When it comes to collaboration, the sound designers and editors on the Gold Derby Meet the Experts: Sound panel are more than happy to work with showrunners and directors who have strong ideas about what they want. The communication just needs to be a two-way street.
“If you meet the right person, it can be the dream of your life,” “Ripley” production sound mixer Maurizio Argentieri says in our exclusive roundtable video interview. “Otherwise, the same situation can become the nightmare of your life, because the level of frustration can go way up. I have this obsession with sound and, sometimes, people do not feel the same way I feel.”
That wasn’t the case for Argentieri on “Ripley,” since creator Steven Zaillian was such a close collaborator. For other sound designers on the panel – including Brian J. Armstrong (“Shogun”), Michael Schapiro (“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” and “Star Trek: Discovery”) and Mark Jensen (“Welcome to Wrexham”) – the perfect marriage was key to their success as well.
“Having them knowing exactly what they want, and trusting us to deliver that [is ideal],” says Armstrong. “The problems arise when they’re unsure of what they want, and they’re too concerned [with self-doubt]. Our role is almost like a therapist at that point. It’s like, ‘What are you after here?’ So, I’ve always said I’d much rather work on the worst show on television with a great group than the best show on television with the worst crew. With ‘Shogun,’ it just so happened that the best of both worlds came together.”
“Openness and trust are probably almost more important than knowing exactly what you want or, you know, telling us to go wild,” Schapiro adds. “A lot of times with the ‘go wild’ direction, you’ll do something that you think is great. And it’s not actually what they were thinking about, but they didn’t tell you about that. And that can cause problems.”
Says Jensen, “I think one of the important lessons that probably all sound people learn at some point in their career is that not every idea that I have is going to be great. And that you need to value the synergetic output that all the team members will on a project. I always say that we’re all in a rowboat and we all want to be rowing in the same direction.”
Watch the roundtable above for more insight into TV sound from the acclaimed participants. Click on each name above to watch that person’s individual chat.
PREDICT the 2024 Emmy nominees through July 17
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
