JACKSON, WY, July 15, 2025 — With production credits on projects for NASA, CBS, The National Parks Service, and Budweiser under his belt, Peter Prestrud was already a seasoned industry professional by the time he had graduated from college. Now an in-demand production sound mixer, he has brought his considerable talents to popular documentary and reality-show programs for Netflix, the CW, Discovery, and Fox among others. Prestrud’s rapid career progress can be attributed to his extremely hands-on approach to the filmmaking process, which led him to embrace professional practices and equipment early on in his journey. This focus led to his early adoption of Sound Devices mixer-recorders, specifically the MixPre-6 and 888, as a key part of his professional growth.
On-the-job training
Prestrud cut his teeth on filmmaking early on, working on short films and commercial projects in his early teens. While training under Emmy-Award Winning Sound Mixer Jeremiah Slovarp at the film program of Montana State University, he got a taste for location sound and audio post production. “I always knew sound was important and had the opportunity to get my ‘practice’ in early on with the commercial work I’d been doing in High School,” Prestrud explains. “I had an instinct for sound design and capturing the audio environment on set, so I decided to make it my professional focus.”
“One of my passions is the relationship between on-set recording and audio post production. Capturing that atmosphere and utilizing it for post is so important to establishing the right feel for the film in the sound design, so that was something I really wanted to understand and gain skill in.”
Part of Prestrud’s training at MSU was utilizing Sound Devices’ original MixPre-6 and older model 722 recorders on his student film productions. Realizing that having his own professional-grade equipment would give him the ability to take advantage of the industry opportunities he was already being offered, he decided to purchase a MixPre-10 II. “In the short term, I knew that purchasing this in college would allow me to already be experienced and feel confident for these professional jobs that were coming in,” he states. “Sound Devices has been an industry standard for years, so the jump from the older equipment to MixPre-10 II was seamless and it gave me the ability to say yes to the exciting work that was coming my way.”
“It really helped kick-start my career in that aspect, and soon I was finding myself on bigger jobs and having the ability to upgrade even more!”
On the run
Now more than a decade into his career, Prestrud has become the go-to sound mixer in his region for documentary and reality show work – thriving in the ‘run and gun’ atmosphere that favors speedy, on-the-go work with little room for error. His latest – Netflix’s American Murder: Gabby Petito required a versatile approach to suit the myriad of shooting styles required. “On a production like that – where you might be switching between an interview and more cinéma vérité-style shooting – we often had to change the setup quickly,” he explains. “You need to be able to go with the flow of the production and capture the sound exactly as needed with minimal complications.”
“Part of my job is solving the production’s problems, really, so given that I favor workflows that make doing that as seamless as possible.”
Prestrud’s current kit includes the Sound Devices 888 mixer-recorder and the SL-2 Dual SuperSlot Wireless Module. His ability to take advantage of 888’s flexible signal routing has proven to be a major asset to this process. “With the 8-Series, the fact that any channel is routable to any input from the menu allows me to work much more fluidly and efficiently,” he says. “I went from unplugging and re-plugging cables constantly to being able to do it all in a few seconds. The advantage is obvious, and it’s proven to be essential as the jobs keep getting bigger and needing more and more inputs.”
Currently splitting his time between work across the Western United States and jobs in LA, Prestrud has enjoyed watching his career evolve from his early commercial work to the professional documentaries, series, and longer narrative works that have started to come down the pipeline. “I’ve been a filmmaker for more than 15 years and it’s amazing to think of how much of that time has already been spent on professional sets,” he muses. “I’m grateful for all of it, and having each be a fresh new challenge is incredibly rewarding.”
“Ultimately – regardless of what set or production you find yourself on – you want to never be in the position where you have to say ‘No’ to any of these challenges. By basing my workflow around Sound Devices, I rarely have to do that.”
To learn more about Peter Pestrud, please visit: http://www.peterprestrud.com/
About Sound Devices:
For more than 25 years, Sound Devices has created premier audio equipment that helps sound professionals capture superior audio. The company’s products have been used for an array of applications, from award-winning feature films and television shows, to live events, houses of worship, and educational applications. Sound Devices designs, assembles, and supports its products at their Reedsburg, Wisconsin, headquarters and their Madison, Wisconsin, and Rickmansworth, UK, offices.
For more information, visit www.sounddevices.com.
