where not to, and the role the music should play.”

What began as an idea for a Facebook group evolved into a four-year labor of love that culminated in the publication of his new book, “Every Note Tells a Story,” a practical handbook that provides filmmakers and directors with an illuminating overview of the film scoring process. Featuring a wealth of handy resources and advice, personal anecdotes, expert film-scoring strategies, and real-world case studies of these lessons in action, readers will discover how to enhance and enrich their storytelling through the transformative impact of music.

“Music is yin to film’s yang,” wrote legendary editor/sound designer and three-time Academy Award winner Walter Murch, ACE, in his endorsement of the book. “They have co-existed since the dawn of cinema. Shie Rozow’s ‘Every Note Tells a Story’ is a superb and comprehensive guide to how music and motion pictures work together and complement each other, probing the difficult questions of correct composition, performance, and placement.”

CineMontage recently spoke with Rozow about how he hopes the book will be utilized by the next generation of aspiring composers, editors, and filmmakers.

CineMontage: Your first book was “Preparing for Scoring Sessions,” published in March last year. How does this book differ?

Rozow: ‘Preparing for Scoring Sessions’ is a much shorter book and is a detailed practical guide to everything from scheduling and budgeting to preparing Pro Tools sessions for recording and mixing, to delivering final stems to the dub stage. It’s very specific to that topic, while ‘Every Note Tells a Story’ discusses the role of music, how it affects the story, delves into how the process works, the different roles of the music team, and culminates in a collection of case studies discussing real-world projects. It’s much broader and about four times bigger in terms of page count.

CineMontage: Who do you hope will read it, and what do you hope they’ll do afterward?

Rozow: The primary audience is filmmakers and people interested in working in music for film/TV/Games. This includes aspiring directors, producers, editors, composers, music editors, and music supervisors, though I tried to write it in such a way that would be interesting for film music fans, too, who want a glimpse behind the scenes into how it all comes together. I wrote it in a very modular way, so one can just jump around and read only the parts they’re interested in, or they can read it from cover to cover. I have a pretty extensive index to help those who wish to jump around. My hope is that readers will get a better understanding of the different ways music can help tell a story as well as how the process works and who does what. Ideally it will remain a useful resource that they can refer to when they’re working on projects.

CineMontage: How did you decide on the book’s organization?

Rozow: I realized that, broadly speaking, I was discussing three topics: how music functions in visual media, how the placement of music affects the story, and how the stylistic approach to the previous two topics affects the story, so those became the first three chapters.

However, at the urging of a few close friends with whom I discussed the book, I expanded it to describe who does what within the music team and how the process works. Also, I added two chapters on terminology (one focusing on music terminology, the other on legal matters regarding music), and I added the Q&A case studies, which offer glimpses into real-world projects ranging from micro-budget shorts to documentaries, to feature films of varying budgets to an episodic TV series. Finally, there’s an appendix with sample spotting notes, a sample deal memo, sample cue sheet, and more.

TAPE MUSIC: The mixtape from “Guardians of the Galaxy,” one of the films Rozow worked on.

TAPE MUSIC: The mixtape from “Guardians of the Galaxy,” one of the films Rozow worked on.

CineMontage: A number of talented people contributed to those case studies in the book. What kind of insights did they provide?

Rozow: These case studies invite the reader into the mind of the filmmakers and composers who created them. I’ve never seen a book that has anything quite like it — discussing actual projects with the people who made them. In a way, it’s like letting the reader pick the filmmaker’s brain about these specific projects, something they likely will never get a chance to do in real life.

CineMontage: What are you working on now?

Rozow: I’m currently music editing a film for Netflix. I’m about to start scoring a documentary miniseries for Max, and in my free time, I’m working on two different albums — one for a music library and the other just for fun.

CineMontage: Where can members find your book and other resources?

Rozow: “Every Note Tells a Story” is available through all major retailers, as well as directly on my own website (www. shierozow.com). There are hardcover, paperback, e-book and audiobook versions available. My other book, “Preparing for Scoring Sessions,” is also available as a paperback or e-book, and it was recently added to the curriculum at Berklee College of Music’s film and media scoring major.

Music editors and composers can also find other resources on my website’s blog (https://shierozow.com/the-blog/), including two free Google Sheet templates that I created: the SR show cue manager, which is designed to help the music team keep track of the progress of their project, and the SR project budget estimate template, which is designed to help people create budgets for their projects. I use both regularly and both are free for anyone who wishes to use them.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Web Exclusives

Mike James Gallagher and Anthony Vanchure Talk Sound on the Al Yankovic Biopic ‘Weird’

by uncredited
written by uncredited 12 minutes read

By Patrick Z. McGavin

 

“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” is as subversive as its pop-song parodist subject, who rode the MTV zeitgeist on his way to become a cultural phenomenon.

 

Expanded from a short fake trailer made by the comedian turned filmmaker Eric Appel, the movie has a blast charting the creative genesis of Weird Al’s hits like  “My Bologna,” “Eat It,” and “Another One Rides the Bus.” Daniel Radcliffe has won acclaim for his portrayal of the frizzy-haired, accordion-pumping musical satirist.

 

The freewheeling form and style allowed main sound designer and sound editor Mike James Gallagher and supervising sound editor Anthony Vanchure a vast range of possibilities in constructing a versatile, dense and particular sound.

 

CineMontage: What drew you to work on this project?

 

Mike James Gallagher: The first thing that struck me, and what also got me excited, was the genre-hopping. It starts out at the crazy hospital scene, so we really took a lot of time to flush that out. Then there is this sound effect sequence where the whole movie rewinds. There’s a full-on fistfight, the polka party, and another scene where the dad smashes the accordion. That’s just reel one.

 

Everything just kept coming. I was struck by that immediately, and I knew it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. I was excited to do so much stuff. That stayed with us for the whole movie.

 

Anthony Vanchure: From the very beginning, in talking with Weird Al and Eric, they wanted it to sound authentic and earnest. If Al is playing at a bar, we want it to sound like Al is playing at a bar. They did not want the sound to just be a dry recording. With each scene, the music is mixed to match the environment.

 

In the big arena scenes, we did a lot of work with the crowds to make it sound like we’re there with the audience, like it’s being performed in the arena. We were very fortunate to have Al with us in the mix, pointing us to how the music would be sounding. He’s been touring for more than 40 years. He’d say, “It would be bigger.” He always pointed us in the direction of how the music should be sounding.

 

Mike James Gallagher: Weird Al was all about the details. He re-recorded all the music so that we’d have all the stems for the mix. Every time the microphone left Daniel Radcliffe’s mouth for even a little bit, he wanted to make sure it all seemed real. All of his detailed music notes were pretty awesome.

Mike James Gallagher, sound editor. PHOTO: Courtesy Michael Gallagher.

 

CineMontage: How did you weave together all the disparate parts—dialogue tracks, performance tracks, music tracks, and also contrapuntal background resources like radio or video?

 

Anthony Vanchure: Very carefully. A big example of that is the “My Bologna” scene, where Al comes up with the lyrics. You have the music coming from the radio. You have his roommates all talking, and you have him opening the refrigerator, and formuling the ideas in his head. You have the score. It was a very delicate balance. We definitely did a lot of passes to make sure the radio is hitting right when you want it to, and the score is hitting right when you want it to, and then bam!, you’re back into Al’s head space when he hears the lyrics so you can hear his dialogue.

 

CineMontage: Did you make a point of researching a lot of the early videos, or did you want to come at the material in a fresh way?

 

Anthony Vanchure: It was very hard for me to not want to go back. I grew up a Weird Al fan. About 10 years ago, I dressed up as Weird Al for Halloween.

 

Mike James Gallagher: For me, this is like one of my first memories of sitting around with my family and waiting for the premiere of Weird Al’s “I’m Fat.” That was one of the first ones I went back to once I got the job. That video is full of the most ridiculous, silly sound effects, all in one place, that you ever heard. It was a fun way to start this creative journey, because it’s not at all what we did.

 

CineMontage: How did you calibrate your work to fit the greater scope as the performance goes from intimate settings to major arenas?

 

Anthony Vanchure: It was based on what Eric and Al were looking for with those scenes. The bar example was perfect. They were like, “This is a dive bar, with bikers, and angry people,” or what they called the heroin and whisky crowd.” We made sure to make that bar sound. We had a fist fight in the beginning.

 

Anthony Vanchure, sound editor. PHOTO: Courtesy Anthony Vanchure.

