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What Our Members Do - Past Featured Members

CURTIS GOMEZ - SOUND ENGINEER:

January 2012

Where are you currently employed?

 

I work at Todd-AO West in Santa Monica.

 

Current Project?

 

We just finished HBO's new series Luck, produced by Michael Mann, and we are about to start The Avengers.

 

Describe Your Job.

 

I'm a post engineer. We wear a lot of hats. You have to be an electrical engineer, an audio engineer, a video engineer and an IT and software negotiator all in one package. Oh, and I almost forgot — a diplomat!

  

How did you first become interested in this line of work?

 

As a kid, I had all the building toys you could imagine: Tinker Toys, Legos, Lincoln Logs, Erector Set, you name it. And, along with being an avid sci-fi fan, I always was interested in technology.

 

Who gave you your first break?

 

Big Rick Stuart from Live 105, a radio station in San Francisco, was a friend I met while working with the band Primus. He called me out of the blue one day and asked if I could fix transmitters, which I is something I did in the Army, so my studio exposure started in radio.

 

What was your first union job?

 

Working for Westwind Media in Burbank. We edited, mixed and color-corrected for NYPD Blue, The Practice, Gray's Anatomy, Private Practice and a lot of other high-profile TV episodics.

 

Which of your credits or projects have made you the most proud and why?

 

Keeping abreast of improvements to Westwind on a shoestring budget. We were always incrementally upgrading the technology. We transitioned to HD file projection at least two years before most people in town, and we only spent about $4,000 per stage.

 

What was your biggest challenge in your job (or on a particular project) and how did you overcome/solve it?

 

Pulling out a Neve audio console on Friday night and installing a Euphonix console ready to do an ADR session on the following Monday morning. It came off fine, but it was probably the most grueling project I've had to do.

 

What was the most fun you’ve had at work?

 

I always liked working with sound supervisor Barney Cabral. He has the best stories about the business ever. Throwing a Fairlight keyboard into the parking lot was the second most fun.

 

Jobwise, what do you hope to be doing five years from now?

 

Hard to say. I'm taking a broadcast engineering degree program to broaden my options. The writers strike was a wake-up call.

 

What are your outside activities, hobbies, passions?

 

I've taken some form of martial arts most of my life and am consequently a big UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) fan. I love motorcycle-riding, reading science publications and playing with my pit bull and chi-weenie.

 

Favorite movie(s)? Why?

 

Almost anything by Luc Besson: The Fifth Element, La Femme Nikita and Leon: The Professional — which he directed — and Transporter, Taken, Taxi and District B13 — all of which he wrote. Also anything by Jean-Pierre Jeunet: Ame´lie, Delicatessen and City of Lost Children. Both directors incorporate elements of fantasy, action and science in their films.

 

Favorite TV program(s)?  Why?

 

The Daily Show and Family Guy. What can say, I like to laugh.

 

Do you have an industry mentor?

 

That would be the Internet. Working for Euphonix helped a lot, too. But it was a compilation of experience in military electronics, in manufacturing engineering for ADA Signal Processors and in field service and radio engineering for stations KITS and KIOI that got me to the point I'm at today.

 

What advice would you offer to someone interested in pursuing your line of work?

 

Work hard and care about what you do. Keep your people skills sharp.

 

Was there ever a circumstance when you had to rely on the Guild for help or assistance?

 

The Guild contacted me regarding an opening at Todd-AO Burbank and the rest is history.

 

 Is there anything you’d like to say to your fellow Guild members, some words of encouragement?

 

Aldous Huxley wrote, “Experience is not what happens to you — it is what you do with what happens to you.”

 

Compiled by Ed Landler

 

Editor’s Note: To recommend a member (including yourself) to be featured on the home page of the Editors Guild website, contact edlandler@roadrunner.com.

 


Interested in Being Featured?

Scott Collins
Director of Communications
323.978.1083
scollins@editorsguild.com