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Getting to Know You | |
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Introducing Ordinary Members of the Guild | |
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Daniel Allen Carlin | |
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My father, during his splendidly successful career as a music editor, was always willing to train any hardworking person possessing reasonable smarts and a decent sense of rhythm. He started this company as La Da Music in 1972. Along with myself and Segue partner/president Jeff Carson, my father trained other current Segue staffers Tom Villano and Jim Harrison, and such lauded guild members as Ken Karman, Bob Badami, Jim Weidman, Chris Brooks, Curtis Roush, Allan Rosen and Board member Michael Tronick.
In addition to my father, partner and co-workers, I am indebted to several composers who not only helped me hone a wonderful craft, but inspired and prodded me into growing beyond a very imposing shadow. The late Jerry Fielding offered musical instruction. Patrick Williams provided conducting opportunities. Fred Karlin demanded excellence. Trevor Jones encouraged collaboration. And the late Georges Delerue showed us all how one could be talented and famous and still be a gentleman.
My first regular music-editing gig was on 'Lou Grant', which premiered in the fall of 1977, the last season in which prime-time dramas could be "tracked." We scored about half the episodes, simultaneously creating the library from which we tracked the remaining episodes. My first feature music editor credit came the next year on Terrence Malick's 'Days of Heaven'. I was dubbing a 'Lassie' movie with Jack and Bonita Granville Wrather during the daytime and then joining Malick and his editorial crew at night. Terry and I had taught similar courses in college (he at MIT and I at UConn), so we'd edit and talk until 3 or 4 a.m. before I'd crawl home. The following year I was the executive music producer and principal conductor on Carroll Ballard's 'The Black Stallion', which we did out of Francis Ford Coppola's San Francisco home and studio.
In subsequent years I developed an unanticipated specialty that centers around music-driven movies requiring heavy duty pre-recording and playbacks, such as 'Sister Act', 'The Bodyguard', 'What's Love Got to Do With It', 'Quest for Camelot' and 'The Temptations'. The credit I usually receive these days is either music supervisor (hiss) or production music supervisor (huh?). These jobs involve everything from simply monitoring the pre-records and advising on the set, to writing, arranging, conducting and producing tracks, as well as producing the soundtrack album. This stimulating work has so dominated my recent career that I believe my only music editing credit in the 1990s was for 'Cobb', a wonderful experience with the great writer-director Ron Shelton.
In addition to music supervision - which, by the way, better get a good healthy shower real soon or I'm going back to file management - I am fortunate to still run Segue's day-to-day operations. Our current staff weighs in at 25 people, many of whom have been with us since the late '70s and early '80s. As always, the editorial roster is Local 700 to the core. Jeff and I have attempted to maintain the family-business personality established by my father, and we are proud and grateful to have the loyalty of so many good people.
Here's the scary part: Although it feels as if I started only a few years ago, these days I see a grandfather in my mirror. Aside from the wrinkles, the view isn't too painful. I've tried to be ethical, conscientious and appreciative; my failures in this regard have not been fatal. I am blessed with good health, a loving family and wonderful friends. I've managed to be paying attention when a decent door swung open. And I never, ever take any of this good fortune for granted.
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Birthplace: Jacksonville, Florida. |
Reprinted from
The Motion Picture Editors Guild Newsletter
Vol. 20, No. 3 - May/June 1999
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