We wanted to make the bar sound as uninviting as possible. During the performance, the crowd turns, and they love Weird Al. They start singing along. It was important that we created this tonal shift from an angry bar crowd to actually loving Al.

 

It was actually my birthday back in July. We had a barbecue. Mike and I said, “You know what would be great if we recorded all of our friends singing along to ‘I Love Rocky Road,’ to really help sell the scene. We got them in my garage, and we recorded them signing along to the song. Mike did a great job of cutting that back into all the sounds that we had, making it a grand sequence of sound.

 

CineMontage: Weird Al helped write the script, and he acts in the film. Is it true he contributed directly to the mix?

 

Mike James Gallagher: In the big performance scene, the “Like a Surgeon,” performance, Daniel Radcliffe is yelling out questions to the crowd and they’re all yelling back to him, “No.” This was a stadium full of people. We were in the middle of the mix, and we still didn’t have that “No,” sound. We weren’t sure what we were going to do. We were going to use a plug-in, or loop group stuff, but it wasn’t big enough. Anthony just kind of threw out while Al was on the line.

 

He said, “Al, do you think you could record your crowd tonight?” Al was in Nebraska performing that night. Al chimed in. “Was that a serious request?” He got so excited about recording the crowd. He went and recorded the crowd screaming, “No.” He even said, “I’m going to get like five different levels of reactions from them.” It made the local news the next morning in Nebraska. “Weird Al makes local crowd movie stars.”

 

CineMontage: A lot of what you are describing makes the process sound very serendipitous.

 

Mike James Gallagher: I have a story about the comedic sound. Al’s mentor Dr. Demento (Rainn Wilson) is trying to adopt Weird Al at the end of the movie. When Al walks away, he squeezes his bicycle horn very slowly and makes this very sad sound. The very first thing I did with that was put in this slide whistle.

 

That’s probably what they’re going for. It was immediately thrown out. I wondered what we were going to do, maybe trumpets or trombones. Everything was rejected. Up until that point, Eric and Al were so game for all the crazy things we were bringing to the movie as far as sound effects.

 

This was hitting them the wrong way. Apparently during the temp offline edit, they had thrown in dog toy sounds. The picture editor, Jamie Kennedy, who was great to work with, said we should use her dog’s toy. We recorded that. I said, “That’s genius.”  I went home, and recorded a bunch of dog toy sounds to create that noise. It was finally approved, and everybody applauded. You never realize what is going to be the sound that is the trickiest to get.

 

CineMontage: The time frame was the early 1970s to the mid-80s. Have the sounds of accordions changed a lot?

 

Anthony Vanchure: You obviously want to play your sounds for the moment that you’re in. Most of the accordion stuff was given to us by Al. Accordions now have synthesizers, and you can do crazy sound effects. We’re playing the classic accordion sounds.

 

Mike James Gallagher: There is so much accordion instruction, I have this library for pro sound effects. There are all of these dissonant accordion hits, and it was really useful because the accordion gets smashed on stage, it gets smashed by his dad. I was just searching for accordions in my library.

 

CineMontage: How did you first meet?

 

Anthony Vanchure: Mike and I met at this monthly video event called Channel 101. Each week people submit their five-minute video for their idea of a TV show. It was a very communal event. You’d go to these theaters, watch the videos, laugh and have a good time. We had a mutual friend, and we just hit it off.

 

CineMontage: Is your creative partnership hands on, or is it more intuitive?

 

Anthony Vanchure: It’s both. Mike is an amazing editor. He has great ideas, and then we sit and review and watch things together, and then we just ask ourselves what we can do to make it better, or what’s missing. It’s a very collaborative relationship. It helps that we’re good friends.

 

Mike James Gallagher: Anthony and I generally have the same taste in comedy, movies, and pop culture in general. That is an asset. He knows all of my references, and I know all of his references. It all comes together very easily. I’d say that is the intuitive part. As far as hands on, he comes over to my studio and we go over stuff. We hang out. We have drinks together, and talk about work.

 

CineMontage: Cinematographers have an eye, editors a touch or feel. Do you have a particular ear, or sense of sound?

 

Anthony Vanchure: You have to. I don’t really think about it. I don’t want to say it comes naturally to me. If a script gets sent to me, sounds are already just playing in my head, “This would be a good idea to do this, or this.” That comes in line with editing.

 

Mike James Gallagher: It’s a good question. It’s all subjective. There was a scene where Weird Al or someone else picks up the accordion. I went looking for some accordion percussion sounds in the library.

 

I popped it in. At the time, I just thought, no big deal. I just remember when Al picked up the accordion on stage, me and Anthony just looked at each other and said, “That was perfect.” It was the tiniest sound, but we knew that it was just perfect.

 

Patrick Z. McGavin is a Chicago writer and cultural journalist. He maintains the Substack blog “Shadows and Dreams” (www.patrickzmcgavin.substack.com).

 

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AwardsIndustryLaborNews

11th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards

by Jeffrey Burman
written by Jeffrey Burman 1 minutes read

Reprinted from Deadline Hollywood by Brandon Choe on April 11, 2021.

The Guild of Music Supervisors held their 11th annual awards virtually Sunday, celebrating outstanding achievement in the craft of music supervision in film, television, documentary, games, advertising and trailers.

Quincy Jones received this year’s Icon Award while Maureen Crowe, the founding President of the Guild of Music Supervisors, accepted the Legacy Award.

Music legend Stevie Wonder made a surprise visit and gave a heartfelt tribute to the accomplishments of Jones.

Pop star Billie Eilish and her brother, Finneas O’Connell, made a cameo appearance to present an award at today’s teleconference show. …

Deadline Hollywood 4/11

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What Our Members Do

What Our Members Do: Charles Sydnor, Music Editor

by uncredited
written by uncredited 7 minutes read

Where are you currently employed?
I am at home, waiting for the world to open.

Current projects?

As soon as things open up, we will mix a film directed by Dennis Dugan.

Describe your job.

I help tell stories by placing music to picture. It ranges from the mundane, like cutting source music into perspective for the dubbing mixers, to the more creative such as constructing the score for key montage sequences. I spot the shows with the producers and composers and music supervisors to decide where the music should go and what purpose it serves. I often participate in the song cue selection and placement. Ideally, I get the music approved by the show runners before the mix, prepare all of the music for the mix, make changes on the stage if needed, prepare cue sheets so everyone entitled can get performance royalties, and I deliver files to the studios for archiving. On some shows I create the temp score using existing score or library music for studio executive screening. I am a liaison between the composer and editorial department and the one who executes for the showrunners the final changes they want made as they finish their shows.

How did you first become interested in this line of work?

I’ve known since I was a boy I wanted to make music and have always just gone from the next indicated step to the next in order to end up where I am now.

Who gave you your first break?

My older brother’s high school best friend Randall Wallace moved from Lynchburg, Va., to Los Angeles and became a screenwriter. He grew friendly with the TV composer Mike Post. At the time, I was playing in bands and writing commercial jingles and corporate soundtracks in Richmond, Va. Randall invited me out to meet Mike, so I decided I should just go for it. I drove cross-country and presented myself at Mike’s office. I eventually got a job doing studio cartage for his sessions (as well as many car washes and grocery-store runs). After a while, I worked in his studio as a programmer and recording engineer. Later, I worked for Mike and John Bidasio’s studio/editorial company, Westwind, where I helped the music editors with technical issues. Eventually, I started to work as a music editor myself.

I’ve gotten a few big breaks since. Music supervisor (and now music editor) Julie Houlihan has sent a few things my way, including “Malcolm In The Middle.” Producer Linwood Boomer took a big chance on me and changed my life.

What was your first union job?

I actually first joined the Sound Local 695 as a scoring mixer, mixing live sessions for TV shows such as “Hunter.” Later, 695 merged with the Editors Guild. One of my first union jobs as music editor was the pilot and first season of “New York Undercover,” a tumultuous show which provided a few stories that are entertaining in hindsight.

What credits or projects are you proudest of, and why?

I was the composer and music editor on “Malcom In The Middle,” and I am proud of my work there. My composing for that show was nominated for an Emmy. There are some big musical moments in “Sons of Anarchy” that were rewarding to create, working closely with composer Bob Thiele, editors including Hunter Via and Jordan Goldman, and especially executive producer Kurt Sutter.

What was your biggest challenge in your job (or on a particular project) and how did you overcome/solve it?

Finding the right balance between my ambition to improve my professional situation versus taking for granted the opportunities I currently have has been a big challenge. My daily practice of meditation, yoga, and personal creativity helps me see things more clearly and focus on the things I can control. The more I am concerned with others, e.g. comparing myself to others’ accomplishments and talents, worrying about others’ perceptions of me, etc., the more prone I am to resentment. Working every day on my own creative projects is key to keeping me cheerful when I show up to work.

