Interview with Ted Gagliano

Speedy Schedules Are Here to Stay

an interview with Post-Production Supervisor Ted Gagliano

Ted Gagliano is the Senior V.P. of Post-Production at Fox Studios. At this year's Academy Awards many people thanked him, in front of an audience of one billion TV viewers,including both the Oscar-winning sound editor (Guild member Stephen Hunter Flick) and the mixers from 'Speed'.

"Right now we are experiencing the toughest transition period"

"I was really proud of the guys. 'Speed' was one of the most gratifying, fun, difficult post-production processes that I've ever been through. When we first saw the movie, we realized how great it could be. The movie wasn't scheduled to be finished until August, but after the first preview we moved it up to a June l0th release. The head of the studio went to the director, Jan DeBont, and the post production team and asked if it could be done. We created this incredibly difficult post-production schedule which required dubbing on four stages at once; and sacrifices from everybody on the team - from picture editor John Wright to sound supervisor Steve Flick and his crew as well as the mixers Gregg Landaker, Steve Maslow and their team. Everybody realized how important it was to get the film finished and they killed themselves doing it. I was their cheerleader, the logistics person to figure out how we could do it. Anyway, they did the impossible, and the movie came out great.

"I think right now we are experiencing the toughest transition period in digital editing. The mixture of previews on film during an electronic editing process, the new technology, the training, the software bugs - all contribute to a process that is still flawed, but very exciting. The sound editors are having the hardest time because of the schedules, the outputs from Lightworks or Avid and conversion to their medium.

"These crazy schedules are not going away. What I see in the future is an adaptation of the English system mixed with new technology - where the sound designer, composer and music editor come on much earlier, even during production. There would be a smaller sound crew, but one that is part of an electronically integrated cutting-room that makes better use of networks, shared databases and multiple workstations. I hope that ultimately this will be a more creative, humane approach than what we currently face on the accelerated schedules."

Reprinted from
The Motion Picture Editors Guild Newsletter
Vol. 16, No. 3 - May/June 1995

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Copyright © 1996, All Rights Reserved by The Motion Picture Editors Guild, IATSE Local 776


	Speedy Schedules Are Here to Stay an interview with Post-Production Supervisor Ted Gagliano *Ted Gagliano* is the Senior V.P. of Post-Production at Fox Studios. At this year's Academy Awards many people thanked him, in front of an audience of one billion TV viewers,including both the Oscar-winning sound editor (Guild member Stephen Hunter Flick) and the mixers from 'Speed'.
	"Right now we are experiencing the toughest transition period"	"I was really proud of the guys. 'Speed' was one of the most gratifying, fun, difficult post-production processes that I've ever been through. When we first saw the movie, we realized how great it could be. The movie wasn't scheduled to be finished until August, but after the first preview we moved it up to a June l0th release. The head of the studio went to the director, Jan DeBont, and the post production team and asked if it could be done. We created this incredibly difficult post-production schedule which required dubbing on four stages at once; and sacrifices from everybody on the team - from picture editor John Wright to sound supervisor Steve Flick and his crew as well as the mixers Gregg Landaker, Steve Maslow and their team. Everybody realized how important it was to get the film finished and they killed themselves doing it. I was their cheerleader, the logistics person to figure out how we could do it. Anyway, they did the impossible, and the movie came out great. "I think right now we are experiencing the toughest transition period in digital editing. The mixture of previews on film during an electronic editing process, the new technology, the training, the software bugs - all contribute to a process that is still flawed, but very exciting. The sound editors are having the hardest time because of the schedules, the outputs from Lightworks or Avid and conversion to their medium. "These crazy schedules are not going away. What I see in the future is an adaptation of the English system mixed with new technology - where the sound designer, composer and music editor come on much earlier, even during production. There would be a smaller sound crew, but one that is part of an electronically integrated cutting-room that makes better use of networks, shared databases and multiple workstations. I hope that ultimately this will be a more creative, humane approach than what we currently face on the accelerated schedules."
	Reprinted from The Motion Picture Editors Guild Newsletter Vol. 16, No. 3 - May/June 1995 Guild Home \| Newsletter Home \| Top of Page Copyright © 1996, All Rights Reserved by The Motion Picture Editors Guild, IATSE Local 776