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Sound For Film: Awards Season 2017

It’s the beginning of the year, which means it’s time to hand out the awards for the best in sound for film—the Academy Awards, the MPSE Golden Reels and the CAS Awards. Flip the page for a look at the sound teams behind 12 films that might just take home the awards. And scan below for the important dates surrounding nominations and voting, along with a few special awards to be handed out this year.

ACADEMY AWARDS

The 89th annual Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 26, 2017, and of the 13 awards handed out, two will recognize outstand­ing contributions in sound: Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mix­ing. Last year, Mad Max: Fury Road took home both statues, with Mark Mangini and David White earning Best Sound Editing and Chris Jen­kins Gregg Rudloff, Ben Osmo for Best Sound Mixing.

PREVIOUS WINNERS

Best Sound Editing

2016 Mad Max: Fury Road. Mark Mangini, David White
2015 American Sniper. Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman
2014 Gravity. Glenn Freemantle
2013 Tie: Skyfall. Per Hallberg, Karen Baker Landers. Zero Dark Thirty. Paul N,J, Ottosson
2012 Hugo. Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton

Best Sound Mixing

2016 Mad Max: Fury Road. Chris Jenkins Gregg Rudloff, Ben Osmo
2015 Whiplash. Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins, Thomas Curley
2014 Gravity. Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead, Chris Munro
2013 Les Miserables. Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Simon Hayes
2012 Hugo. Tom Fleischman, John Midgely

MPSE GOLDEN REEL AWARDS

Guillermo del Toro, Harry Cohen to Receive Honor­ary Awards

Founded in 1953, the Motion Picture Sound Editors is a nonprofit organization of professional sound and music editors who work in the motion picture, televi­sion and gaming industries.

The 64th Annual MPSE Golden Reel Awards cer­emony will take place on February 19 at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles.

ACADEMY DATES OF NOTE

January 5, 2017         Nominations voting opens
January 13, 2017       Nominations voting closes
January 24, 2017       Oscar Nominations Announced
February 6, 2017       Oscar Nominees Luncheon
February 11, 2017      Scientific and Technical Awards
February 13, 2017     Finals voting opens
February 21, 2017     Finals voting closes
February 26, 2017    89th Academy Awards

MPSE CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: HARRY COHEN

Supervising Sound Editor and Sound Designer Harry Cohen, MPSE, will be honored with the 2017 MPSE Career Achieve­ment Award at the MPSE Gold­en Reel Awards ceremony.

An 18-time MPSE Gold­en Reel Award nominee, Co­hen has contributed to more than 150 movies and television shows. He has frequently col­laborated with director Quen­tin Tarantino, including on the films The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained, Inglourious Basterds and Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & 2. He has also worked alongside directors Oliver Stone, Ridley Scott, Rob Marshall, Edward Zwick, Roland Emmerich and Paul Verhoeven, among many others. His most recent project was Deepwater Horizon for director Peter Berg.

“Harry is an endlessly resourceful and imaginative artist who is always inventing new ways to use sound to tell stories,” said MPSE President Tom McCarthy. “We are very pleased to honor the creativity and dedication of a sound pro who embodies the spirit of the MPSE and its members.”

“I am surprised and honored to by recognized by the friends and col­leagues in the MPSE,” said Cohen. “Sound editors work under the radar and are largely invisible to the public, but those of us who practice the craft know how hard it is to produce a great soundtrack.”

A native of Queens, N.Y., Cohen began his career as a musician. While visiting a Los Angeles recording studio, he was asked to help organize its sound effects library and that set him on a path to become a sound editor. He worked for many years at EFX Sound and later at Sounde­lux, where he frequently partnered with Supervising Sound Editor Wy­lie Stateman. Along with his many nominations, he won a Golden Reel Award in 1999 for A Texas Funeral. In 2000, he received an Emmy Award nomination for the series The Others.