What was the most fun you’ve had at work?

Every day at “Malcolm In The Middle,” I was grateful to be there. We all brought our best in an environment of creativity and mutual respect and much laughter. Working with Victor Fresco on the excellent “Santa Clarita Diet” was a delight.

Jobwise, what do you hope to be doing five years from now?

Same as now — I hope to work with kind, creative, intelligent people who appreciate my talents and enjoy collaborating to make the best work possible.

What are your outside activities, hobbies, passions?

Meditation, yoga, fitness, delicious plant-based food, my two Chihuahuas, traveling the world with my love Emily Lawless. I create music: orchestral concert works, chamber music, songs. I am currently finishing an album of guitar-based songs.

Favorite movie(s)? Why?

“O Brother Where Art Thou” — I love its sprawling spectacle, its music, its link to classic literature. “Pulp Fiction” — its pure entertainment value, innovative form, dialogue. I enjoy the way Quentin Tarantino uses music in all his films. “Idiocracy” — though it’s not as funny living in it. “Shawshank Redemption” and its iconic score. “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Adaptation,” “Being John Malkovich” — I love Charlie Kaufman stories.

Favorite TV program(s)? Why?

“The Wire” — I was sad to finish watching that series, I felt so close to the characters.

“Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” — gripping and unexpected storytelling executed at a high level. “Handmaid’s Tale” — though currently, the authoritarian government depicted is more uncomfortable than entertaining. “Veep” and “Silicon Valley” — great comic writing, great performances. “High Maintenance” — fascinating, unusual, and real characters. Great music too. “Atlanta” — Donald Glover’s genius. Lately I’ve really enjoyed the synthesized scores of Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor in “Watchmen,” Labrinth’s “Euphoria” (both the score itself and the way music editors Bryant Fuhrmann and Jason Newman have it weave in and out of the other music), and the score to “Devs” by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury.

Do you have an industry mentor?

I don’t currently have a mentor, though I do always get a lot out of my talks with Bob Thiele. Sometimes I will understand something Mike Post said to me decades ago and I’ll marvel at both his wisdom and my thickness. Early on, some of the old Wrecking Crew musicians like Gary Coleman, Tommy Morgan, and Mike Melvoin would offer kind guidance. Now I try to learn from literally everyone I meet.

What advice would you offer to someone interested in pursuing your line of work?

My best advice is to ask someone else as I am a bit of a cautionary tale. As for myself, whenever I have been less than kind and polite I’ve regretted it. I regret being polite only once with one producer. Learning lots of skills has helped me stay working, though some might say it’s better to be known to do one thing really well. I like learning new things, it keeps it interesting.

Thinking is fine, but I can think about something to exhaustion and literally nothing has changed. The more I include other people and take action, the more real things get. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve seen that generally things work out; I just need to show up and put in the work. The media I work in and the tools I use will change, but working with others telling stories will always be the heart of what I do.

Was there ever a circumstance when you had to rely on the Guild for help or assistance?

I have been extremely grateful for the health insurance provided through our Guild. I’ve also appreciated the advocacy the Guild has done on my behalf from time to time.

Is there anything you’d like to say to your fellow Guild members, some words of encouragement?

As we face unprecedented turmoil and change and uncertainty, professionally we are better off united in the Guild. May we emerge from this challenge better than before and may we be kind to each other.

Compiled by Jeff Burman. 

Interested in being featured in What Our Members Do? Please email CineMontage editor Scott Collins at SCollins@editorsguild.com. 

 

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What Our Members Do

What Our Members Do: Larry Mah, Music Editor

by uncredited
written by uncredited 8 minutes read

Where are you currently employed?

I’m freelance, with a loan-out company. I work with a lot of different teams of people. I prefer it that way, having seen friends be put into tough situations when their primary or sole client decides to stop working with them for whatever reason.

 Current projects?

“Tenet“

“The Comey Rule”

“The Mandalorian”

“Free Guy”

“Perry Mason”

“The Orville”

Describe your job.

I work primarily in music for movies and TV. I’m what they call a Pro Tools operator. Even though there are so many jobs in our industry that use Pro Tools, the work that I do somehow is the one that is named after the software. In the simplest terms, I run the recording, video, and prerecord rigs during the recording sessions and also edit the musical performances during and after the sessions. For preparation, I receive musical files from the composer or their assistant, video files from the music editor, and recording session specs and track layouts from the recording engineer, then put that together into .ptx sessions for each cue to be recorded.

During the recording sessions, there is a lot of pressure on the Pro Tools seat because there’s a lot of money being spent per hour when you have about 80 musicians, plus the studio and other technical personnel. I never want to be the bottleneck in the session, so efficiency and speed is especially important. I actually enjoy the pressure and challenge of the job. I think I may be unusual in that way.

Because of the current pandemic, things have been quite different during the few months that we’ve been on lockdown. The projects that I’ve been working on use live musicians, and everyone records their part individually at their own home studio. They are recording to click and synth mockups and aren’t hearing each other, so when I receive the material, the tuning, timing, phrasing, and dynamics aren’t nearly as cohesive as they would be in a group recording situation. I’m receiving around 60 individual recordings on some of these projects, so it takes a fair bit of work to make it all work together as a piece of music. In the end, it comes out sounding different than recording at a scoring stage, but it sounds surprisingly good after I send it to the mixer and they work their magic.

How did you first become interested in this line of work?

I started as a musician when I was seven years old. I played in club bands for about eight years until my early 20s. I really loved when we’d go to the studio to record, so it was a natural step to start working in a studio in my mid-20s. That led me to working as the recording engineer for the non-orchestral material in the first “Matrix” movie (1999) with composer Don Davis. Don had a long-time working relationship with Armin Steiner who did all of his orchestral recording. Armin asked me if I would run Pro Tools for the Matrix sessions at Fox, and I said yes. It was my first time working on a scoring stage with an orchestra. Little did I know that would be the beginning of a career as a Pro Tools operator.

Who gave you your first break?

John Du Prez gave me my first movie score recording/mixing job on the first “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movie (1990). I did several movies with John and still work with him to this day. Armin Steiner gave me my introduction to being a Pro Tools operator. For years after “The Matrix,” he would always ask me to work with him on whatever movie he was doing. I loved working with him. He always gets a great sound, has a deep well of great industry stories, and is a lot of fun to be around.

What was your first union job?

That’s a good question! I worked on many, many, union movies before I was ever in the union. Pro Tools operator was a very new position when I started in 1999. When I talked to the union  about joining IATSE in 2006, it was difficult for me to come up with the qualification of 300 hours on non-union movies. I had plenty of hours on union movies but not non-union. They asked me, “How are you working on union movies if you’re not in the union?” I said, “I don’t know, they just hire me!” Fortunately, the requirement of documenting 300 hours of work on non-union movies was waived for me because of this.

What credits or projects are you proudest of, and why?

I still love “The Matrix” — I think it’s an amazing score and movie. WALL-E (2008) is another one that I love — fantastic music to go with a great movie. I feel extremely fortunate that I get to work with a lot of really talented composers and mixers.

What was your biggest challenge in your job (or on a particular project) and how did you overcome/solve it?

The one that comes to mind is working on the Academy Awards rehearsal/prerecord sessions during the week before the show. Beyoncé was to perform that year, and the orchestra recorded the track without her being there. When the execs and arranger were happy with the recording, the orchestra was dismissed for the day. But when Beyoncé arrived to rehearse and record her part, she wasn’t at all happy with the arrangement because a section of the song had been left out that culminated in a break/climax that really showcased her voice. I asked them to give me 15 minutes. They left the room, and with different tricks like transposing, time stretching, and the general magic you can do with Pro Tools, I was able to manufacture the arrangement that Beyoncé wanted.

What was the most fun you’ve had at work?

I almost always have fun at work. It usually doesn’t even feel like work to me, which is the best kind of work there is, right? However, I have to say that working on Thomas Newman’s projects is the most fun. I’ve worked with him since 2005. The rate of laughs per hour is extremely high.

Jobwise, what do you hope to be doing five years from now?

I’d be happy to be doing more of the same of what I’m doing now. I hope the business doesn’t change so much that we stop doing much live recording of orchestras here in Los Angeles. We are in a bit of a golden age right now. There is so much content being created that requires music. Hopefully, the powers that be don’t screw things up and drive the business away.

