Larry Benjamin is a re-recording mixer and Managing Partner at Smart Post Sound in Los Angeles. His recent credits include The Good Wife, Bones and Better Call Saul, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Nomination. He is also the creator and presenter of Smartcast, a fantastic, informative and entertaining podcast series dedicated to all aspects of audio post production. Each episode takes the form of an interview with a notable protagonist in their particular field. We heartily recommend it.
Resurface caught up with Larry recently to talk about both aspects of his work. We discuss Better Call Saul in Episode 1 of our series Scene : Heard. We started with Smartcast.
It Began With a Melody
RESURFACE: First off, thanks and congratulations for putting out a podcast series on audio for TV and Film. For those of us with an interest in both, it’s a joy to listen to. What made you decide to devote the time and energy on top of the day (and often night) job?
LARRY BENJAMIN: The podcast started life as an internal thing here at Smart Post Sound. An idea that Joe Melody our CEO had. We’ve been expanding and adding new sites spread all across the LA area, it seemed a good way to introduce people, profile what they do here and keep everyone in touch. I have a background in radio and took the project on. Then Matt Kallen, our head of engineering, became involved and we began putting it online, publishing it via the various channels and expanding its reach.
R: You’ve recorded 30 episodes to date, what has the reaction been like from the community? We audio people are notoriously a ‘breed’, I imagine there’s been a lot of appreciation for telling their story?
LB: It’s been amazing, we’ve had over 20,000 people listen in. I’ve had people get in touch to say they appreciate it, which is gratifying. I know some of the guests we’ve featured have had feedback too. Philip Palmer, who I talked to in Episode 21, appeared at a panel event recently to talk about his work, and a number of people there made a point of finding him afterwards to talk about his appearance on the podcast.
Drawn To The Life
R: One thing I’ve noticed in your conversations is the recurring theme that people working in audio post production rarely, if ever, set out with that career in mind. The other – related – constant is that they all had an innate interest in sound from an early age. Whether that was being in bands, messing around with portable cassette players as kids, something in their personality is drawn to tones and sounds and the way they interact.
LB: Exactly, and I’m no different!
R: Likewise!
LB: Maybe the only exception is Chris Gomez, one of our team at Smart Post Sound who I sat down with in episode 14. Chris was working in the railroad industry, in the train yard, for the first part of his career. He played guitar, so I guess that aspect was there in him, but he had enrolled at the Art Institute of Santa Monica where Joe Melody was his tutor. Joe saw Chris’s potential and brought him in to our internship program. Now, only four years later, he’s working on huge shows like Modern Family.
R: Now that the podcast has a life of its own beyond the company, how do you set about choosing your guests?
LB: It’s really inspired by the people I know and have worked with. There are so many, doing so much interesting work. Whether that’s in audio, or we’ve featured colorists, VFX, writers, directors, actors; all kinds of people in our world that we collaborate and interact with in what we do.
Next Time, On Smartcast
R: We’ll put the episode listing on the site for readers to see [SEE BELOW]. What do you have in store for future episodes, is there anyone in particular you’d like to get on the show?
LB: Absolutely, the hardest part is making schedules work. Sometimes they’ll come to our studio, sometimes their place. In Diane Mercer’s case I went to her office with a rig and a couple of mics, that’s the only way we could make it happen. There are a lot of people I’d love to have on the show, guys like Gary Rydstrom , Randy Thom, Andy Nelson – the list goes on. I was at a pre-Emmys event just recently and was talking to Paul McFadden and Doug Sinclair from Bang Post Production in Wales, the guys who did Sherlock and Dr Who, and I’m hoping we can get them on the show when schedules allow.
R: They’d all make for fascinating episodes. Thanks again Larry and – if Gary, Randy, Andy, Paul or Doug happens to be reading this interview, we at Resurface urge you to get in touch with Larry and Make It Happen!
Smartcast Episode List:
| 1 | SPS001: An Introduction to Smartcast feat. Joe Melody | View in iTunes |
| 2 | SPS002: Supervising Sound Editor Michael Graham | View in iTunes |
| 3 | SPS003: Director / Filmmaker Rosita Lama Muvdi | View in iTunes |
| 4 | SPS004: Writer, producer, musician and mixer Michael Perricone | View in iTunes |
| 5 | SPS005: ADR Supervisor and Television Producer Bill Kerr | View in iTunes |
| 6 | SPS006: Emmy award-winning Sound Supervisor Mark Friedgen | View in iTunes |
| 7 | SPS007: Supervising Music Editor Sharyn Gersh | View in iTunes |
| 8 | SPS008: Supervising Sound Editor Penny Harold | View in iTunes |
| 9 | SPS009: Writer / Director Brin Hill | View in iTunes |
| 10 | SPS010: Re-recording mixer and recording engineer Peter Kelsey | View in iTunes |
| 11 | SPS011: Multi-award winning Sound Designer and VFX artist Rick Steele | View in iTunes |
| 12 | SPS012: Re-recording Mixers Aaron Levy and Ethan Beigel | View in iTunes |
| 13 | SPS013: Supervising Sound Editor Erich Gann | View in iTunes |
| 14 | SPS014: Sound Editor and Supervisor Christopher Gomez | View in iTunes |
| 15 | SPS015: Composer and Musician Christopher French | View in iTunes |
| 16 | SPS016: Voice Actor, Loop Group Director and Founder of The Final Word Joe Cappelletti | View in iTunes |
| 17 | SPS017: Actress, Director, and Producer Juliet Landau | <a href=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/smart-post-sounds-smartcast/id1106617493?mt=2″ onclick=”__gaTracker(‘send’, ‘event’, ‘outbound-article’, ‘https://itunes.apple strattera cost.com/us/podcast/smart-post-sounds-smartcast/id1106617493?mt=2′, ‘View in iTunes’);”>View in iTunes |
| 18 | SPS018: Colorist Tom Overton | View in iTunes |
| 19 | SPS019: Re-recording Mixers Dean Okrand & Brian Harman | View in iTunes |
| 20 | SPS020: Sound Effects Editor Dave Barnaby | View in iTunes |
| 21 | SPS021: Production Sound Mixer Phillip Palmer | View in iTunes |
| 22 | SPS022: Re-Recording Mixer & Sound Editor Bob Bronow | View in iTunes |
| 23 | SPS023: Sound Supervisor and Editor Greg Schorer | View in iTunes |
| 24 | SPS024: Producer Diane Mercer | View in iTunes |
| 25 | SPS025: Software Engineer and Lead Programmer at Respawn Entertainment Jon Shiring | View in iTunes |
| 26 | SPS026: Composer, Musician, and Arranger David Buckley | View in iTunes |
| 27 | SPS027: Dialog Editor Paul Longstaffe | View in iTunes |
| 28 | SPS028: Re-recording Mixer and Musician Kevin Valentine | View in iTunes |
| 29 | SPS029: Matt Temple – Sound Editor, Supervisor, Re-Recording Mixer & Musician | View in iTunes |
| 30 | SPS030: Steve Cantos – Vice President of Operations & Client Services at Sony DADC | View in iTunes |
