Wikipedia

Michael Minkler

Michael Minkler(born 14 May 1952) is a motion picture sound re-recording mixer. He has received Academy Awards for his work onDreamgirls,ChicagoandBlack Hawk Down.His varied career has also included films likeInglourious Basterds,JFKandStar Wars,as well as television programs likeThe PacificandJohn Adams.[1]Minkler works atTodd-AOHollywood.[2]He is also the Managing Director ofMoving Pictures Media Group,a company that specializes in film development, packaging projects for production funding acquisition.[3]

Michael Minkler
Born(1952-05-14)May 14, 1952(age 72)
Los Angeles, California
OccupationSound Re-Recording Mixer
Years active1969–present
ChildrenChristian P. Minkler(son)
FamilyBob Minkler(uncle),Lee Minkler(uncle)

Early career

edit

Minkler started working as a recordist when he was 17, and started mixing in 1974 when he was 22. His early projects included commercials, television shows and industrial films. His first major film came in 1976 when he was hired for temporary work on music and effects tracks for the foreign release ofAll the President's Men,with rerecording mixersArthur PiantadosiandLes Fresholtz,atWarner Brothers' Stage 5. He continued to work with Piantadosi and Fresholtz on another 35 films, and considers them his mentors.[4]

Family history

edit

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Minkler was born into a family of sound-for-film professionals.

Darrell Minkler, his grandfather, worked at Chicago Labs in 1928, developing disc recorders. He came to Hollywood to work on theVitaphoneproject atWarner Bros. Studios.Darrell Minkler also built a company then called Radio Recorders for music recording with such pop classic performers as Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Tommy Dorsey. That studio later became a part of The Record Plant.[4]

Don Minkler, his father, began his sound career in the late 1940s and founded Producers Sound Service in 1964. Don Minkler's re-recording career includes such films asEasy Rider,Five Easy Pieces,The Last Picture ShowandBeyond the Valley of the Dolls.[5]

His uncle, sound re-recording mixerBob Minklerbegan working in the sound department back in the 1960s and won an Oscar in 1978 for his work onStar Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.Other Bob Minkler credits include10,HairandBull DurhamandSaturday Night Fever. His other uncle, Lee, also a mixer, shares the distinction of being on the Oscar Nominated Sound Mixing team forTronwith Michael and Bob. That is the only time that three members of a single family were nominated for an Oscar for the same film.[6]

Minkler's son, Christian P. Minkler, is also a re-recording mixer, who has worked on both television and feature film projects since 1990. Christian's most recent credits includeRepo Man,The ProposalandRole Models.[7]

Professional experience

edit

After a four year stint at Warner Bros. Studios, he took the job as the chief mixer and managing director of facilities, atRobert Altman's Lion's Gate Films in 1980. In 1984, Minkler struck out as an independent, working at a number of facilities, until 1990 when he helped design and staffSkywalker Sound's Lantana facility in Santa Monica. He continued to mix there after the facility was acquired byTodd-AO.While at renamed Todd-AO West, Minkler won a pair of Academy Awards, first forBlack Hawk Downin 2001 and thenDreamgirlsin 2006. In 2009, he moved to the Todd-AO Hollywood facility and quickly earned an Academy Award nomination forInglourious Basterds.

Technical Advisor

edit

In addition to his mixing credits, Minkler has been a sought after technical advisor for companies likeEuphonixwhere he helped with the development of digital audio mixing technology, which is now an industry standard.[8]

Minkler has always been considered an innovator of technology and technique. OnInglourious Basterds,Minkler utilized a new technology developed byPenteo Surroundthat enables stereo music mixes to be converted and spread across a 5.1 surround sound field.[9]

Appears on

edit

While Minkler is regularly profiled in trades magazines likeVariety,MixandPost,he's also appeared on DVD featurettes discussing the sound of a particular film.The Sound of Miracleappears as an extra on the DVD release of the 2004 filmMiracle.