What are your outside activities, hobbies, passions?

My main hobby is photography. Mostly, I like to take pictures of people. I also play piano at least a little bit most every day. I always like to find something to learn about and get better at. I hope that over the next 20 years, I’ll become 20 years’ worth of better at things than I am now.

Favorite movie(s)? Why?

Some of my favorite movies are “West Side Story” (1961), “Groundhog Day” (1993), “American Beauty” (1999), and “Lost In Translation” (2003). I love a movie that makes me really feel something. (Shhh — don’t tell anyone, but I like it when a movie makes me cry.)

Favorite TV program(s)? Why?

“Breaking Bad” (2008-2013), “24” (2001-2010+), “Survivor” (2000-present), and “Homeland” (2011-2020). These are the kind of shows that you wish you didn’t have to wait until the next week to see what happens next. They are the equivalent of page-turner novels.

Do you have an industry mentor?

Armin Steiner, and also Steve Kempster. Steve is one of the smartest and most evolved humans that I know! I tell him that if we need a representative for the human race when aliens arrive, I’m picking him. Also, I appreciate the company of — and sharing knowledge with — a couple of other Pro Tools operators, Kevin Globerman and Vini Cirilli. Smart guys!

What advice would you offer to someone interested in pursuing your line of work?

Find a way to be in the studio a LOT, whether it’s your own studio or someone else’s. The many hours of learning the craft is an adventure, not work. Learn how to use a macro program like Keyboard Maestro to become more efficient. Find a team to be part of. Always look for a better way to do something. Observe someone else’s workflow — you learn so much that way!

Was there ever a circumstance when you had to rely on the Guild for help or assistance?

As far as any work disputes or getting paid, no. It’s been enormously helpful to have the MPIPHP health insurance when needed, like for a couple of procedures for my wife. It’s so nice to know that I don’t have to worry about that end of things.

Is there anything you’d like to say to your fellow Guild members, some words of encouragement?

I’m happy to be included in this group of professionals who have such a high standard of excellence. What we do isn’t easy, but it’s work that we love.

Compiled by David Bruskin. 

To be considered for this feature, email Scott Collins at SCollins@editorsguild.com. 

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Awards

2020 Emmys: Here Are All the MPEG Members Nominated for Awards

by Scott Collins
written by Scott Collins 10 minutes read

by Scott Collins and Tylene Joye

The pandemic hasn’t stopped the Emmy train.

Nominations were announced Tuesday for the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, and once again members of the Motion Picture Editors Guild cleaned up in multiple post-production categories.

Following is a complete list of MPEG members who received nominations. The ABC telecast for the Emmys will be held on September 20, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Television Academy has yet to announce the date for the Creative Arts Awards, which in recent years was divided into two ceremonies.

Congratulations to all!

 

 

PICTURE EDITORS:

MULTI-CAMERA PICTURE EDITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES

– One Day at a Time “Boundaries” | Pop TV

–Chery Campsmith, ACE, Editor

 

-The Conners “Slappy Holidays” | ABC

–Brian Schnuckel, ACE, Editor

 

-Will & Grace “We Love Lucy” | NBC

–Peter Beyt, ACE, Editor

 

-Will & Grace “What A Dump” | NBC

–Joseph Fulton, Editor

 

 

PICTURE EDITING FOR A NONFICTION PROGRAM

-Beastie Boys Story | Apple TV+

–Jeff Buchanan, ACE, Editor

–Zoe Schack, Editor

 

-McMillion$ “Episode 3” | HBO

–Jody McVeigh-Schultz, Supervising Editor

–Lane Farnham, Supervising Editor

–Scott Hanson, Editor

 

-Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem And Madness “Cult of Personality” | Netflix

–Doug Abel, ACE, Editor

–Geoffrey Richman, ACE, Editor

 

 

PICTURE EDITING FOR A STRUCTURED REALITY OR COMPETITION PROGRAM

-Lego Masters “Mega City Block” | FOX

–Samantha Diamond, Editor

–Dan Hancox, Editor

–Karl Kimbrough, Editor

–Ian Kaufman, Editor

–Kevin Benson, Editor

–Josh Young, Editor

–Jon Bilicki, Editor

 

 

-RuPaul’s Drag Race “I’m That Bitch” | VH1

–Jamie Martin, Lead Editor

–Michael Roha, Editor

–Paul Cross, Editor

–Michael Deis, Editor

–Ryan Mallick, Editor

 

-Survivor “It’s Like a Survivor Economy” | CBS

–Michael Greer, Supervising Editor

–Chad Bertalotto, Editor

–Evan Mediuch, Editor

–James Ciccarello, Editor

–Jacob Teixeira, Editor

 

-Top Chef “The Jonathan Gold Standard” | Bravo

–Matt Reynolds, Editor

 

 

PICTURE EDITING FOR AN UNSTRUCTURED REALITY PROGRAM

-Cheer “God Blessed Texas” | Netflix

–Kate Hackett, Editor

–Daniel McDonald, Editor

–Mark Morgan, Editor

–Sharon Weaver, Editor

 

-Life Below Zero “The New World” | National Geographic

–Jennifer Nelson, Editor

 

-RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked “The Ball Ball” | VH1

–Kendra Pasker, Lead Editor

 

 

PICTURE EDITING FOR VARIETY PROGRAMMING

-Dave Chappelle: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor | PBS

–Brad Gilson, Editor

–Pi Ware, Package Editor

–Brian Forbes, Package Editor

 

-Last Week Tonight With John Oliver “Eat Sh!t, Bob! (segment)” | HBO

–Ryan Barger, Editor

 

The Daily Show With Tevor Noah “Trump’s Coronavirus Address (Bloopers Included) And Trevor’s Audience Tribute Song” | Comedy Central

–Elinar Westerlund, Editor

SINGLE-CAMERA PICTURE EDITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES

-Curb Your Enthusiasm “Elizabeth, Margaret And Larry” | HBO

–Steve Rasch, ACE, Editor

 

-Insecure “Lowkey Trying” | HBO

–Nena Erb, ACE, Editor

–Lynarion Hubbard, Additional Editor

 

-The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel “A Jewish Girl Walks Into The Apollo…” | Prime Video

–Kate Sanford, ACE, Editor

–Tim Streeto, ACE Editor

 

-What We Do In The Shadows “Resurrection” | FX Networks

–Yana Gorskaya, ACE, Editor

–Dane McMaster

 

 

SINGLE-CAMERA PICTURE EDITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES

-Ozark “Wartime” | Netflix

–Cindy Mollo, ACE, Editor

 

-Ozark “Fire Pink” | Netflix

–Vikash Patel, Editor

 

-Stranger Things “Chapter Eight: The Battle Of Starcourt” | Netflix

–Dean Zimmerman, ACE, Editor

–Katheryn Naranjo, Editor

 

-Succession “DC” | HBO

–Ken Eluto, ACE, Editor

 

-Succession “This Is Not For Tears” | HBO

–Venya Bruk, Additional Editor

 

-The Mandalorian “Chapter 2: The Child” | Disney+

–Andrew S. Eisen, Editor

 

-The Mandalorian “Chapter 4: Sanctuary” | Disney+

–Dana E. Glauberman, ACE, Editor

–Dylan Firshein, Additional Editor

 

-The Mandalorian “Chapter 8: Redemption” | Disney+

–Jeff Seibenick, Editor

 

 

SINGLE-CAMERA PICTURE EDITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE

-El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie | Movie

–Skip Macdonald, ACE, Editor

 

-Mrs. America “Phyllis” | FX Networks

–Robert Komatsu, ACE, Editor

 

-Watchmen “This Extraordinary Being” | HBO

–Anna Hauger, Editor

 

-Watchmen “A God Walks In to Abar”| HBO

–Henk Van Eeghen, ACE, Editor

 

-Watchmen “It’s Summer And We’re Running Out Of Ice” | HBO

–David Eisenberg, Editor

 

 

SOUND:

SOUND MIXING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (HALF-HOUR) AND ANIMATION

-Modern Family “Finale Part 1” | ABC

–Stephen Tibbo, CAS, Production Mixer

–Brian R. Harman, CAS, Re-Recording Mixer

–Peter Bawiec, Re-Recording Mixer

–Dean Okrand, CAS, Re-Recording Mixer

 

-Space Force “SAVE EPSILON 6!” | Netflix

–John W. Cook II, Re-Recording Mixer

 

-The Mandalorian “Chapter 2: The Child” | Disney+

–Bonnie Wild, Re-Recording Mixer

–Chris Fogel, Scoring Mixer

 

