Michael Minkler

Michael Minkler
Born May 14, 1952 (1952-05-14) (age 59)
Los Angeles, CA
Occupation Sound Re-Recording Mixer
Years active 1969–present

Michael Minkler (born 14 May 1952) is a Motion Picture Sound Re-Recording Mixer. His Oscars are for the work done on Dreamgirls, Chicago and Black Hawk Down, but Minkler has a varied career that includes films like Inglourious Basterds, JFK and Star Wars, as well television programs like The Pacific and John Adams.[1] Minkler works at Todd-AO Hollywood.[2]

Contents

Early career

Minkler started working as a recordist when he was just 17 years old and started mixing in 1974 when he was 22. Early projects included commercials, television shows and industrial films. His first major film came in 1976, when he was hired for a temporary assignment to work on the music and effects tracks for the foreign release of All the President’s Men. He worked with re-recording mixers Arthur Piantadosi and Les Fresholtz at Warner Bros. Stage 5 on that project. Minkler continued to work along side them for another 35 films and considered them his mentors.[3]

Family history

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 the Vitaphone project at Warner 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 as Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces,The Last Picture Show" and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.[5]

His uncle, sound re-recording mixer Bob Minkler began working in the sound department back in the 1960s and won an Oscar in 1978 for his work on Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. Other Bob Minkler credits include 10, Hair and Bull Durham and Saturday Night Fever". His other uncle, Lee, also a mixer, shares the distinction of being on the Oscar Nominated Sound Mixing team for "Tron" with 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 is also a re-recording mixer, who has worked on both television and feature film projects since 1990. Christian's most recent credits include Repo Man, The Proposal and Role Models.[7]

Professional experience

After a four year stint at Warner Bros. Studios, he took the job as the chief mixer and managing director of facilities, at Robert 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 staff Skywalker Sound’s Lantana facility in Santa Monica. He continued to mix there after the facility was acquired by Todd-AO. While at re-named Todd-AO West, Minkler won a pair of Academy Awards, first for Black Hawk Down in 2001 and then Dreamgirls in 2006. In 2009, he moved to the Todd-AO Hollywood facility and quickly earned an Academy Award nomination for 'Inglorious Basterds".

Technical Advisor

In addition to his mixing credits, Minkler has been a sought after technical advisor for companies like Euphonix where 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. On Inglorious Basterds, Minkler utilized a new technology developed by Penteo Surround that enables stereo music mixes to be converted and spread across a 5.1 surround sound field.[9]

Appears on

While Minkler is regularly profiled in trades magazines like Variety, Mix and Post, he’s also appeared on DVD featurettes discussing the sound of a particular film. The Sound of Miracle appears as an extra on the DVD release of the 2004 film Miracle.

Awards and nominations

Michael Minkler has been nominated for 11 Academy Awards (three wins), six BAFTA Awards (three wins), eight Cinema Audio Society Awards (two wins), one Motion Picture Sound Editors Awards (one win), two Emmy Award and three Satellite Awards (two 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
Cinema Audio Society Awards
Emmy Awards
Motion Picture Sound Editors - Golden Reel Award
Satellite Awards

References

  1. ^ nm0591444/ IMDB
  2. ^ [1] "Todd-AO gets Makeover, Editors Guild Magazine]
  3. ^ [2] Mike Minkler Q&A, Tom Kenny, ‘’Mix’’ magazine, September 1, 2002
  4. ^ [3] Mike Minkler Q&A, Tom Kenny, ‘’Mix’’ magazine, September 1, 2002
  5. ^ [4] IMDB Credits for Don Minkler
  6. ^ [5] IMDB Credits for Bob Minkler
  7. ^ [6] IMDB Credits for Christian Minkler
  8. ^ [7] Todd-AO Hollywood Gets Euphonix Makeover - and Minkler too, Michael Kunkes, ‘’Editor's Guild’’ magazine, August 24, 2009
  9. ^ [8] Inglorious Basterds Features Penteo Surround, David Goggin, ‘’Electronic Musician’’ The Briefing Room, August 26, 2009
  10. ^ "The 82nd Academy Awards (2010) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/82nd-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-11-22. 
  11. ^ "The 79th Academy Awards (2007) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/79th-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-11-20. 
  12. ^ "The 75th Academy Awards (2003) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/75th-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-11-20. 
  13. ^ "The 74th Academy Awards (2002) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/74th-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-11-19. 
  14. ^ "The 66th Academy Awards (1994) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/66th-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-10-22. 
  15. ^ "The 64th Academy Awards (1992) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/64th-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-10-22. 
  16. ^ "The 62nd Academy Awards (1990) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/62nd-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-10-17. 
  17. ^ "The 58th Academy Awards (1986) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/58th-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-10-16. 
  18. ^ "The 55th Academy Awards (1983) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/55th-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-10-09. 
  19. ^ "The 53rd Academy Awards (1981) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/53rd-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 
  20. ^ "The 52nd Academy Awards (1980) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/52nd-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 

External links