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| Leslie mixing Leap of Faith at 5A Studios, London |
2019 has been an incredible year for Mix Messiah Productions, I'm very proud of what I have achieved this year.
This year's theme seems to be
manifestation, as so many of my dreams have come true - though not in ways I may have imagined, as is typically the case! From
award nominations to being welcomed as a new member of the
Recording Academy; from seeing the work of the
AES D&I Committee flourish at the New York Convention to
authoring my first book, Women In Audio, I have a lot to celebrate and wonderful colleagues with whom to celebrate!
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| Leap of Faith |
Sound for film and television
In terms of sound for film, working on a movie that had its premiere at the
Venice Film Festival, showed at the
BFI (British Film Institute) and has been accepted to Sundance has felt pretty good. Alexandre O. Philippe's
Leap of Faith, a documentary on the making of
The Exorcist featuring director William Friedkin and earned a nomination for Best Documentary on Cinema in Vienna. And just announced: the
film is headed to Sundance in 2020!
I was also nominated for a
Heartland Emmy alongside director Michelle Carpenter for the film,
Enough White Teacups. The documentary chronicles the philosophy behind the Danish non-profit, INDEX: Design to Improve Life, and features some of the most amazing solutions to the challenges to sustainability we face today. My role was as re-recording mixer, polishing the sound for Michelle's film and adding some sound design to her amazing digital graphics.
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| Leslie and David Liban at Coda 2 Coda Studios |
This year, we also wrapped production on
A Feral World, a post-apocalyptic tale of survival and friendship between a young boy who befriends a mother looking for her lost daughter. The movie has followed the boy over 4 years as he matures into his teen years. Director David Liban flew out to London, England for the final mix with me (in 5.1 of course) at Coda 2 Coda Studios and I'm looking forward to seeing this film get shared far and wide! Congrats to David and the whole
Feral cast and crew!
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| Leslie with her Pro Tools rig with Three Worlds, One Stage on the monitor |
I also mixed
Three Worlds One Stage, a film by Jessica McGaugh and Roma Sur which - among other accolades - won the "Best Documentary" award at the Mumbai International Film Festival Global Indian Film Festival in Mumbai. The film chronicles how immigrants from Africa, India and Europe arrive in the United States to choreograph a dance which unites the three cultures on stage. The powerful stories of a classical Indian dancer who conquers injuries from a car accident, a Spanish flamenco dancer who brought her family to Denver, and a drummer who departs from his royal roots to teach students are very moving, and of course the music and dancing must be experienced first hand.
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| Leslie and Corine Dhondee with Bradford Young on the monitor |
The film essay
Cinema is the Weapon by
Corrine Dhondee chronicles the work and philosophy of cinematographer Bradford Young (
Selma, Arrival). It has screened in my home city Brighton at the Scrapyard Festival, as well as the Atlanta Arts Centre, Georgia; Scrapyard Festival, London, 01Zero1, London, Bronzelens Film Festival, Atlanta, Urbanworld, New York, The Earls Court Film Festival outreach programme (UK), and Philadelphia, PA.
Seeing the payoff of efforts by the Diversity and Inclusion Committee at the Audio Engineering Society Convention in New York felt really good. The first-ever hip-hop track was chaired by Paul "Willie Green" Womack, a colleague who I met for the first time at an the Central Region Audio Student Summit hosted by the AES Student Section at Webster University. At that time I told him AES was working on D&I and that's all it took for him to join - and he's really run with it!
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| African Americans in Audio panel at AES NY: (Top row) Paul "Willie Green" Womack, Jay Henry, Prince Charles Alexander. (Bottom row): Leslie Gaston-Bird, Abhita Austin, Ebonie Smith |
We held a panel called "African Americans in Audio" that was very well received. Working with Women's Audio Mission and SoundGirls brought even more visibility for women and underrepresented groups to the forefront. Yes, we still have work to do but I've never been to a convention quite like this, and we have every reason to be proud.
Women in Audio has been published!
It is my great honor to announce that
Women in Audio (www.WomenInAudioBook.com) has been published and should arrive in time for the holiday season. It features almost 100 profiles (and around 70 personal interviews) of women in music recording, hardware and software design, music recording, live sound, game sound, audio for virtual / augmented / mixed reality, radio, and film & television.
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| Women in Audio cover |
Sharing these stories with you is something I look forward to, and I am honored to have had so many women share their experiences with me. I posted my experience on my LinkedIn page, saying: "I feel that writing this book was akin to being chosen in an almost supernatural way. Some of these stories were banging on history's door, demanding to be told. In almost every instance, what could have been a simple interview revealed a door that opened another door, until I was falling down the rabbit hole of women's untold stories, adventures, innovations, struggles, and successes. A few times, I had to take long walks outside to take in the scope of this huge responsibility. The stories blew my mind. I hope the book does the same for you."
... in conclusion
Altogether, it's been a wonderful 50th trip around the sun. I'm looking forward to 2020! And as I always say: remember to love loudly and love often.
