At the Cinema Audio Society’s 42nd annual awards banquet, held February 25 at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, the big winners in the feature and television categories were Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line and HBO’s Deadwood (the latter winning for a second year in a row). Other winners were HBO’s made-for-TV movie Lackawanna Blues; Family Guy Presents: Stewie Griffin – The Untold Story DVD; and in the television music/variety category, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Hammersmith Odeon, London 1975.In a ceremony that was light on laughs but nevertheless well-presented, re-recording mixers and production mixers enjoyed a rare moment in the spotlight. A special award went to 2006 Career Achievement Honoree, re-recording mixer Michael Minkler, whose film credits include The China Syndrome, Chorus Line, Tron, Born on the 4th of July, JFK, Driving Miss Daisy, several Star Wars installments, Black Hawk Down, Chicago and Collateral, as well as four Quentin Tarantino films. In accepting his award, Minkler praised collaborators across a variety of disciplines, including sound editors, film editors, production designers and directors. “I would not be here today without their collaboration,” he said.Tarantino was on hand, not just to pay tribute to Minkler, but to pick up his own CAS award, the inaugural Filmmaker Award. Sound editor Wylie Stateman and production sound mixer Mark Ulano (both of whom worked with Minkler on Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vols. 1 & 2) read tributes to the sound-aware director. Tarantino, full of energy, pleased assembled guests, concluding, “In the constant battle in film between picture and sound, I’m definitely on the sound side.”The CAS also presented its second CAS Technical Achievement Award, to Zaxcom for its revolutionary Deva V hard-disk audio recorder.The winners:Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures: Paul Massey, CAS, DM Hemphill, CAS and Peter F. Kurland, CAS Walk the LineOutstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movies and Mini-Series: Rick Ash, Adam Jenkins and Susumu Tokunow Lackawanna BluesOutstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Series: R. Russell Smith, CAS, William Freesh and Geoffrey Patterson, CAS Deadwood – “A Lie Agreed Upon” – Part 1Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television – Non-Fiction, Variety or Music – Series or Specials: Bob Ludwig, Bob Clearmountain, Dave Fromberg and Matt Foglia, CAS Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Hammersmith Odeon, London 1975Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for DVD Original Programming: Jim Fitzpatrick, Sam Black, CAS and Dan Cubert Family Guy Presents: Stewie Griffin – The Untold Story
Written by Sam Molineaux