Cohen joins a distinguished list of sound innovators, including 2016 Career Achievement recipient Richard King, Skip Lievsay, Randy Thom, Larry Singer, Walter Murch and George Watters II.

GUILLERMO DEL TORO TO RECEIVE FILMMAKER AWARD

Guillermo del Toro, the ac­claimed director of such films as Hellboy (2004), Pan’s Laby­rinth (2006), Pacific Rim (2013), Crimson Peak (2015) and the forth­coming The Shape of Water will be honored with the annual Film­maker Award from the MPSE in recognition for his outstanding contributions to the art of cinema.

“Guillermo del Toro’s relentless imagination and energy provide in­spiration to all of us in the entertainment industry,” said MPSE President Tom McCarthy. “He is constantly surprising, challenging and delighting audiences worldwide. We are extremely proud to recognize his contri­butions to our industry and culture with our Filmmaker Award.”

“Texturally and narratively, sound and image fuse in the cinematic experience,” said del Toro. “I have spent as much time on the mixing board as I have on a stage, shooting or in a color correction suite grad­ing the final film. To paraphrase Mark Twain: ‘The difference between the almost right sound and the right sound ‘tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.’ I am thus delighted and honored to receive this award from my colleagues and partners in the storytell­ing experience.”

Del Toro was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. Early in his career, he worked as a special effects makeup designer and made a number of short films. His first feature, Cronos, appeared in 1993. He has since directed a wide variety of films, from comic book adaptations (Blade II, Hellboy) to historical, fantasy and horror films, two of which are set in Spain in the context of the Spanish Civil War under the authoritarian rule of Fran­cisco Franco. These two films, The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth, are among his most critically acclaimed works.

Past recipients of the MPSE Filmmaker Award include Sam Raimi, Darren Aronofsky, George Lucas, Ang Lee, Michael Bay, Steven Spiel­berg, Clint Eastwood, Brian Grazer and Gale Anne Hurd.

MPSE DATES OF NOTE
January 9, 2017          Final entry forms due
January 11, 2017        Nomination Voting Begins
January 25, 2017        Nomination Voting Ends
February 19, 2017      64th Annual MPSE Golden Reel Awards

CAS AWARDS

The CAS Awards honor Outstanding Achievements in Sound Mixing in seven categories: Motion Pictures, Animated Motion Pictures, Docu­mentary Motion Pictures, Television Movies and Mini-Series, Television Series-One Hour, Television Series-Half Hour and Television-Non-Fic­tion, Variety, Music Series or Specials.

The 53rd Annual CAS Awards will be held on February 18, at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza in downtown Los Ange­les. A special part of the evening will be devoted to the annual Student Filmmakers Awards.

CAS CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: JOHN PRITCHETT, CAS

Sound mixer John Pritchett, CAS, will re­ceive the Cinema Audio Society’s highest ac­colade, the CAS Career Achievement Award, to be presented at the 53rd CAS Awards.

“It’s truly an honor to announce the se­lection of John Pritchett by the CAS for our Career Achievement,” said CAS President Mark Ulano, CAS. “John is the consum­mate ‘Mixer’s Mixer,’ with a widely diverse career in film and television. His collaboration with directors such as Robert Altman, Paul Thomas Anderson and Richard Linklater and many others on over 100 projects is a portfolio of excellence and inno­vation. He’s a winner of the prestigious CAS award for his mixing work and is also multi-nominated by his peers at the Academy of Motion Pic­tures and the British Academy as well, signifying his well-earned repu­tation for creative excellence.”

Pritchett, who was born in Santa Monica, Calif., was discovered by director Robert Altman while working as a recording engineer in Dallas, Texas. Pritchett made seven pictures with Altman, including The Player, Short Cuts and Kansas City. He was the second soundman in Hollywood to go digital, with Altman’s Short Cuts in 1993.

