Veteran audio mixers Frank Scheuring and Chip Sovek recently launched Capital Audio Post, a postproduction facility located in Merrifield, Va., just a stone’s throw from the Capital Beltway circling Washington, DC.
Scheuring has been in audio post for 12 years and has worked on more than 1,200 long-form programs and hundreds of short-form pieces. He has edited and mixed audio for numerous programs including the series Planet Earth for Discovery Communications. Sovek has more than 20 years’ experience with the music side of the business as well as audio post.
After weeks of location scouting, it was not hard to see that the best home for Capital Audio Post was adjacent to the newly-built retail and entertainment area known as the “Mosaic District.” “We built our facility with the client in mind,” Scheuring said. “We wanted easy access and plenty of surrounding amenities.” Also, being near major travel routes and the region’s Metro system made this location a practical choice.
Capital Audio Post was created to serve the needs of a client base that has transitioned to a file-based world. In this new era, timing and turn-around are everything. “A file based workflow is fantastic if it’s managed right, but now we need to wear the media manager hat in addition to our mixer hat,” Sovek said. Over the past few years, Scheuring and Sovek have created a workflow that optimizes the time allowed for audio post. Focusing on what they each do best, the tasks are divided and accomplished faster than usual. They have successfully used this process on a number of series, including Heroes of Hell’s Highway (Discovery), Bomb Patrol: Afghanistan (G4), and DC Cupcakes (TLC). “Since we’ve been working together for so long, Chip and I really know each other’s strengths and make the best use of them,” Scheuring said. “Combine that with the speed of our Fairlight systems and we can knock out massive amounts of work in a short period of time.”