-The Ranch “Fadeaway” | Netflix

–Kathy Oldham, Re-Recording Mixer

 

 

SOUND MIXING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (ONE HOUR)

-Better Call Saul “Bagman” | AMC

–Larry Benjamin, CAS, Re-Recording Mixer

–Kevin Valentine, Re-Recording Mixer

 

 

-Ozark “All In” | Netflix

–Larry Benjamin, CAS, Re-Recording Mixer

–Kevin Valentine, Re-Recording Mixer

–Phil McGowan, CAS, Scoring Mixer

 

-Star Trek: Picard “Et In Arcadia Ego: Part 2” | CBS All Access

–Todd M. Grace, CAS, Re-Recording Mixer

–Edward C. Carr III, CAS, Re-Recording Mixer

 

-Stranger Things “Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcour” | Netflix

–Mark Paterson, Re-Recording Mixer

–William Files, Re-Recording Mixer

–Craig Henighan, Re-Recording Mixer

 

-The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel “A Jewish Girl Walks Into The Apollo…” | Prime Video

–Ron Bochar, Re-Recording Mixer

–George A. Lara, Foley Mixer

 

-Westworld “Parce Domine” | HBO

–Keith Rogers, Re-Recording Mixer

–Benjamin L. Cook, Re-Recording Mixer

 

 

SOUND MIXING FOR A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE

-American Horror Story: 1984 “Camp Redwood” | FX Networks

–Joe Earle, CAS, Re-Recording Mixer

–Doug Andham, CAS, Re-Recording Mixer

–Judah Getz, CAS, ADR Mixer

 

-El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie | Netflix

–Larry Benjamin, CAS, Re-Recording Mixer

–Kevin Valentine, Re-Recording Mixer

–Stacy Michaels, Foley Mixer

 

-Hollywood “Hooray For Hollywood” | Netflix

–Joe Earle, CAS, Re-Recording Mixer

–Doug Andham, CAS, Re-Recording Mixer

 

-Watchmen “This Extraordinary Being” | HBO

–Joe DeAngelis, Re-Recording Mixer

–Chris Carpenter, Re-Recording Mixer

 

 

 

SOUND MIXING FOR A NONFICTION OR REALITY PROGRAM (SINGLE OR MULTI-CAMERA)

-Beastie Boys Story | Apple TV+

–Martyn Zub, Re-Recording Mixer

 

-Laurel Canyon: A Place In Time | EPIX

–Gary A. Rizzo, CAS, Re-Recording Mixer

–Stephen Urata, Re-Recording Mixer

–Danielle Dupre, Re-Recording Mixer

–Tony Villaflor, Re-Recording Mixer

 

-RuPaul’s Drag Race “I’m That Bitch” | VH1

–Sal Ojeda, Re-Recording Mixer

 

-Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, And Madness “The Noble Thing To Do” | Netflix

–Ian Cymore, Re-Recording Mixer

 

 

SOUND MIXING FOR A VARIETY SERIES OR SPECIAL

-62nd Grammy Awards

–Thomas Holmes, Production Mixer

 

-The Oscars | ABC

–Tommy Vicari, Orchestra Music Mixer

 

 

 

 

SOUND EDITORS:

SOUND EDITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL

-American Horror Story: 1984 “Camp Redwood” | FX Networks

–Gary Megregian, MPSE, Supervising Sound Editor

–Timothy A. Cleveland, Sound Effects Editor

–Zheng Jia, MPSE, Sound Effects Editor

–Naaman Haynes, Dialogue Editor

–Patrick Hogan, Dialogue Editors

–David Klotz, Music Editor

 

-El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie | Netflix

–Nick Forshager, Co-Supervising Sound Editor

–Todd Toon, Co-Supervising Sound Editor

–Kathryn Madsen, ADR Editor

–Jane Boegel, Dialogue Editor

–Luke Gibleon, Sound Effects Editor

–Jason Tregoe Newman, Music Editor

–Bryant J. Fuhrmann, Music Editor

–Gregg Barbanell, Foley Artist

–Alex Ullrich, Foley Artist

 

-Watchmen “This Extraordinary Being” | HBO

–Brad North, Supervising Sound Editor

–Harry Cohen, Sound Designer

–Jordan Wilby, Sound Effects Editor

–Tiffany S. Griffith, Dialogue Editor

–Antony Zeller, Foley Editor

–A.J. Shapiro, Foley Editor

–Sally Boldt, Music Editor

–Zane Bruce, Foley Artist

–Lindsay Pepper, Foley Artist

 

 

SOUND EDITING FOR A NONFICTION OR REALITY PROGRAM (SINGLE OR MULTI-CAMERA)

-Beastie Boys Story | Apple TV+

–Martyn Zub, Supervising Sound Editor

–Paul Aulicino, Sound Effects Editor

–Pernell Salinas, Sound Editor

 

-McMillion$ “Episode 1” | HBO

–Jody McVeigh-Schultz, Music Editor

 

-Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem And Madness “Cult Of Personality” | Netflix

–Ian Cymore, Sound Supervisor

–Rachel Wardell, Sound Editor

–Steve Griffen, Music Editor

 

 

SOUND EDITING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (ONE HOUR)

-Better Call Saul “Bagman” | AMC

–Nick Forshager, Co-Supervising Sound Editor

–Kathryn Madsen, Co-Supervising Sound Editor

–Matt Temple, Sound Effects Editor

–Todd Toon, Sound Effects Editor

–Jane Boegel, Dialogue Editor

–Jason Newman, Music Editor

–Gregg Barbanell, Foley Artist

–Alex Ullrich, Foley Artist

 

-Star Trek: Picard “Et In Arcadia Ego: Part 2” | CBS All Access

–Matthew E. Taylor, Sound Supervisor

–Tim Farrell, Sound Editor

–Harry Cohen, Sound Editor

–Michael Schapiro, Sound Editor

–Sean Heissinger, Sound Editor

–Clay Weber, Sound Editor

–Moira Marquis, Music Editor

–Stan Jones, Music Editor

–Alyson Dee Moore, Foley Artist

–Chris Moriana, Foley Artist

 

-Stranger Things “Chapter Eight: The Battle Of Starcourt” | Netflix

–Craig Henighan, Co-Supervising Sound Editor

–William Files, Co-Supervising Sound Editor

–Ryan Cole, Sound Editor

–Kerry Dean Williams, Sound Editor

–Angelo Palazzo, Sound Editor

–Katie Halliday, Sound Editor

–David Klotz, Music Editor

 

-The Boys “The Name Of The Game” | Prime Video

–Wade Barnett, Sound Supervisor

–David Barbee, Sound Effects Editor

–Brian Dunlop, Dialogue Editor

–Ryan Briley, ADR Editor

–Chris Newlin, Music Editor

–Christopher Brooks, Music Editor

–Joe Sabella, Foley Artist

 

-Westworld “Parce Domine” | HBO

–Sue Gamsaragan Cahill, Supervising Sound Editor

–Benjamin L. Cook, MPSE, Sound Designer

–Shaughnessy Hare, Special Effects Editor

–Jane Boegel-Koch, Dialogue Editor

–Tim Tuchrello, Dialogue Editor

–Sara Bencivenga, ADR Editor

— Christopher Kaller, Music Editor

 

 

SOUND EDITING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (HALF-HOUR) AND ANIMATION

-GLOW “The Libertines | Netflix

–Robb Navrides, Supervising Sound Editor/ ADR Editor

–Colette Dahanne, Sound Effects Editor

–Jason Lezama, Dialogue Editor

–David Beadle, Dialogue Editor

–Jason Krane, MPSE, Dialogue Editor

–Larry Hopkins, Foley Editor

 

-Silicon Valley “Exit Event” | HBO

–Bobby Mackston, Sound Supervisor

–Sean Garnhart, Sound Effects Editor

–Ryne Gierke, Dialogue Editor

–Joe Deveau, Music Editor

 

-Space Force “THE LAUNCH” | Netflix

–Bobby Mackston, Co-Supervising Sound Editor/ ADR Editor

–Paul Hammond, Co-Supervising Sound Editor/ Dialogue Editor

–Sean Garnhart, Sound Effects Editor

 

-The Mandalorian “Chapter 1: The Mandalorian” | Disney+

–David Acord, Co-Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Designer

–Matthew Wood, Co-Supervising Sound Editor

–Bonnie Wild, Sound Effects Editor

–James Spencer, Dialogue Editor

–Richard Quinn, ADR Editor

–Richard Gould, Foley Editor

–Stephanie McNally, Music Editor

–Ryan Rubin, Music Editor

 