Known for his successful working relationships with some of Hol­lywood’s most creative directors, Pritchett has made four movies with director Lawrence Kasdan, including Wyatt Earp, and French Kiss; four with writer-director David Mamet, including The Spanish Prisoner and State and Main; three with writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, Mag­nolia, There Will Be Blood and Inherent Vice, and two films with Oliver Stone, World Trade Center and W. He was also the sound mixer on such hits as 2006’s The Break-Up, 2000’s Miss Congeniality and 1987’s Dirty Dancing.

His 102nd film, Everybody Wants Some, for director Richard Linklater continues his reputation for expertise in handling complex technical re­quirements during production. “People hire me because my team and I are able to get the sound needed with the least disruption,” said Pritchett.

Pritchett joins an illustrious group of past CAS Career Achievement

Honorees that includes: Don Rogers, Walter Murch, Les Fresholtz, Tom­linson Holman, Richard Portman, Jim Webb, Charles Wilborn, Gary Rydstrom, Willie Burton, Mike Minkler, Ed Greene, Dennis Sands, Ran­dy Thom, Jeffrey S. Wexler, Scott Millan, Chris Newman, Andy Nelson, David Macmillan and Doc Kane.

FAVREAU TO RECEIVE FILMMAKER AWARD

Multi-hyphenate Jon Favreau will receive the Cinema Audio Society Filmmaker Award at the 53rd Annual CAS Awards.

“I am particularly pleased to announce the selection of Jon Favreau as the recipi­ent of the CAS Filmmaker Award,” said CAS President Mark Ulano. “Jon has been a steadfast presence humanizing his sto­rytelling with intelligence and skill. His light touch continues to produce engaging classics, from Elf to The Jungle Book. As a director, actor, producer, his ubiquitous creativity continues to entertain millions and makes him a wonderful choice for the CAS Filmmaker Award.”

Favreau began his career in the industry as an actor in the inspiring sports film Rudy. He went on to establish himself as a writer with the ac­claimed hipster comedy Swingers. Since then, he has continued to work on both sides of the camera as an actor, writer, director and producer. Most recently, Favreau directed and produced Disney’s live-action adap­tation of Rudyard Kipling’s epic adventure The Jungle Book.

An integral part of the formation and the expansion of the Marvel Universe, Favreau had his director hat firmly planted when making the blockbuster hits Iron Man and Iron Man 2, which grossed a combined $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office. He also served as executive produc­er on Marvel’s The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, which grossed a combined $2.9 billion worldwide, becoming the fifth and seventh high­est-grossing films of all time.

In a change of pace from the big blockbuster, 2014 saw Favreau writ­ing, directing, producing and starring in the indie hit Chef, a well-re­ceived comedy.

Favreau will be the 12th CAS Filmmaker Honoree. Past honorees in­clude: Jay Roach, Richard Linklater, Edward Zwick, Jonathan Demme, Rob Marshall, Taylor Hackford, Henry Selick, Paul Mazursky, Bill Con­don, Gil Cates and Quentin Tarantino.

CAS DATES OF NOTE (ALL VOTING ONLINE ONLY)
December 19, 2016     Nomination Ballot Voting Begins
January 1, 2017           Nomination Ballot Voting Ends
January 10, 2017        Final Nominees Announced
January 25, 2017        Final Voting BeginsFebruary
12, 2017                       Final Voting Ends
February 18, 2017      53rd Annual CAS Awards

12 Film Sound Jobs THAT MIGHT JUST WIN

Deepwater Horizon

Director: Peter Berg
Movie Studio: Lionsgate
Re-Recording Mixers: Ron Bartlett, Michael Keller, Mike Prestwood Smith
Additional Re-Recording: Dror Mohar; Eric Hoehn, immersive mix;
Sound Designer: Wylie Stateman, Harry Cohen, Dror Mohar
Supervising Sound Editor: Wylie Stateman, Renee Tondelli
Sound Editorial: Kris Fenske, sound effects editor; Michael Feuser, dialog editor; Sarah Gibble, assistant sound editor; Gary A. Hecker, supervising Foley artist; Rick Owens, Foley artist; Randy Singer, Foley mixer; Branden Spencer, dialog supervisor; Michael Miller, ADR mixer; Chris Navarro, ADR mixer
Production Sound Mixer: David Wyman
Music By: Steve Jablonsky, Senior Music Coordinator: Ryan Svendsen, Supervising Music Editor: Katrina Schiller
Music Editor: Ryan Rubin, Del Spiva

