AWARD WINNING SOUND

During the Emmys, Westside alum Mac Smith took home one of the honors by the night’s end. As the supervising sound editor of Disney’s new series “Moon Knight”, he and his sound crew were praised for their work and awarded with Outstanding Sound Editing For a Limited Or Anthology Series.

Regarding the specifics of his job, Smith highlighted the significance of sound editing when producing a project for the screen. 

“I’m in charge of the sound after everything is shot on set,” Smith said. “Once they have a clear picture of what the project is gonna be like, they bring someone like me in. I’m in charge of understanding the aesthetic that the director and producer want for the sound of the film or TV show. […] I usually have people who are in charge of cleaning up the dialogue from the set or crafting and editing sound effects. That is the sounds of characters walking and touching things.”

Growing up in Nebraska, Smith found inspiration for his current line of work in films. The movies he adored at a young age had a great impact on his eagerness to work in the film industry.

“I was three years old when the original Star Wars came out, and that movie just kind of rearranged my chromosomes,” Smith said. “I knew I wanted to be involved with [movies], but I didn’t know what aspect. […] My family definitely encouraged that. I messed around with video cameras at a young age and things like that.” 

Smith also took this creative spark into the halls of Westside High School.

“I was involved with Westside Upfront, the cable show,” Smith said. “I was in marching band, concert band and jazz band, but it really wasn’t until college that I discovered that somebody could do audio for movies. That’s kind of where everything took off.”

Smith also appreciates the art of film for the comforting sensation it brings to the audience. As a film buff growing up, he understands the magic of cinema and hopes to share this joy with others.

“It was just like being sucked into other worlds, into other stories,” Smith said. “I would go to the movie theater a lot when I was a kid. There was a multiplex that was not too far from Westside called Cinema Center. We would go there all the time.”

Smith’s passion for film was shared with a love for music. It wasn’t until early adulthood that he figured out that he can make a living pursuing his two favorite things.  

“I went to the University of Iowa, […] and I majored in communications, but college radio and band are where I put a lot of my effort in college,” Smith said. “College radio is where I learned about sound production. A light bulb went off and I was like ‘oh, maybe I could do that for movies.”

Being at Lucas Film for now 22 years, Smith has had the opportunity to make a wide variety of projects. To Smith, diversity is what keeps the job so exciting.

“That’s the fun part of my job,” Smith said. “It’s that every project is completely different and has different challenges. I like working on animation. I like working on dramas. I like working on comedies. I don’t have a preference per se, but that’s kind of what keeps my job interesting, ‘cause it’s like it’s always changing and having different requirements and getting us to go out and record new sounds.” 

With his broad experience in sound editing, Smith has learned a lot from his mentors and projects. With his biggest mentor at Skywalker film being his coworker Randy Thom, he hopes to share the same wisdom given to him to a world of aspiring filmmakers.  

“My advice is just to learn as much as you can,” Smith said. “Even if there’s some very specific aspect of film that you want to explore, […] learn about everything, because the more you understand the whole process, the better you’re gonna be at your job. A lot of it is just putting yourself out there and meeting new people. Making connections and finding a mentor are really important. […] We break the rules, but we have to know the rules before we can break the rules.”

 Although he was once an amateur daydreamer with huge ambition, he is now a successful sound editor who has paved his own path to the top. Smith proves that the impossible is always possible. 

“It’s pretty surreal,” Smith said. “If I could go back and tell my five-year-old self, you know, playing with my high fighter toy, ‘oh, you’ll be working at Skywalker Ranch someday,’ you know, I wouldn’t have believed it.”