The Cinema Audio Society (CAS) celebrated the top sound mixers and technical achievers of 2013 at its 50th annual awards ceremony, Saturday, Feb. 22. The top honor in the motion picture live action category went to Gravity, which also won big at the 61st MPSE Golden Reel Awards for its sound effects and foley editing. Frozen received the award for best sound mixing in an animated motion picture, with CAS president David Fluhr among those accepting the award as one of the film’s re-recording mixers.
Upon accepting the award for Gravity, production mixer Chris Munro said, “When a director tells you there is no sound in space and there are only two actors in the film, one only in it for half of the film, you think it is going to be easy.” Gravity is nominated for ten Academy Awards, including best original score, sound editing and sound mixing.
Doug McIntyre, host of the KABC Los Angeles talk radio show McIntyre In The Morning, hosted the awards ceremony, which was held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. McIntyre’s wife, Penny Peyser, who’s acting credits include films such as All the President’s Men (1976) and The Frisco Kid (1979), among many others, helped present the award for outstanding achievement in sound mixing, television series – one hour, to Game of Thrones.
A standing ovation accompanied the presentation of the CAS Filmmaker Award to writer, producer and director, Edward Zwick. In the past, this award has been presented to Quentin Tarantino, Bill Condon and Henry Selick, to name a few. Production sound mixer Jeff Wexler and re-recording mixer Anna Behlmer presented the award to Zwick, stressing an appreciation for his unmatched ability to eliminate all distractions and focus on the sound artist’s work when such is necessary. Zwick is known for directing films such as Glory (1989), Legends of the Fall (1994) and The Last Samurai (2003), to name a few. In 2010, Zwick directed Love & Other Drugs, which starred Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway.
Another of the night’s standing ovations went to re-recording mixer Andy Nelson for receiving the CAS Career Achievement Award. Fluhr and Ted Gagliano, president of postproduction at 20th Century Fox, presented the award with help from composer John Williams, who also received a standing o. Additionally, directors Alan Parker, J.J. Abrams and Stephen Spielberg thanked and congratulated Nelson via filmed interviews compiled and presented by CAS.
The night’s most emotional presentation was a tribute to inventor and sound pioneer Ray Dolby. David Gray, vice president of worldwide production services, Dolby Laboratories, payed tribute and presented a film which celebrated the life, achievements and character of Dolby. “Every time I saw him, he pushed me to make sure I got your input and feedback,” shared Gray.
The winners of the 50th Annual CAS Awards are:
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing
Motion Picture – Live Action
Gravity
Production Mixer –Chris Munro, CAS
Re-recording Mixer — Skip Lievsay, CAS
Re-recording Mixer — Niv Adiri
Re-recording Mixer — Christopher Benstead
Scoring Mixer — Gareth Cousins
ADR Mixer — Chris Navarro, CAS
ADR Mixer — Thomas J. O’Connell
Foley Mixer – Adam Fil Mendez
Motion Picture – Animated
Frozen
Original Dialogue Mixer — Gabriel Guy
Re-recording Mixer — David E. Fluhr, CAS
Re-recording Mixer — Gabriel Guy
Scoring Mixer — Casey Stone
Foley Mixer — Mary Jo Lang
Television Movie or Mini-Series
Behind the Candelabra
Production Mixer — Dennis Towns
Re-recording Mixer — Larry Blake
Scoring Mixer –Thomas Vicari
Foley Mixer — Scott Curtis
Television Series – One Hour
Game of Thrones – The Rains of Castamere
Production Mixer – Ronan Hill, CAS
Production Mixer – Richard Dyer
Re-recording Mixer — Onnalee Blank, CAS
Re-recording Mixer — Mathew Waters, CAS
Foley Mixer — Brett Voss
Television Series – Half Hour
Modern Family – Goodnight Gracie
Production Mixer — Stephen A. Tibbo, CAS
Re-recording Mixer — Dean Okrand
Re-recording Mixer — Brian Harman, CAS
Television Non-Fiction, Variety or Musical Series or Specials
History of the Eagles – Part One
Re-Recording Mixer — Tom Fleischman, CAS
Re-Recording Mixer — Elliot Scheiner
10th Annual Cinema Audio Society Technical Achievement Awards
Production
Sound Devices – 633
Postproduction
iZotope – RX 3