Hacksaw Ridge

Director: Mel Gibson
Movie Studio: Lionsgate
Re-Recording Mixers: Kevin O’Connell, Robert Mackenzie, Andy Wright
Sound Designer: Robert Mackenzie
Supervising Sound Editor: Robert Mackenzie, Andy Wright
Sound Editorial: Steve Burgess, sound effects editor; Liam Price, sound effects editor; Tara Webb, sound effects editor; Ma­rio Vaccaro, Foley artist; Alex Francis, Foley recordist; Jed M. Dodge, dialog editor; Justine Angus, ADR supervisor; Kimberly Harris, ADR supervisor; Patrick Christensen, ADR mixer; Howard London, ADR mixer; Diego Ruiz, ADR mixer
Music By: Rupert Gregson-Williams, Music Scoring Mixer: Daniel Kresco, Executive Music Producer: Tara Finegan
Music Editor: Matt Friedman, Andy Patterson

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Director: Gareth Edwards
Movie Studio: Disney/Lucasfilm
Sound Re-Recording Facility: Skywalker Sound
Re-Recording Mixers: David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio
Additional Re-Recording: Michael Semanick; Tony VillaflorDanielle Dupre, assistant re-recording mixer
Sound Designer: Christopher Scarabosio, David Acord
Supervising Sound Editor: Chris­topher Scarabosio, Matthew Wood
Sound Editorial: Jon Borland, sound effects editor; Ryan J. Fria, Foley editor; Richard Quin, dialog and ADR supervisor; James Spencer, dialog and ADR editor; Trey Turner, assistant dialog and ADR editor; Stephen Webster, ADR mixerGlen Gathard, ADR mixer; Andy Smith, ADR mixer; Nick Kray, ADR mixer; Michael Miller, ADR mixer
Production Sound Mixer: Stuart Wilson; Rashad Omar, action
Music By: Michael Giacchino
Music Scoring Mixer: Peter Cobbin
Supervising Music Editor: John Finklea
Music Editor: Stephen M. Davis, Warren Brown

Inferno

Director: Ron Howard
Movie Studio: Sony/Columbia
Re-Recording Mixers: Chris Jenkins, David Giammarco
Sound Designer: Casey Genton
Supervising Sound Editor: Daniel Pagan
Sound Editorial: Ruy Garcia, sound effects editor; Eric McAllister, assistant sound editor; Marko A. Costanzo, Foley artist; Eric Milano, Foley artist; Steven Visscher, super­vising Foley editor; Heather Gross, Foley editor; George A. Lara, Foley mixer; Tony Martinez, supervising dialog editor; Dan Korintus, dialog editor; Deborah Wallach, super­vising ADR editor; Pam DeMe­trius-Thomas, ADR editor; Scott Cannizzaro, ADR mixer; Howard London, ADR mixer; Derek Casari, ADR engineer;
Production Sound Mixer: Tamas Csaba
Music By: Hans Zimmer
Score Producer and Mixer: Stephen Lipson
Music Scoring Mixer: Bernd Mazagg
Score Wrangler: Bob Badami

