By: Connor Iadevaia
I recently had the privilege to sit down and interview esteemed sound mixer Tod Maitland, who has worked on numerous films including West Side Story (2021), JFK (1991), and Joker (2019). Just a couple of weeks ago, Maitland received his sixth Academy Award nomination for his newest project A Complete Unknown. This 1960s Bob Dylan biopic features Timothée Chalamet as Dylan during his early music career and his rise to fame. Sound, which was expressed uniquely by Maitland, was an integral part of this film. Being a native New Yorker and sound mixer for over 40 years, Maitland wanted to make the sound real and raw. I got an inside look on how Maitland started in the industry.
Growing up, Maitland was surrounded by sound mixers, with his father already being in the industry and working in Hollywood. When asked what exactly is a “sound mixer” and what his job on set is, Maitland answered, “I am recording everything that happens in front of the camera or any environmental things near it. Those include dialogues, singing, sound effects, ambiances, or anything else that is happening near the camera.” Maitland then hands it over to post production where they piece together any sound they need in that scene. Maitland has been doing this job most of his life. He entered the industry at 18 and immediately started to work in movies. Although Maitland stated how he has missed several family events because of the late hours and tight shooting schedules, “You have so many great opportunities to travel and meet incredibly interesting people…It’s a great place to grow up in.” Maitland is on set from rehearsals until the movie wraps, and once he hands in his drive at the end of the day, he never sees it again. He describes post-production by saying, “I couldn’t do their job, and they couldn’t do my job.”
I asked Maitland how he approaches each movie, as he has worked on a wide array of films, from musicals to dramas. He stated, “On dramas, it requires less prep on my side because one of the things about films is each one is different from the next one…you never know what it’s going to be like until you start shooting.” Maitland emphasizes this by saying how he could only prepare so much, however, for music based films there is a lot more prep. Maitland remarks, “Vocal pre-records, figuring out each scene, it requires a lot more elements of sound…Every single scene requires a different approach which is kind of what I really like about this business is that it’s never the same and it can be an entirely different game plan.”
Maitland has gotten to work with amazing directors who know the individual crafts and who know sound. Maitland emphasized this by stating, “On A Complete Unknown, James Mangold is very tuned into sound and really had ample input of what we were doing.” Maitland has also done six movies with Oliver Stone, whom he praises for the intense films they have done together and for the incredibly talented people who surround Stone on set. Maitland pointed out that his favorite project was with Oliver Stone, “I would have to say because it was early on in my career and really formed the direction I was going in was the movie The Doors. I loved shooting in that time period, the 60s. I feel like the U.S. and the world was [SIC] changing. The youth had a real voice and it was a very interesting time. I loved The Doors and being with Oliver Stone since it was his first music based movie which made a big difference.”
Although a movie basically “owns you” once you sign on, Maitland occasionally gets to visit NYU to lecture. He was previously the head of sound for five years and taught for two years there. When I asked him about his experiences at NYU he stated, “Being head of sound helped develop the program in a way that is totally in sync with their film program and each of the students’ projects as they developed.”
I then inquired about his thoughts on AI and its role not only in the academic world at NYU but also in the industry.. “It’s really hard to know where it’s all going to be and I tell students to think about AI and where it’s going to be in the next five years because without a doubt it’s going to impact our business…You can’t fight it. It’s important to work with it and learn from it.” He added, “For sound when they bring actors in to replace dialogues, say they want to change a line or the sound was horrible, they don’t have to bring the actors in as they have all of their voices and levels of emotion on tape. So now they can write the dialogue and AI can find the emotion in the pre-records and basically re-voice it without the actor physically being there…Not jumping on it would be a big mistake.”
Finally, I asked Maitland what advice he would give to high schoolers who want to pursue a career as a sound mixer. “I would say getting out there and doing it,” he replied. “Making movies and depending upon what part of film making you want to do try and find projects that are close to that. Try to find a group of filmmakers and keep producing more material…With every movie you’re going to learn, I mean with every movie I’ve learned. I still learn every single day I’m on a film set. So I would say making connections in the business and reaching out to people, and there is so much more stuff online you can learn about film and focusing on learning more and doing more.”
I am grateful that Mr. Maitland took the time to share his experiences with me.
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