Golden Reel for Victoria Rose Sampson

April, 2004

When instructor Victoria Rose Sampson is not in our Pro Tools classroom, teaching post-production sound, she is likely to be at one of her "other jobs," editing sound for a major motion picture. A few weeks ago, Sampson could also be found at the Motion Picture Editors Guild annual Sound Awards banquet in Los Angeles. There, she and her sound team were presented with the Golden Reel Award for Best Dialog and ADR Editing for Pirates of the Caribbean.

"It was very exciting," Sampson says, "The award wasn't just for me, but for the whole Dialog/ADR crew of eight. And seven of us happened to be women!

"In some ways, the Golden Reel Awards are more competitive than the Oscars," Sampson says, "because ten films are nominated and meticulously scrutinized by a jury of sound experts."

The competition included Master and Commander, Last Samurai, Mystic River, Seabiscuit, and the Oscar-sweeping Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

Sampson has worked for 30 years as a supervising sound editor and ADR editor, as well as a dialogue, foley and effects editor. Her recent credits also include Cat in the Hat, Bad Boys II, Dickie Roberts, and The Grinch. At the moment, Sampson is cutting dialog for the upcoming film, The Assassination of Richard Nixon, starring Sean Penn.

This year's Golden Reel statuette joins three others Sampson has been awarded, for Romancing the Stone (ADR Editing), Under Siege (Sound Editing - she was foley supervisor), and The River (Sound Editing).

For Video Symphony, Sampson developed and conducts the PT 140 "Post Production Sound" class, an in-depth aesthetic and technical examination of the sound post process.

"Teaching enthusiastic students how to listen is something I love to do. I love to see the look on their faces when they realize how much there is to sound that they didn't realize.

"For me, it's about using sound to help tell a story, not to show off fabulous sound effects. We sound editors succeed when we become invisible, a seamless part of the magic of movie-making.

Sampson herself was definitely visible in March. Soon after the Golden Reel ceremony, she was prominent at the Sedona International Film Festival, where, along with renowned editors Walter Murch and Ben Burtt, she conducted a Sound Workshop panel and demonstration.

"It was great," Sampson says, "We gave students and filmmakers a taste of what really happens in the world of film sound today. I must say, they were 'blown away.'"

Likewise are the students in Victoria Sampson's "Post Production Sound" class at Video Symphony. PT 140 is a major feature of all Pro Tools Certificate Programs, and may also be taken individually.

Golden Reel for Victoria Rose Sampson

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