La La Land

Director: Damien Chazelle
Movie Studio: Lionsgate
Sound Re-Recording Facility:
Re-Recording Mixers: Ai-Ling Lee, Andy Nelson
Additional Re-Recording:
Sound Designer: Ai-Ling Lee
Supervising Sound Editor: Ai-Ling Lee, Mildred Iatrou
Sound Editorial: Luis Galdames, sound effects editor; Melissa Lytle, assistant sound editor; Lee Gilm­ore, sound effects editor; John T. Cucci, Foley artist; Dan O’Connell, Foley artist; James Ashwill, Foley mixer; Blake Collins, Foley mixer; Teri E. Dorman, dialog editor; Ga­len Goodpaster, ADR editor; David Betancourt, ADR mixer; Derek Casari, ADR engineer;
Production Sound Mixer: Steven Morrow
Music By: Justin Hurwitz
Music Scoring Mixer: Nick Baxter
Executive Music Producer: Marius De Vries
Music Supervisor: Steven Gizicki
Music Editor: Jason Ruder; Anele Onyekwere, additional music editor

Arrival

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Movie Studio: Paramount
Re-Recording Mixers: Luc Bou­drias, Bernard Gariepy Strobl
Sound Designer: Olivier Calvert, Michelle Child, Dave Whitehead
Supervising Sound Editor: Sylvain Bellemare
Sound Editorial: Pierre-Jules Au­det, sound effects editor; Mathieu Beaudin, sound effects editor; Mimi Allard, sound special effects editor; Simon Girard, assistant sound editor; Nicola Becker, Foley artist; Gregory Vincent, Foley artistOlivier, Guillaume, Foley mixer; Niels Barletta, Foley mixer; Steven Ghouti, Foley mixer; Valery Dufort-Boucher, dialog editor; Claire Pochon, dialog editor; Stan Sakellaropoulos, ADR supervisor; Kyle D Krajewski, ADR mixer; Lou­is-Antoine Lassonde, ADR mixer
Production Sound Mixer: Claude La Haye
Music By: Johann Johannsson
Musical Sound Design: Simon Ashdown, Will Slater
Music Scoring Mixer: Jan Holzner, engineer; Daniel Kresco, score mixer
Music Editor: Clint Bennett

Star Trek Beyond

Director: Justin Lin
Movie Studio: Paramount
Re-Recording Mixers: Jon Taylor, Frank A. Mantaño
Sound Designer: Eliot Connors, MPSE; Peter Brown, Stephen P. Robinson
Supervising Sound Editor: Peter Brown
Assistant Supervising Sound Editor: Paul Aulicino
Sound Editorial: Ann Scibelli, sound effects editor; Dan O’Connell, Foley artist; Shelley Roden, Foley artist; John Roesch, Foley artist; Lee Gilmore, sound effects editor; John C. Stuver, dialog editor; Jeff Gomillion, ADR mixer; Jason Oliver, ADR mixer; Andy Smit, ADR mixer; Stephen Webster, ADR mixer, Production Sound Mixer: David Husby, Music By: Michael Giacchino, Music Editor: Warren Brown, Stephen M. Davis, Paul Rabjohns

Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them

Director: David Yates
Movie Studio: Warner Bros.
Sound Re-Recording Facility: De Lane Lea
Re-Recording Mixers: Niv Adiri, Andy Nelson, Ian Tapp
Additional Re-Recording: Matt Vowles
Sound Designer: Niv Adiri, Ben Barker, Glenn Freemantle, Eilam Hoffman
Supervising Sound Editor: Glenn Freemantle, Sound Editorial: Danny Freemantle, sound design editor, sound effects editor; Robert Malone, sound design editor, sound effects editor; Peter Burgess, Foley artist; Jason Swanscott, Foley artistGlen Gathard, Foley mixer; Lilly Blazewicz, Foley editor; Adam Bourne, assistant Foley editor; Gillian Dodders, ADR and dialog editor; James Wichall, dialog editor, Production Sound Mixer: Simon Hayes, Music By: James Newton Howard, Music Scoring Mixer: Shawn Murphy, Score Mixed By: Kirsty Whalley, Music Super­visor: Karen Elliott, Supervising Music Editor: Jim Weidman, Music Editor: Allan Jenkins

