We’re Up For An Oscar FOR “A COMPLETE UNKNOWN” Biopic!
My lil’ ol movie A COMPLETE UNKNOWN is currently up for eight Oscar awards next month! I served as Audio Tech Specialist on the film and worked in both the prop and sound department all throughout 2024 for Searchlight.
Todd Maitland and the entire sound dept. are up for an Oscar. All the microphones, instruments and outboard gear in the film were provided by myself. As you will discover more in the video below, my role on this particular film evolved throughout the duration of the film as I took on training of the actors, instructing them on what they should be doing around the equipment in the recording studio environments (particularly at the CBS studios scenes from 1960-1965). Tod Maitland and I have also partnered to form a new film consulting company, look out for that coming soon!
This opportunity led to similar responsibilities on other films such Timothee Chalamet’s “MARTY SUPREME” and Jeremy Allen-White’s “DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE.”
Here’s a video featuring all the mics and outboard gear I provided for the film:
Some of my favorite gear in the film was the Neuman mics (M149C, M582’s, MK84’s, KM64’s, U67s and 87s etc), the BEAG MD210’s, the AKG D12 and D19, Altec 654A and of course the gorgeous RCA 77DX that I had freshly re-chromed, re-grill clothed and painted for the film!
Screenshots taken from the Behind The Scenes Video below.
BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO
Skip to 21:20 to see footage of my involvement!
Some of the preliminary microphones were quite interesting, as we sorted through hundreds of reference photos and mic choices.
I was also tasked to design and build the racks in the control room of CBS Studios, which I fabricated in my garage over 2 months. The Pultecs were fake, which I fabricated too, but the Altecs were the real deal. The Altec 436C’s shown here even had the famous EMI RS124 modifications which can be noted by the far right master output knob! Authenticity was our #1 priority.