-What We Do In The Shadows “The Return” | FX Networks

–Steffan Falesitch, Sound Supervisor

–David Barbee, Sound Effects Editor

–Angelina Faulkner, Dialogue Editor

–Steve Griffen, Music Editor

–Sam C. Lewis, Foley Editor

–John Guentner, Foley Editor

–Ellen Heuer, Foley Artist

 

 

TECHNICAL DIRECTION:

TECHNICAL DIRECTION, CAMERAWORK, VIDEO CONTROL FOR A SERIES

-Jimmy Kimmel Live! “Jimmy Kimmel Live in Brooklyn – Jon Stewart, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kelly Ripa, And Music From David Byrne” | ABC

–Ervin D. Hurd Jr., Technical Director

 

-The Voice “Live Finale” | NBC

–Allan Wells, Technical Director

 

TECHNICAL DIRECTION, CAMERAWORK, VIDEO CONTROL FOR A SPECIAL

-2019 American Music Awards | ABC

–Eric Becker, Technical Director

–John Pritchett, Screens Technical Director

 

-Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: “All In The Family” And “Good Times” | ABC

— Eric Becker, Technical Director

 

-The Little Mermaid Live! | ABC

— Iqbal Hans, Technical Director

 

-The Oscars | ABC

–Eric Becker, Technical Director

–John Pritchett, Technical Director

–Kenneth Shapiro, Technical Director

 

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Web ExclusivesWhat Our Members Do

What Our Members Do: Jackie Johnson, Dialogue Editor

by uncredited
written by uncredited 7 minutes read

Where are you currently employed?

Independent, technically, but almost all my work is for Monkeyland Audio.

Current projects?

Just finished a Quibi series called “Die Hart” with Kevin Hart and a feature called “Love, Weddings and Other Disasters” with Diane Keaton.

Describe your job.

I go through many tracks of production audio, select the best ones, and arrange them for the re-recording engineer. I find production sounds that can be used in foreign release and create a track for them, even out of ambient sound, and basically make it sound clean and flow well.

How did you first become interested in this line of work?

I had been making a living as a pianist in Chicago and was incredibly burned out. So I moved to Los Angeles to do something new, but I didn’t know what. I found a piano gig to buy some time, then went about the job of figuring out the rest. I majored in film in college and had done a little film-scoring, so I set about acquiring the skills I’d need for music editing… and wound up dialogue editing instead!

Who gave you your first break?

Paul Stanley (not the one from the rock band Kiss) gave me my first break almost 20 years ago. When I went looking for music editing work, I interviewed with Paul. I had no idea what dialogue editing was, or ADR, or most of what goes on in post-production. Yes, I studied film, but I went to Northwestern — and my theory is that NU doesn’t train you to work in production; they train you to run a network. Paul and Jesse Pomeroy trained me from the ground up as an assistant editor, then eventually started Mission Post where they hired me as a dialogue editor. They rock.

What was your first union job?

My first union project was a Netflix series called “Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings” (2019-Present). Each episode of the series was based on one of Dolly’s songs. Some were the length of a movie. Though I’ve been doing this work a long time, Dolly’s series was only last year. I’m a new union member.

What credits or projects are you proudest of, and why?

Our team at Monkeyland had an Emmy nomination for one of our projects back in 2014, and another this year for a Hulu series. Pretty proud of that! Sad that there won’t be ceremonies and parties this year due to world circumstances….

What was your biggest challenge in your job (or on a particular project) and how did you overcome/solve it?

I remember a movie from the early 2000s where the actors were having a whispered conversation in a church, but every second or so there was a quiet but obvious scraping sound. It would have been a difficult scene to ADR due to the emotional intensity and the fact that the performance was perfect. So I went through the whole scene and painstakingly got each scrape out of the dialogue. If I had the software then that I have now, it would have been so easy! This was pre-iZotope….

Another memorable session on a big studio movie found the ADR supervisor in New York; the director, some actors, and me here in LA; and actor Nicole Kidman in Nashville. Recording ADR while trying to sync up all that audio across the country made for an incredibly difficult day. It was like driving a Mack truck through a bog.

What was the most fun you’ve had at work?

Dialogue editing is solitary work, so I wouldn’t say all too much “fun” happens while I’m alone in my studio. I’ve been an ADR recordist in the past, though, and that was a LOT of fun. I love seeing how directors coax great performances out of their actors – in spite of the fact that they’re acting alone in a booth with people staring at them, and trying to match or improve on what they did on set. It’s incredibly difficult, and I love watching pros do it so brilliantly.

The very first ADR session I did was for Patrick Giraudi of Virtual Mix. It was a movie where many characters were getting attacked by a monster. Actor after actor came in to work that day, basically, to scream while being killed by a three-headed snake. How can that not be fun?

Jobwise, what do you hope to be doing five years from now?

I would like to add to my toolbox by getting more skilled at mixing and music editing. I’ve mixed a couple of movies and also done some music edits, but I’d like to do more while still dialogue editing.

What are your outside activities, hobbies, passions?

I am still a part-time musician professionally, though there are no gigs during COVID. So I’m spending my music time teaching online, which I love.

My other hobby is ballet class. I’ve been dancing since I was six years old. It’s the most fun thing I do every week—at least, it was fun before COVID. Now I take class online, which feels very different.

Favorite movie(s)? Why?

I know I’m supposed to be an intellectual and list some obscure foreign films here, but the truth is I loved “Bohemian Rhapsody” (2018) because Rami Malek’s performance is amazing; “The Hunt for Red October” (1990) because I love the Russian choir music by Basil Poledouris (but there IS one ADR line in there that bugs me); “The Turning Point” (1977) because ballet and Baryshnikov always do it for me; and “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994) because Morgan Freeman; need I say more? I have seen each of these at least 25 times and have them mostly memorized by now.

Favorite TV program(s)? Why?

I loved “24” (2001-2010). The 24-hour time constraint was interesting and must have been a difficult writing challenge. “Madam Secretary” (2014-2019) because Téa Leoni is great.

I tend to fall in love with a show, then watch the series over and over. I’ll be chatting with my therapist about this.

Do you have an industry mentor?

I’ve really lucked out working for some of the best guys in audio post. I learned everything from them and from some re-recording engineers.

What advice would you offer to someone interested in pursuing your line of work?

Since I came to this by an unusual route, I don’t have much wisdom to offer in terms of career strategy. Maybe I would say to someone young enough: play an instrument. There’s nothing better for developing critical listening skills, and a good ear is essential for post.

Was there ever a circumstance when you had to rely on the Guild for help or assistance?

I am a new member so, thankfully, I haven’t had any issues yet. Having spent 25 years as a working musician, which means self-paid health insurance, I’m ready to figuratively kiss the union for getting me real health insurance. It’s magical.

Is there anything you’d like to say to your fellow Guild members, some words of encouragement?

We can be part of the solution to the world’s problems. Art can pick up where politics fall short. We are part of a team that creates art, and art can change the world — or at least make it forget about its troubles for a while…

“Art, freedom, and creativity will change society faster than politics.”

–Victor Pinchuk

Compiled by David Bruskin.

If you would like to be considered for this feature, or recommend an MPEG member, contact Communications Director Scott Collins at scollins@editorsguild.com. 

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Ewan McGregor in “Doctor Sleep.”
Technology

All Things Being EQ: What’s the Best Equalization Tool Out There? Sound Pros Weigh In

by Nikki O’Connor
written by Nikki O’Connor 11 minutes read

By Jennifer Walden

Ah, the ubiquitous EQ. It’s an essential audio tool that’s been around since the dawn of sound recording, performing the all-important task of boosting and attenuating specified bands of frequencies.

Today’s EQ, or “equalization,” options — whether they’re outboard, plug-in, or built into the console — are unequivocally more sophisticated than their predecessors, as the tech continues to improve and companies regularly release new versions. But, wow, there really are tons of EQs out there. No matter the DAW, there’s at least one EQ that comes with it. In fact, you get two with Avid’s free Pro Tools|First.

Why are there so many different EQs? Are they really so different? Does one EQ work better for a given task than another? What would make an EQ not right for a job?

McDSP’s Channel G: Great headroom, slight color.

McDSP’s Channel G: Great headroom, slight color.

I’ve posed these questions to five sound pros with different areas of expertise, hoping to get a better sense of how to choose the right EQ for what you do.

