Michael Minkler (born 14 May 1952) is an American motion picture sound re-recording mixer. He has received Academy Awards for his work on Dreamgirls, Chicago and Black Hawk Down. His varied career has also included films like Inglourious Basterds, JFK and Star Wars, as well as television programs like The Pacific and John Adams.[ nm0591444/ IMDB] Minkler works at Todd-AO Hollywood.[ "Todd-AO gets Makeover, Editors Guild Magazine] He is also the Managing Director of Moving Pictures Media Group, a company that specializes in film development, packaging projects for production funding acquisition.
Early career
Minkler started working as a recordist when he was 17, and started mixing in 1974 when he was 22. His early projects included commercials, television shows and industrial films. His first major film came in 1976 when he was hired for temporary work on music and effects tracks for the foreign release of
All the President's Men, with rerecording mixers Arthur Piantadosi and
Les Fresholtz, at
Warner Brothers' Stage 5. He continued to work with Piantadosi and Fresholtz on another 35 films, and considers them his mentors.
[ Mike Minkler Q&A, Tom Kenny, Mix magazine, September 1, 2002]
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.
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.[ IMDB Credits for Don Minkler]
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 . 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.[ IMDB Credits for Bob Minkler]
Minkler's son, Christian P. Minkler, 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.[ IMDB Credits for Christian Minkler]
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 renamed 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
Inglourious 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.
Minkler has always been considered an innovator of technology and technique.
On Inglourious Basterds, Minkler utilized a new technology developed by Penteo that enables stereo music mixes to be converted and spread across a 5.1 surround sound field.[ Inglourious Basterds Features Penteo Surround, David Goggin, Electronic Musician The Briefing Room, August 26, 2009]
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 12
Academy Awards (three wins), six
BAFTA Awards (three wins), eight Cinema Audio Society Awards (two wins), one Motion Picture Sound Editors Awards (one win), seven
Emmy Award (one win) and four
Satellite Awards (three 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
-
2021: Greyhound (Best Sound) – Nominated
-
2020: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Best Sound Mixing) – Nominated
-
2010: Inglourious Basterds (Best Sound Mixing) – Nominated
-
2007: Dreamgirls (Best Sound Mixing) – Won
-
2003: Chicago (Best Sound) – Won
-
2002: Black Hawk Down (Best Sound) – Won
-
1994: Cliffhanger (Best Sound) – Nominated
-
1992: JFK (Best Sound) – Nominated
-
1990: Born on the Fourth of July (Best Sound) – Nominated
-
1986: A Chorus Line (Best Sound) – Nominated
-
1983: Tron (Best Sound) – Nominated
-
1981: Altered States (Best Sound) – Nominated
-
1980: The Electric Horseman (Best Sound) – Nominated
- BAFTA Awards
-
2021: Greyhound (Best Sound) – Nominated
-
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
- Cinema Audio Society Awards
-
2021: Greyhound (Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Motion Picture – Live Action) – Nominated
-
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
- Motion Picture Sound Editors - Golden Reel Award
-
2021: Greyhound (Best Sound Editing – Dialogue/ADR) – Nominated
-
2021: Greyhound (Best Sound Editing – Effects/Foley) – Nominated
-
1990: Born on the Fourth of July (Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects) – Won (Tied with The Abyss)
- Primetime Emmy Awards
-
2024: Masters of the Air (Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special for the episode Part Five) - Pending
-
2024: Masters of the Air (Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for the episode Part Five) - Pending
-
2010: The Pacific (Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie for the episode Part Two) - Won
-
2010: The Pacific (Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie for the episode Part Five) – Nominated
-
2010: The Pacific (Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie for the episode Part Eight) – Nominated
-
2010: The Pacific (Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie for the episode Part Nine) – Nominated
-
2008: John Adams (Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie for the episode Join or Die) – Nominated
- Satellite Awards
-
2010: The Town (Best Sound, Editing & Mixing) - Won
-
2006: Dreamgirls (Best Sound, Editing & Mixing) – Won
-
2005: Collateral (Best Sound, Editing & Mixing) – Won
-
2004: Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (Best Sound) – Nominated
Controversy
After winning the Oscar in 2007 for his work on
Dreamgirls, Minkler exchanged the following dialogue with a reporter:
Several online
Minkler apologized to O'Connell within a few weeks of making his original remarks in an open letter, and by calling and speaking to him personally, as referenced in the letter.
Writing on the controversy once again, Tom O'Neil characterized the apology in his LA Times blog as, "Minkler blames the media for his bashing of O'Connell."[ Los Angeles Times] As reported in the updated article, O'Connell accepted the apology cordially with the statement, "I think it is time for all of us to move on in the best interest of the sound community, and put this behind us."
External links