Jungle Book

Director: Jon Favreau
Movie Studio: Disney
Re-Recording Mixers: Christo­pher Boyes, Lora Hirschberg
Additional Re-Recording: Kevin Bolen, assistant re-recording mixer
Sound Designer: Christopher Boyes, Supervising Sound Editor: Christopher Boyes, Frank E. Eulner, Sound Editorial: David Chrastka, sound effects editor; Ken Fischer, sound effects editor; Dennie Thorpe, Foley artist; Jana Vance, Foley artist; James Likowski, Foley editor; Dee Selby, Foley ed­itor; Chris Manning, Foley mixer; Lisa Chino, dialog editor; Marshall Winn, dialog editor; Scott Canniz­zaro, ADR mixer; Vikram Biswas; Ian Gaffney-Rosenfeld, ADR mixer; Nick Kray, ADR mixer; Howard London, ADR mixer; Chris Navar­ro, ADR mixer, Production Sound Mixer: Ron Judkins, Michael Krikorian, Music By: John Debney, Music Scoring Mixer: Simon Rhodes, Supervising Music Editor: Charles Martin Inouye, Music Editor: Tanya Noel Hill

Batman v Superman

Director: Zack Snyder
Movie Studio: Warner Bros.
Re-Recording Mixers: Chris Jenkins, Michael Keller
Sound Designer: Chuck Michael, Jussi Tegelman
Sound Effects Designer: Phil Barrie
Supervising Sound Editor: Scott Hecker
Sound Editorial: David Grimaldi, sound effects editor; Roy Seeger, first assistant sound editor; Gary A Hecker, supervising Foley artist; Rick Ownes, Foley artist; John Sanacore, supervising Foley editor; Margit Pfeiffer, ADR supervisor, dialog supervisor; Daniel Saxlid, dialog editor; Jay Fisher, ADR mix­er; Thomas Whiting, ADR editor
Production Sound Mixer: Michael McGee
Music By: Junkie XL, Hans Zimmer
Music Scoring Mixer: Alan Meyerson
Music Wrangler: Bob Badami
Music Editor: Melissa Muik

Jason Bourne

Director: Paul Greengrass
Movie Studio: Universal
Re-Recording Mixers: Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor
Sound Designer: Oliver Tarney, Michael White, Michael Fentum, James Harrison
Sound Effects Recording: Eric Potter,
Supervising Sound Editor: Oliver Tarney
Sound Editorial: Ben Chick, assistant sound editor; James Tay­lor-Beeson, assistant sound editor; Dawn Gough, sound editor; An­drea King, Foley artist; Jack Stew, Foley artist; Jason Swanscott, Foley artist; Hugo Adams, Foley super­visor; Adam Mendez, Foley mixer; Rachael Tate, dialog supervisor; Simon Chase, supervising ADR editor; Simon Diggins, ADR mixer; Michael Miller, ADR mixer
Production Sound Mixer: Tim Fraser
Music By: David Buckley, John Powell
Music Scoring Mixer: Shawn Murphy
Supervising Music Editor: Peter Myles
Music Editor: Sally Boldt, Thomas A. Carlson

Kubo and the Two Strings

Director: Travis Knight
Movie Studio: Focus Features
Re-Recording Mixers: Tim Chau, Tim LeBlanc
Sound Designer: Tim Chau, Supervising Sound Editor: Tim Chau, Sound Editorial: Thomas O’Neil Younkman, sound effects editor; Clayton Weber, sound editor; Gregg Barbanell, Foley artist; Catherine Harper, Foley artist; Darriin Mann, Foley mixer; Travis Crotts, Foley editor; Carlos Sotolongo, original dialog mixer, Production Sound Mixer: Adam Risner, Music By: Dario Marionelli, Score Recordist and Mixer: Nick Wallage, Music Supervisor: Sara Matarazzo, Music Edi­tor: James Bellamy, Dominick Certo

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