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Any women here?


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I tried searching for a topic on this, but the few topics there were are more than 5 years old, so I thought it would be ok to start a new discussion.

 

I'm a female looking to get into location sound. I've been browsing these forums for a few days now, and I noticed most of you appear to be male. Not a problem for me -- I'm used to being surrounded by men as most of my interests are male-dominated fields -- but usually I see a few other girls. 

 

So, I'm just wondering if any of you or female, or if you know any sound girls.

 

What do you think about being a woman in this field? (Whether you're a woman or not, I just want to know what you think/observe). I guess I'm just worried about being taken as seriously as a man would. At the same time, a sound guy I know told me sometimes women are preferred when it comes to things like lav'ing women and children. Both of these statements are probably sexist, but if you see it happening, I would rather know the truth.

 

Let me know your thoughts. :)

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In Hawaii, we have maybe a dozen male production sound mixers, and only one woman, Grace Atkins, who must be considered one of the most talented, if not THE most talented, mixers here.

If you allow me to be sexist for a moment and make a generalization, I think it's just that women tend to be wiser than us men and choose professions that make more logical sense, leaving the bunch of us idiots here to make much ado about microphones and potentiometers. Welcome to the stupid club.

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There are some great women in our field, but I do agree that this field (not just sound, but every other facet of film/tv production) is dominated by males.

 

Jan McLaughlin, two time Emmy winner and a local here in NYC/NJ, roams these forums, often giving great input. There are many other great women at various levels in this industry who are making great strides for our line of work, all over the country / world. Again, though, IMO, not enough.

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Ive worked with a few ny female mixers.  Honestly,  most of them are super on-point so there isn't a question of being taken seriously, although you can bet there'll always be someone you mic with a stupid, offensive comment.  It goes both ways.  People tend to care more about skill and likability.  If you lack either, no one will take you seriously.  that's pretty universal.  And I feel we're geeky about the same things on both sides of the aisle so i'd guess the perception is about the same.

 

As for laving, we should always accommodate where we can.   Less experienced talent tend to be more skiddish about privacy, but really, that's normal.  it's always 50/50.  Comfort is preferable, but only so far as it doesn't interfere with the quality of your work. 

Good sound is the job first and foremost. Everyone eventually comes to realize it doesn't matter who does it, as long as it's respectful.

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If somebody isn't going to take you seriously because you're female, they would probably express the same bigotry towards somebody because of some other reason.... And probably not going to be a worthwhile job anyway. I think we're lucky that this is a pretty progressive industry in many ways, especially the film side of it.

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I don't believe anyone sees females in our line of work any differently than males. Lisa Pinero, Shawn Holden, Pud Cusak, and our very own Jan McLaughlin are all very successful female mixers working in narrative film and television. There are probably more I don't know personally. We have quite a few non-narrative mixer/recordist here in this group too. Most are probably too sensible to post as often as their male counterparts.

In terms of being on a crew, there are times where being female can make some cast feel more "comfortable" when being miked, especially for non-professional cast, as in reality or documentary, but at a certain level, miking is just part of the job, and it's not seen as anything other than that.

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I'm not separate female or male. The job is one.

 

If you know how to wire (and handle) situations like "non-professional cast" etc (or typical "jobs for females"); I don't care if you are female or male. Do the job and all good.

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jwsound has a number of women members, though like the industry at large, there are way more males. I wish there were more women here and the biz.  If you think it's bad today, you should of seen what it was like 40 years ago... (the biz, not jwsound obviously)

CrewC

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I know Anna Wilborn was working with Joe Foglia last time I visted Joe on set. 

 

I also know Susan Moore-Chong in LA. I haven't talked with her in a while, but she was really awesome to watch. Lisa Pinero is on a high profile feature right now. She's also done some amazing work on Fury which is definitely worth checking out just for the sound on it. I would love to ask her about certain scenes and locations. 

 

Mey Chan is an up and coming mixer in LA. 

 

I know there have to be more that I haven't met yet. 

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Hi Lauren,

 

I have been in the sound business since the mid 90's, (oh dear, now I have dated myself.) I started doing sound for video games, corporates, news, and indie features.  I haven't gotten very "far" in the business since I sold all my gear and took a decade off to have kids. I've been back working as a TV and feature utility for the past three years and am just getting ready to buy gear and jump back into mixing a little. 

