WRITTEN BY TIM VINDIGNI
ASSISTANT SOUND EDITOR/STUDIO MANAGER, BOOM BOX POST
Hi internet, my name is Tim and I am the Studio Manager at Boom Box Post.
It’s no secret that at Boom Box Post we are passionate about sound. Our team strives to continuously study and learn about sound as well as teach one another new tips and tricks whenever the opportunity presents itself. As a reader of the blog, I assume you also share this passion.
What is a Studio Manager?
Something I wish I had learned more about in school are the different audio positions. Although I took a number of audio classes, I graduated with little to no knowledge about the working world of audio post production. In fact, before I was hired at Boom Box Post, I had no clue what a Studio Manager’s job entailed. If you had asked me, I would have jokingly answered, “well, they manage the studio.”
While true, the day-to-day tasks of a Studio Manager are vast and encompass a handful of responsibilities. Although the job is likely to vary depending on the studio, I want to provide some insight to what I do as Boom Box Post’s Studio Manager.
For starters, my official title is Studio Manager/Assistant Editor. In a recent blog post by our Office Manager/Assistant Editor Sam Busekrus, she outlines the Assistant Editor role. You can check out that post here to learn more about being an Assistant Editor. It’s a fun post that I highly recommend you give a quick read.
The title Studio Manager sounds kind of fancy, especially for an entry level position. When I first told my family I got the job they were extremely impressed. What it really boils down to though is making sure everything in the studio is backed up, up to date, and functioning properly.
Below I have listed a number of responsibilities specific to my role as Studio Manager, as well as some information about each one.
Daily Tasks:
Deliverables: Once a show has mixed it is my job to backup the final mix and any deliverables to our server. Some shows require more extensive deliverables—be it dialogue neutrals or isolated foley tracks. For those shows, I dive into the final mix and export the necessary session data. After neatly packaging those deliverables in a zipped folder, I hand them off to our Office Manager (Sam Busekrus) for delivery to clients.
Prep Mix Stage: Between being an intern and now Studio Manager, I have become extremely familiar with prepping our mix stage. The first thing I do the morning of a mix is power-up our stage and prep the ProTools final mix session for the mixer. Like deliverables, mix prep can differ depending on the show and the mixer. Different mixers have different ProTools preferences and different shows require different print master labeling. It is my job to keep track of these small but VERY important details before every mix.
Manage Series Backups & Archives: Out of all the tasks listed here, this one best defines my job as Studio Manager. It is my responsibility to make sure all our shows are properly backed-up to the server. Furthermore, once a season or series has wrapped, I archive all vital materials (final mix session, final picture, main title, etc.) to external hard drives. It is extremely important that these assets are offloaded from our server and safely stored for future reference. This is also the scariest part of my job. There are no words to express how stressful it is to right click + delete an entire season/series worth of ProTool sessions and deliverables. I hold my breath everytime.
Maintaining SFX Library: At Boom Box Post, we are constantly recording and buying new sound effects. To make sure every one of our editors has access to these files, it is my job to update our library and SoundMiner database. Shameless plug to check out our Boom Box Library catalog!
Studio Troubleshooting: Handling in-office help tickets is a part of my day-to-day. If an editor gets an error message in ProTools—help ticket. If a key on a keyboard stops working—help ticket. If someone’s office chair breaks and the height can no longer be adjusted—they submit a help ticket and I order the part online, do some handiwork in the office parking lot, and fix the broken chair so we don’t have to spend $400 on a new one :). True story. Basically, it is my job to assist with any studio needs.
Although this part of my job is more administrative than creative, it is an important role to hold. When things are operating smoothly in the studio it is very rewarding, and I take a lot of pride in being a part of that.