The Cinema Audio Society (CAS) has announced that it will honor multiple CAS, Oscar®, and BAFTA winner, Sound Mixer Paul Massey CAS, with the Cinema Audio Society’s highest accolade, the CAS Career Achievement Award, to be presented at the 58th CAS Awards on Saturday, March 19, 2022, at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown – Wilshire Ballroom.
CAS President Karol Urban announced the decision with the statement, “The Cinema Audio Society is delighted to announce Paul Massey CAS as this year’s Career Achievement recipient. Paul has been crafting the final sound for films that have become part of the fabric of our popular culture and collective experience for decades. The success of these contributions has yielded him an Oscar®, four BAFTAs, and four CAS Awards, and an imposing number of nominations. Additionally, his continued boundless enthusiasm, energy, and talent for sound mixing and the sound mixing community make him an ideal recipient of this honor.”
Massey’s response to the announcement was, “I am overjoyed, honored, and humbled to receive this CAS Career Achievement Award. It means so much to me accepting this recognition from my peers who I respect so much.”
Massey was born near Pinewood Studios, London. As a teenager he studied music through the Royal Academy of Music, playing in various bands and orchestras.
At age 19, Paul emigrated to Toronto, Canada to work as an assistant recording engineer at a prominent recording studio. However, upon arrival, the job was no longer available. Faced with not having enough money to return to London, he worked for bands and on construction crews until he decided to go to Fanshawe College to study Recording Engineering. After almost a year he was fortunate enough to obtain an assistant position at Master’s Recording Studio so he left college and never looked back.
Over the next nine years, Massey recorded and mixed albums, commercials, and scores with various musicians. He then had an opportunity to record and mix live tours with bands such as Yes, Supertramp, The Police, The Band, and Tears for Fears for a series of TV concert films, utilizing world-class recording trucks from Le Mobile and Record Plant amongst others. This experience introduced Massey to mixing sound for picture, and he loved it! During this time, Massey also mixed several projects for TV along with many IMAX specialty films.
He moved into film more formally when he joined Deluxe/Filmhouse in Toronto, where he met and worked with Andy Nelson in the late 80s. In 1989, Andy moved to L.A. and recommended Massey to J.R. DeLang at Todd-AO. Sight-unseen, J.R. offered him a re-recording mixer position over the phone! So, in 1990 Massey moved to L.A.
Massey has since worked at many studios in L.A., primarily Todd-AO, Sony, and 20th Century Fox, while also working internationally at facilities in London, such as Twickenham, Goldcrest, and Pinewood on both US and UK financed films.
Paul Massey CAS considers himself incredibly fortunate to work with amazingly talented directors, picture editors, and sound crews, many of whom have become lifelong friends. A few long-term collaborating directors include Sir Ridley Scott, James Mangold, and Gore Verbinski.
His stellar work has garnered him a 25 combined Oscar®, BAFTA, and CAS Award nominations. Bohemian Rhapsody secured him an Oscar®, BAFTA, and CAS Award. He also won both a BAFTA and CAS Award for Walk the Line and Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World, and another CAS Award for Ford v Ferrari and another BAFTA for Almost Famous.
Massey joins an illustrious group of past CAS Career Achievement Honorees that includes: William B. Kaplan, Tom Fleischman, Lee Orloff, Anna Behlmer, John Pritchett, Doc Kane, David MacMillan, Andy Nelson, Chris Newman, Scott Millan, Jeffrey S. Wexler, Randy Thom, Dennis Sands, Ed Greene, Mike Minkler, Willie Burton, Gary Rydstrom, Charles Wilborn, Jim Webb, Richard Portman, Tomlinson Holman, Les Fresholtz, Walter Murch, and Don Rogers.