I guess in my experience, once you open your mouth and know what you are talking about, people don't seem to care if you are a man or a woman.  However, I have gotten the impression many times that people tend to assume I am less knowledgeable and less technically minded than my male counterpart if they don't know me.  I guess the idea is to build a good reputation that precedes you.  Then you won't have to worry about preconceived notions about women in sound.   

 

The child bearing issue as a way to really derail a career is a whole other issue.

 

Anyway,

Welcome.  PM me if you ever want to talk.

Elanor Rimassa

Wilmington, NC

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Hi Lauren,

 

I have been in the sound business since the mid 90's, (oh dear, now I have dated myself.) I started doing sound for video games, corporates, news, and indie features.  I haven't gotten very "far" in the business since I sold all my gear and took a decade off to have kids. I've been back working as a TV and feature utility for the past three years and am just getting ready to buy gear and jump back into mixing a little. 

I guess in my experience, once you open your mouth and know what you are talking about, people don't seem to care if you are a man or a woman.  However, I have gotten the impression many times that people tend to assume I am less knowledgeable and less technically minded than my male counterpart if they don't know me.  I guess the idea is to build a good reputation that precedes you.  Then you won't have to worry about preconceived notions about women in sound.   

 

The child bearing issue as a way to really derail a career is a whole other issue.

 

Anyway,

Welcome.  PM me if you ever want to talk.

Elanor Rimassa

Wilmington, NC

Thank you for your honest and helpful response!

 

Yes, the child issue is frustrating to me ... I haven't decided if I want kids yet (not even with someone at the moment), but if I do, it will be a tough decision. I have enormous student loans, so I need to work on my career. It's too bad having kids has a time limit, and a short one at that!

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We dont have many female boom operators in this market (JOB OPENING!).

That is one of my worries. My arms are noodles -- not sure I can hold a boom above my head all day. I guess I better get one of my 6' tall and muscular guy friends to boom while I mix, OR I better start doing some push ups. ;-)

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I had a female boom op for years--not a big person but very focused and highly yogic.  She did great, I miss her still.  All of us have to work on getting/staying in decent shape--it's a physical job even if you are a cart-driver.  A smaller person will always have issues with shotguns in zeps 20 ft out in the wind, but that's just something we shrimps have to learn no deal with.  YES!  Do those pushups!

 

phil p

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That is one of my worries. My arms are noodles -- not sure I can hold a boom above my head all day. I guess I better get one of my 6' tall and muscular guy friends to boom while I mix, OR I better start doing some push ups. ;-)

just be careful with the 'get a pa/grip' to do it. Skill is important in booming, possibly much more so than your mixing. unfortunately, you may need to boom while you track sound simply because they can always remix in post. They can't reboom a poorly handled or placed boom mic. Like all things, you learn techniques and better stances to deal with overhead booming by practice, but a lot of shots don't need the "h" stance so it's more about stamina and skill than just muscles. I'd do some booming, even if it's just to understand what you'd want or need from someone who booms for you

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just be careful with the 'get a pa/grip' to do it. Skill is important in booming, possibly much more so than your mixing. unfortunately, you may need to boom while you track sound simply because they can always remix in post. They can't reboom a poorly handled or placed boom mic. Like all things, you learn techniques and better stances to deal with overhead booming by practice, but a lot of shots don't need the "h" stance so it's more about stamina and skill than just muscles. I'd do some booming, even if it's just to under stand what you'd want or need from someone who booms for you

Yeah, I'll probably do a little on low pressure/short gigs just to get used to it and learn proper technique. I wasn't planning on getting a random person to do it, but rather training a friend of mine to do it so we can always work as a team.

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That is one of my worries. My arms are noodles -- not sure I can hold a boom above my head all day. I guess I better get one of my 6' tall and muscular guy friends to boom while I mix, OR I better start doing some push ups. ;-)

 

Booming is not about strength. Yes, you need a bit of muscles, but you don't need to be a fitness guru.

It's more about technique, and about stability.

I once had a girl boom for me, she was really good at it, but decided to do audio post. I think she's still into higher-level ballroom dancing, that's where her body control came from.

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The only dumb comment I've heard re: women doing production sound, is not from a soundie, but from a producer who opined that women don't work sound because they're too weak to boom. As happens, the first time I worked with a woman was on a European production, and she could boom longer/better than the other guy on the same production - and I conveyed that information to the producer, who shut up at that moment. Bottom line, you may encounter fools, but it will rarely be a fellow soundie. I'd encourage you to go into what strikes your fancy, and don't worry about the occasional foolish person; when you do good work, your reputation will follow and you won't have any problems.

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