Awards and nominations

edit

Michael Minkler has been nominated for 12Academy Awards(three wins), sixBAFTA Awards(three wins), eightCinema Audio Society Awards(two wins), one Motion Picture Sound Editors Awards (one win), sevenEmmy Award(one win) and fourSatellite Awards(three wins).

In 2006, Minkler received the Cinema Audio Society's Career Achievement Award at the 42nd annual CAS Awards Banquet. The event took place at the Millennium-Biltmore in Los Angeles. He was the president of the Cinema Audio Society in 1981.

Academy Awards
BAFTA Awards
  • 2021:Greyhound(Best Sound) – Nominated
  • 2005:Collateral(Best Sound) – Nominated
  • 2004:Kill Bill: Vol. 1(Best Sound) – Nominated
  • 2003:Chicago(Best Sound) – Won
  • 2002:Black Hawk Down(Best Sound) – Nominated
  • 1993:JFK(Best Sound) – Won
  • 1979:Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope(Best Sound) – Won
Cinema Audio Society Awards
  • 2021:Greyhound(Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Motion Picture – Live Action) – Nominated
  • 2009:John Adams(Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movies and Mini-Series for episode Join or Die) – Won
  • 2009:John Adams(Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movies and Mini-Series for episode Independence) – Nominated
  • 2008:Into the Wild(Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures) – Nominated
  • 2007:Dreamgirls(Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures) – Won
  • 2003:Chicago(Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures) – Nominated
  • 2002:Black Hawk Down(Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures) – Nominated
  • 1995:True Lies(Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures) – Nominated
  • 1994:Cliffhanger(Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Feature Film) – Nominated
Motion Picture Sound Editors - Golden Reel Award
  • 2021:Greyhound(Best Sound Editing – Dialogue/ADR) – Nominated
  • 2021:Greyhound(Best Sound Editing – Effects/Foley) – Nominated
  • 1990:Born on the Fourth of July(Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects) – Won (Tied with The Abyss)
Primetime Emmy Awards
Satellite Awards
  • 2010:The Town(Best Sound, Editing & Mixing) - Won
  • 2006:Dreamgirls(Best Sound, Editing & Mixing) – Won
  • 2005:Collateral(Best Sound, Editing & Mixing) – Won
  • 2004:Kill Bill: Vol. 1(Best Sound) – Nominated

Controversy

edit

After winning the Oscar in 2007 for his work onDreamgirls,Minkler exchanged the following dialogue with a reporter:

Reporter: Each one of you has won an Oscar before tonight. One of your other nominees,Kevin O'Connell,has never won in 19 tries now. Do you have anything to say to him?

Minkler: I kind of figured this question was going to come up, so they said if it does come up, go ahead and say something. I think Kevin should just like maybe just go away with 19 wins [sic] and just call it a record and that would be the end of it. We work really, really hard at what we do, all of us do in our craft. And if we, you know, stumble upon an award like this, somebody is willing to honor us with something like this, we are so grateful. And I just wonder what Kevin's trying to do out there by trying to get an award by using sympathy. And Kevin's an okay mixer but enough's enough about Kevin.

Reporter: You think he should take his name out of consideration?

Minkler: No, no, I just think that he should take up another line of work. "

— February 24, 2007[21]

Several online[22][23][24]publications found the comments to be controversial, surprising, or otherwise noteworthy. L.A. Times contributor Tom O'Neil reported on the event after contacting O'Connell, receiving the following response from him:

"As you may or may not know, my mother Skippy passed away on Sunday night right after the Oscars. I was holding her in my arms when she died. I was not made aware of Mr. Minkler's comments until Monday morning. I have not seen them personally and at this point I have no intention of looking at them or reading about them. I'll get back to you when I get that far down on my list of what is important to me. Take care, Kevin."