Michael Babcock is a man of many sound talents. He was a sound designer on “Thor” (2011), supervising sound editor/sound designer/re-recording mixer on “This is the End” and “The Interview,” effects re-recording mixer on “Doctor Sleep,” and dialogue/music re-recording mixer on the new “See” series for Apple TV+. (He was also featured in October 2019 in CineMontage’s What Our Members Do).

For Babcock, “EQs are like fine wines. Wait, that’s probably reverbs,” he joked. “EQs are like bottled water — the differences seem very slight but once you’re paying attention it’s easily one of the most important choices you can make as a mixer.”

Sometimes a colorless, transparent EQ is needed — one that won’t impart harmonics, saturation, phasing, or other artifacts. But other times, adding color can help add to or enhance tonal character. “For music, it’s fun to play with the ‘modeled’ plugs of old, those from Neve, API, and the like. For years, I used McDSP’s Channel G because of the great headroom and slight color it has. I still use it on Master stem faders and during sound design creation,” Babcock said.

Dialogue/music re-recording mixer Tom Ozanich — who earned an Oscar nom for his mix on “A Star is Born” last year and is in the Oscar race for mixing this year’s “Joker” — also explores color when mixing music. In fact, when mixing the music on “Joker,” Ozanich went with Plug-in Alliance’s SPL Passeq plug-in “almost entirely for the way the EQ sounds,” said Ozanich. “It’s a passive EQ, so it sounds really good but it doesn’t give you a graphic display. There isn’t an analyzer with an EQ curve and all that; it’s just knobs. It has a high, low, and mid EQs on one side that can only cut and then three EQs on the other side that can only boost. You work them against each other to get the sound you want.”

Whether an EQ adds color or not, it’s important that it doesn’t add unpleasant artifacts or perceptible phasing. Babcock noted, “Inferior EQs tend to break up at certain frequencies, most commonly at the low end. You can hear the quantization error on some EQs.”

Ozanich added, “Some EQs can get harsh or end up sounding fake or take on a grungy character that you don’t want. That would be bad, and I steer away from EQs that do that.”

Another aspect to consider when choosing an EQ is how flexible the filtering is — how wide you can make the bands, how tight you can make the notches, and how much you can adjust the parameters of the low and high-pass filters. Both Ozanich and Babcock like FabFilter’s Pro-Q 3 for several reasons; its flexibility is certainly one.

“For ‘Joker’ and ‘A Star is Born’ — I’ve used FabFilter Pro-Q 3 a ton on dialogue specifically. It definitely gives you scalpel-level precision. You can dial-in ultra-narrow notch filters to remove hum or buzz, but then you can also do more gentle boosts or cuts. You can bend it to do whatever you need it to do,” said Ozanich.

“Not necessarily an EQ”: Audio Ease’s Indoor reverb plug-in.

“Not necessarily an EQ”: Audio Ease’s Indoor reverb plug-in.

“The Pro-Q 3 gives you up to 24 bands to do with as you please. I particularly like using it on dialogue because you can have filters, bands, and notches all-in-one,” Babcock added. “The amount of choices you have for low and high-pass filtering in Pro-Q 3 is second to none. On a recent mix, a spirited producer hated a certain music cue and wanted it to be something else. I ended up changing the whole intent of the cue by taking certain stems and playing around with the HPF set at -96db, opening and closing the filter like you would on an EDM tune.”

Flexibility in terms of workflow integration is also key. Many mixers are working in the box using Pro Tools sessions mapped to a control surface, like the Avid S6. Plug-ins that map intelligently to the control surface are preferable. “If I have to use a mouse to dial-in the EQ then I’m not happy. I don’t want to spend the majority of my time on a mouse. I want to spend it on the console,” said Ozanich, who is not alone in that sentiment amongst mixers. Ozanich even worked with the Avid team to help improve the way several different plug-ins were mapped to the S6, including the Pro-Q 2 (before the Pro-Q 3 was available).

On a traditional console, the re-re-cording mixer is locked into using the built-in EQs. But that’s not such a bad thing, according to Oscar-nominated re-recording mixer Beau Borders, who is currently finishing the final mix on director Peter Berg’s upcoming “Wonderland” film, and the final mix on “Greyhound,” co-written/co-produced and starring Tom Hanks. “I really love the way the EQs sound on the AMS Neve DFC, the Harrison MPC, and the Euphonix consoles. Also, I’m very used to their functionality and very familiar with how far I can push them. The DFC will always have a fluid sound that’s hard to beat,” Borders said.

And the built-in EQs on a traditional console let the mixer keep his/her hands on the board. “The Harrison MPC especially has a phenomenal heads-up display that gives you visual feedback that’s above and beyond the other consoles,” added Borders.

Going back to the monitor and mouse to fine-tune the EQ parameters is a pain, but the Pro-Q 3 interface makes it worthwhile. “You can’t beat the great graphic EQ display of the Pro-Q 3. You can see and track down specific frequencies in a fast but nuanced manner,” explained Babcock.

Borders is also a fan of the Pro-Q 3 interface. “The spectrum analyzer helps me carve through sounds very quickly, which is essential when you’re working in a room full of impatient clients,” he said.

The Pro-Q 3 offers some innovative features that are a step ahead of other EQs. For instance, there’s the Dynamic EQ feature, which adapts the amount of EQ applied to a band depending on the level of the input signal. And there’s the EQ Match feature, one of Babcock’s favorites. “About three times a year, I fish Pro-Q 3’s EQ Match out of the trick bag as a last resort. It has helped me keep my job as a mixer when some weird off-axis dialogue angle had to match another weird off-axis angle that seemed against the laws of matching sonic physics,” Babcock said.

Borders added, “The EQ Match feature is impressive, and it’s a great first-step to getting dialogue to match.”

Whether mixing music, dialogue, or effects, these mixers have named Pro-Q 3 as a go-to EQ. “The bottom line is I love the way it sounds, and it’s the first plug-in EQ that I’ve used that makes me NOT miss a traditional film console so much,” Borders said.

But what about on the editorial side? What are sound designers and dialogue editors looking for in an EQ? Supervising sound editor/sound designer/sound effects recordist Mac Smith, who’s worked on films like “The Birth of a Nation,” “The Secret Life of Pets,” “Avengers: Endgame,” and “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” looks for an EQ that is easy to intuit. “You don’t want an EQ with a steep learning curve. You want to find something that is straightforward and that can help you get a job done quickly,” he said.

Smith likes being able to see what he’s hearing, to identify and reduce/remove any problems very quickly. Smith also prefers Pro-Q 3. He said, “I love the graphical interface on Pro-Q 3. I love the pre/post analyzer option so you can see what you are doing to the sound and what frequencies you are boosting or attenuating. I can grab anywhere on the line and pull out those problem frequencies very quickly, or boost up the frequencies that I want to hear more. That’s why I go for the Pro-Q 3.”

Mac Smith

Mac Smith

Another major factor for Smith, especially when preparing sessions for the dub stage, is choosing an EQ that the re-recording mixers will want to use in the mix. “I don’t want to put in an EQ across every track in a giant session if it is something that isn’t their favorite. So I almost always defer to the mixer. Some of them like the Pro-Q 3 and other mixers like to keep it super-simple and use something like Avid Channel Strip, which is cool too,” said Smith.

Although it’s not necessarily an EQ, Smith finds Audio Ease’s Indoor reverb plug-in to be very helpful when trying to get disparate sound sources (effects pulled from libraries or recorded by different people at different times in different environments) to all feel like they’re happening in the same space. “I put them through Indoor, and even if I’m only adding a very subtle reverb it makes them all feel like they belong together because in addition to reverb it’s also doing quite a bit of EQ,” he says. “Sometimes processing the sounds like that very lightly — in a very simple space with the virtual microphone and speaker very close together — is a quick and easy way to make them gel.”

Smith used that technique often while designing sounds for “Haunt.” “I was creating different sounds for the coffins opening and closing using different door sounds and different wood creaks. It totally worked. Still, I do keep all of the original sounds muted in the track below just in case the mixer thinks I went too far. But if I can get it close and we’re under a tight deadline, nine out of 10 times it just goes right into the mix.”

In terms of dialogue editing, you’d think EQ would be an essential tool for that job. But Emmy-winning dialogue editor Paul Bercovitch — who cut the complicated and often challenging dialogue on “Game of Thrones” — says he doesn’t “really use EQ in the traditional sense. I find that work is better handled by the mixers on the dub stage.”

Bercovitch does make extensive use of iZotope’s RX7 though, which like Audio Ease’s Indoor is not an EQ per se, but it does modify frequencies within a sound’s spectrum.

