- Michael Minkler
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Michael Minkler Born May 14, 1952
Los Angeles, CAOccupation 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
- 2010: Inglorious Basterds (Best Sound Mixing) – Nominated
- 2007: Dreamgirls (Best Sound Mixing) – Won
- 2003: Chicago (Best Sound Mixing) – Won[10]
- 2002: Black Hawk Down (Best Sound Mixing) – Won[11]
- 1994: Cliffhanger (Best Sound) – Nominated[12]
- 1992: JFK (Best Sound) – Nominated[13]
- 1990: Born on the Fourth of July (Best Sound) – Nominated[14]
- 1986: A Chorus Line (Best Sound) – Nominated[15]
- 1983: Tron (Best Sound) – Nominated[16]
- 1980: Altered States (Best Sound) – Nominated[17]
- 1980: The Electric Horseman (Best Sound) – Nominated[18]
- BAFTA Awards
- 2005: Collateral (Best Sound) – Nominated
- 2004: Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (Best Sound) – Nominated
- 2003: Chicago (Best Sound) – Won
- 2002: Black Hawk Down (Best Sound) – Nominated
- 1993: JFK (Best Sound) – Won
- 1979: Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (Best Sound) – Won
- 2009: John Adams (Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movies and Mini-Series for episode Join or Die) – Won
- 2009: John Adams (Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movies and Mini-Series for episode Independence) – Nominated
- 2008: Into the Wild (Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures) – Nominated
- 2007: Dreamgirls (Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures) – Won
- 2003: Chicago (Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures) – Nominated
- 2002: Black Hawk Down (Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures) – Nominated
- 1995: True Lies (Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures) – Nominated
- 1994: Cliffhanger (Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Feature Film) – Nominated
- Emmy Awards
- 2010: The Pacific (Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie for the episode Part Two) - Won
- 2008: John Adams (Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie for the episode Join or Die) – Nominated
- 1990: Born on the Fourth of July (Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects) – Won (Tied with The Abyss)
- 2006: Dreamgirls (Best Sound, Editing & Mixing) – Won
- 2005: Collateral (Best Sound, Editing & Mixing) – Won
- 2004: Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (Best Sound) – Nominated
References
- ^ nm0591444/ IMDB
- ^ [1] "Todd-AO gets Makeover, Editors Guild Magazine]
- ^ [2] Mike Minkler Q&A, Tom Kenny, ‘’Mix’’ magazine, September 1, 2002
- ^ [3] Mike Minkler Q&A, Tom Kenny, ‘’Mix’’ magazine, September 1, 2002
- ^ [4] IMDB Credits for Don Minkler
- ^ [5] IMDB Credits for Bob Minkler
- ^ [6] IMDB Credits for Christian Minkler
- ^ [7] Todd-AO Hollywood Gets Euphonix Makeover - and Minkler too, Michael Kunkes, ‘’Editor's Guild’’ magazine, August 24, 2009
- ^ [8] Inglorious Basterds Features Penteo Surround, David Goggin, ‘’Electronic Musician’’ The Briefing Room, August 26, 2009
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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
- Michael Minkler at the Internet Movie Database
- Michael Minkler Bio at Todd-AO website
- A video profile of the work done on Inglorious Basterds by the SoundWorks Collection
- Article at Mix magazine covering Minkler moving to Todd-AO Hollywood
- CSS Studios Company Blog with Minkler news
- The Oscars Nominee Questionnaire for Inglorious Basterds nomination
- WordPress Blog Entries covering Michael Minkler
- Story about Michael Minkler's CAS Award win for Dreamgirls
- Article about Michael Minkler's 2010 Oscar Nominations at ProSoundWeb
- Article at The Hollywood Reporter covering the work done on Inglorious Basterds written by Debra Kaufman
- Michael Minkler Information at Freebase
Academy Award for Best Sound (2001–2020) Michael Minkler, Chris Munro, Myron Nettinga (2001) · David Lee, Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella (2002) · Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Hammond Peek, Michael Semanick (2003) · Scott Millan, Greg Orloff, Bob Beemer, Steve Cantamessa (2004) · Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, Hammond Peek (2005) · Bob Beemer, Willie D. Burton, Michael Minkler (2006) · Kirk Francis, Scott Millan, David Parker (2007) · Resul Pookutty, Richard Pryke, Ian Tapp (2008) · Paul N. J. Ottosson, Ray Beckett (2009) · Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick (2010)
Complete list · (1929–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001–2020) Categories:- 1952 births
- Living people
- American audio engineers
- Best Sound Mixing Academy Award winners
- CAS Career Achievement Award honorees
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