— O'Connell was with dying mom while being bashed at Oscars - March 1, 2007 [25]

Minkler apologized to O'Connell within a few weeks of making his original remarks in an open letter, and by calling and speaking to him personally, as referenced in the letter.[26]Minkler framed his apology with the statement, "A very unfortunate situation has developed because of my stupid answers to some inappropriate questions. I did not seek this spotlight—the press did, as they have in the past. It was wrong of them to ask the questions, and wrong, wrong, wrong of me to answer them the way that I did."

Writing on the controversy once again, Tom O'Neil characterized the apology in his LA Times blog as, "Minkler blames the media for his bashing of O'Connell."[27]As reported in the updated article, O'Connell accepted the apology cordially with the statement, "I think it is time for all of us to move on in the best interest of the sound community, and put this behind us."

References

edit
  1. ^nm0591444/IMDB
  2. ^"Todd-AO gets Makeover, Editors Guild Magazine
  3. ^"Michael Minkler | Moving Pictures Media Group".Archived fromthe originalon 2017-08-10.Retrieved2017-08-10.
  4. ^ab"Mike Minkler Interview-interview with Oscar-winning re-recording mixer".Archived fromthe originalon 2011-06-29.Retrieved2010-03-21.Mike Minkler Q&A, Tom Kenny,Mixmagazine, September 1, 2002
  5. ^https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0591442/IMDB Credits for Don Minkler[user-generated source]
  6. ^https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0591440//IMDB Credits for Bob Minkler[user-generated source]
  7. ^https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0591441///IMDB Credits for Christian Minkler[user-generated source]
  8. ^https://www.editorsguild.com/FromtheGuild.cfm?FromTheGuildid=94Todd-AO Hollywood Gets Euphonix Makeover - and Minkler too, Michael Kunkes,Editor's Guildmagazine, August 24, 2009
  9. ^""Inglourious Basterds" Features Penteo Surround | BriefingRoom on Electronic Musician ".Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-10.Retrieved2010-03-22.Inglourious BasterdsFeatures Penteo Surround, David Goggin,Electronic MusicianThe Briefing Room, August 26, 2009
  10. ^"The 82nd Academy Awards (2010) Nominees and Winners".oscars.org.Retrieved2011-11-22.
  11. ^"The 79th Academy Awards (2007) Nominees and Winners".oscars.org.Retrieved2011-11-20.
  12. ^"The 75th Academy Awards (2003) Nominees and Winners".oscars.org.Retrieved2011-11-20.
  13. ^"The 74th Academy Awards (2002) Nominees and Winners".oscars.org.Retrieved2011-11-19.
  14. ^"The 66th Academy Awards (1994) Nominees and Winners".oscars.org.Retrieved2011-10-22.
  15. ^"The 64th Academy Awards (1992) Nominees and Winners".oscars.org.Retrieved2011-10-22.
  16. ^"The 62nd Academy Awards (1990) Nominees and Winners".oscars.org.Retrieved2011-10-17.
  17. ^"The 58th Academy Awards (1986) Nominees and Winners".oscars.org.Retrieved2011-10-16.
  18. ^"The 55th Academy Awards (1983) Nominees and Winners".oscars.org.Archived fromthe originalon 2012-09-05.Retrieved2011-10-09.
  19. ^"The 53rd Academy Awards (1981) Nominees and Winners".oscars.org.Retrieved2011-10-07.
  20. ^"The 52nd Academy Awards (1980) Nominees and Winners".oscars.org.Retrieved2011-10-07.
  21. ^"Lee's Movie Info - 2007 Oscars - 80th Academy Awards".
  22. ^http://www.incontention.com/2007/02/greg_p_russell_responds_to_mic.html
  23. ^"Oscar FeudWatch: Sound Mixer Smackdown!".Archived fromthe originalon 2014-04-30.Retrieved2014-04-29.
  24. ^"The Oscars: Backstage Diary".26 February 2007.
  25. ^Los Angeles Times
  26. ^"Minkler apologizes".2 March 2007. Archived fromthe originalon 8 May 2021.Retrieved29 April2014.
  27. ^Los Angeles Times
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Minkler&oldid=1268708177"