“As a dialogue editor, I am approaching EQ much more from a ‘repair’ standpoint, mostly notching out hums and whines. I prefer RX to the notch filters I used to use because often the ‘problem’ frequencies are not constant. RX allows you to easily see the problem and correct it,” he said.

“For my purposes, a good EQ removes ‘problem’ frequencies without sacrificing the integrity of the dialogue. I am not here to make the dialogue sound beautiful. My job is to make it as easy as possible for the mixer to achieve that goal,” Bercovitch concluded. ■

Jennifer Walden is a freelance writer.

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Scene from "Groundhog Day"
ColumnsFeaturesTail Pop

The Making of ‘Groundhog Day,’ as Remembered by Music Editor Sally Boldt

by Peter Tonguette
written by Peter Tonguette 9 minutes read

By Peter Tonguette

As far as holidays are concerned, Groundhog Day will never be celebrated as widely as, say, Thanksgiving or the Fourth of July. Yet, for a significant portion of the American moviegoing public, Groundhog Day has taken on added significance. Thanks to the perennial popularity of a comedy released more than a quarter-century ago, the holiday has come to represent, of all things, an enlightened way to approach life.

Released by Columbia Pictures in 1993, Harold Ramis’ “Groundhog Day” revolves around bilious TV weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray), who is given the unpalatable chore of covering the season-prognosticating groundhog in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Due to the magic of the movies, Phil becomes stagnant in history, experiencing a ceaseless loop of Groundhog Days. Although Phil ultimately recognizes his situation as a chance to get his life on track, for much of the film’s running time, he regards his predicament as a fate worse than death. The film co-stars Andie MacDowell and Chris Elliott.

Working on “Groundhog Day” again — and again, and again — would have been an altogether welcome fate for music editor Sally Boldt. “There was a joke among the crew: ‘I wish every movie was “Groundhog Day” so we could keep doing this movie over and over again,’” Boldt said. “It was just such a great experience.”

Directed and co-written by Ramis, “Groundhog Day” earned positive reviews and strong box-office receipts during its initial release in February 1993, but as the years have marched on, the film has acquired the status of a classic. In 2005, critic Roger Ebert selected the film for inclusion in his “Great Movies” series of columns, while, a year later, the National Film Registry added it to its ongoing list of “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films.”

To hear Boldt describe it, the postproduction team knew from the get-go that they had a special film in the can. “Everybody loved the movie,” she said. “It was a great crew, and there was just a feeling that came from the top down, from Harold Ramis, who was really incredible. The film was delightful and hilarious, but it also had a wonderful message delivered not in a preachy way at all: Everybody could relate in their own way to the idea of living in the moment.”

A native of New York City, Boldt grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, where she played the flute and piano, and participated in a youth orchestra. “There were a lot of musicians in the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera who lived in my area and taught,” she said. “And there were a lot of kids in that youth orchestra who went on to conservatory and to have careers as musicians.”

The future music editor, however, had different plans. She entered Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, as a pre-med student, but she soon become involved in semiotics, a branch of critical theory that just happened to involve copious moviegoing.

“We would watch a John Ford western and we would read Freud and Marx,” Boldt said. “Then we would talk about how the flow of cattle is like the flow of libido. It was very controversial at the time.” Through her involvement in semiotics, the undergraduate sometimes found herself watching two films per day for an entire semester, fostering a passion for film.

After graduating from Brown, Boldt pursued a career in film in New York City but was uncertain how to break into the business. “I got a job as the producer’s PA on a show that was in post in a brownstone across the street from me,” she said. “At the end of the day, they would let me help in the editing room. I never even knew that the job ‘music editing’ existed.”

Sally Boldt

Sally Boldt | PHOTO: COURTESY SALLY BOLDT

A few years later, on another project, Boldt was hired as a first assistant editor, but her responsibilities quickly expanded. “They didn’t have a budget for a music editor, and they needed a temp score,” she said. “They just locked me in a room with the music supervisor.” She found that she was at ease in combining her long-term passion for music with her newfound experience in the cutting room. “These are two things I love: music and film,” she said. “And I decided at that point to pursue music editing.”

In the early 1990s, Boldt first crossed paths with British composer George Fenton, who later scored “Groundhog Day.” When music editor Curt Sobel was unable to work on Luis Mandoki’s drama “White Palace” (1990) — a drama also scored by Fenton — because of a scheduling conflict, Boldt was asked to step in. “Curt miraculously and generously recommended me, so that’s how I met George,” she said. “‘White Palace’ was the first of several projects that I went on to do with George.”

By the time “Groundhog Day” rolled around, Fenton informed the production that he wanted Boldt to join him. “I was just finishing another project, so I wasn’t free to start immediately,” said Boldt, who enlisted a friend, music editor Bunny Andrews, to help out.

When Boldt and Andrews were still working together, however, the two music editors were invited to a screening of an early, somewhat rough cut of the film prepared by picture editor Pembroke J. Herring. “There was hardly anybody else there besides the editing crew, Harold and [producer] Trevor Albert and their team, and me and Bunny,” said Boldt, who remembered having some reservations while watching the early scenes.

Scene from "Groundhog Day"

“It was just such a great experience,” Boldt says of making “Groundhog Day” (with Murray, center). | PHOTO: PHOTOFEST

“Bill Murray had this kind of sarcastic humor, which is funny, but it went on for a while,” she said. “I thought, ‘If this is what this movie is, I don’t know if you can really sustain this for a whole feature-length movie.’ But then, as soon as he repeats the first day, it just became entirely hilarious.” Ramis and Herring certainly enjoyed the reaction of their small audience. “They were pleased to see us just crying from laughter,” Boldt said, “and later they cut down the front of the movie, and then it played great.”

Meanwhile, Fenton traveled from London to Hollywood, where he set up shop at a villa at the Sunset Marquis Hotel to begin composing the score. Boldt observed that the process of composing for comedies was distinct from composing for dramas. “In comedies sometimes you can make a comment with the genre of the piece of music that you’re choosing,” Boldt said. “With a drama, you’re probably going to have a narrower universe, a narrower kind of wheelhouse that the sound of your score is going to sit within, but in comedies, you can play around with different genres.”

At the time that Boldt was hired to work on “Groundhog Day,” several pieces of music that would become widely associated with the film had already been selected, including the “Pennsylvania Polka” and Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe” (Phil’s oft-repeated morning wake-up music). The music editor was present, however, for the creation of a county-western song heard in the background when Phil takes up bowling. “It’s called ‘Take Me Round Again,’” Boldt said. “George wrote that in about five minutes, but it’s great. The lyrics play on going around and around, and over and over.”

Boldt also remembered Fenton having a similar stroke of inspiration for a song to be played over a portion of the opening titles. “He said, ‘Well, Harold, I’ve written this song for the main title,’” she recalled. “Harold said, ‘What’s it called?’ George said, ‘Guess.’ Harold thought for a second and said, ‘Weatherman.’ And that’s exactly what it was.”

Sally Boldt

Sally Boldt: “I always thought of ‘Groundhog Day’ as a Buddhist parable.” | PHOTO: COURTESY SALLY BOLDT

Perhaps one of Boldt’s most significant contributions to the film came when she counseled Ramis to follow his own musical instincts in selecting a song to be heard over the end titles. Although the studio was pressuring the director to use a current or soon-to-be-released pop song, Ramis had his heart set on Nat King Cole’s “Almost Like Being In Love.”

Boldt saw a version of the film that included one of those aucourant pop tunes. “I remember watching that and thinking, ‘This has no place here,’” she said. “I called Harold up, which isn’t something that I ever really did, and I said, ‘I want you to love this movie from the first frame to the very end of the end credits when you see it again a year from now or five years from now or fifteen years from now. Stick by your guns.’” Of course, Boldt can’t be sure if her advice was a difference-maker, but, as she put it, “he ended up with the song that he wanted.”

Although the music editor went on to work with many notable directors — including Paul Mazursky on “Faithful” (1996), John Woo on “Face/Off’ (1997), and David O. Russell on “American Hustle” (2013) — Ramis emerged as a stand-out.

“Harold just had a lovely presence,” Boldt said. “He led quietly. He definitely played to win, for sure, but he was very sane and humane in his approach and in his consideration for the crew. I think I had one night of overtime on ‘Groundhog Day.’”

Such virtues are at the heart of what makes the film lasting, too. “I do remember at one point he said that he considered himself to be a little bit of a Buddhist,” Boldt said. “And I always thought of ‘Groundhog Day’ as a Buddhist parable.” ■

 

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