Oscar-Nominated Production Sound Mixer Lee Orloff to Be Awarded the CAS Career Achievement Award

Cinema Audio Society President Mark Ulano, CAS, announced that the organization will honor multiple CAS and Oscar® nominated Production Sound Mixer Lee Orloff, CAS with the Cinema Audio Society's highest accolade, the CAS Career Achievement Award, to be presented at the 55th CAS Awards on Saturday, February 16, 2019, at the Intercontinental Los Angeles Downtown - Wilshire Ballroom, Los Angeles, California.

"I am honored to announce the selection of Lee Orloff by the CAS for our Career Achievement Honoree at this year's 55th Annual CAS Awards," said CAS President Mark Ulano. "Lee is a world-renowned production sound mixer with a portfolio of over 75 films. His combined CAS, Oscar© and BAFTA nominations total 17, resulting in both an Oscar© and a BAFTA. He is one of the go-to production sound mixers as evidenced by his collaborations on multiple films with directors James Cameron, Michael Mann, Walter Hill, Gore Verbinski, to name a few. He is well-respected and gracious in sharing his knowledge and in mentoring the next generation of sound professionals and I take great pleasure in announcing the CAS' recognition of my friend and colleague Lee and his body of work."

Following a two-year stint managing an equipment rental house's sound department, native New Yorker Lee Orloff, newly graduated from NYU Film School, set out with his employee discounted recording gear to begin a decade of work primarily in documentaries. In 1984 he mixed his first feature, Joel and Ethan Coen's crime thriller debut, "Blood Simple." By the late 80's, he'd moved to Hollywood on the heels of an Oscar nomination for James Cameron's underwater drama, "The Abyss", the first of three collaborations, including "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "True Lies". Following the design/build of communications systems necessitated for "The Abyss" production, he received an opportunity to work with Jim Henson's Creature Shop, which was undertaking a live action version of the hit animated series, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". Orloff was one of the earliest proponents of the now universally accepted higher resolution, multitrack digital recording, utilizing it on the 1993 film, "Last Action Hero".

During the past 35 years Orloff has participated on over 75 feature films, enjoying successful working relationships with many of Hollywood's most notable directors. In some cases, their collaborations have spanned twenty years, such as with Michael Mann and Walter Hill. Gore Verbinski has relied on his expertise on eight of his films, two of which, in "The Pirates of the Caribbean" series, resulted in Oscar nominations for Orloff and his team, and on "Rango", which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film in 2012.

Filmmakers have counted on Orloff and his team's versatility to deliver needed results on a diverse range of projects ranging from three films in the "Pitch Perfect" musical series, HBO's "Westworld" Season One, to "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp" for Marvel Studios. Some of these filmmakers include: Elizabeth Banks, James Cameron, JC Chandor, Martha Coolidge, Roland Emmerich, James Gunn, Walter Hill, James Mangold, Jonathan Nolan, Dean Parisot, Todd Phillips, Peyton Reed, Ridley Scott, Wim Wenders, Rupert Wyatt and Gore Verbinski.

Orloff has been nominated six times for the CAS award for "True Lies" (1994), "Heat" (1995), "The Patriot" (2000), "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003), "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (2006), and "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" (2011).

An Oscar winner for "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991), Orloff has received six Academy Award nominations for "The Abyss" (1989), "Geronimo: An American Legend" (1993), "The Insider" (1999), "The Patriot" (2000), "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003), and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (2006).

He received the BAFTA award for "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and was the recipient of three BAFTA nominations for "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003), "Collateral" (2004), and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (2006).

Orloff recently participated in the AMPAS Masters of Sound panel as part of the Academy Gold program representing the production mixer's contribution to the collaborative process of developing a soundtrack. He feels it is a team sport, evidenced very clearly on the set as the production track is created. "If the rest of the crew don't know what your needs are, or even worse, don't care, you're sunk. But it always starts at the top".

Orloff joins an illustrious group of past CAS Career Achievement Honorees that includes: Anna Behlmer, John Pritchett, Doc Kane, David MacMillan, Andy Nelson, Chris Newman, Scott Millan, Jeffrey S. Wexler, Randy Thom, Dennis Sands, Ed Greene, Mike Minkler, Willie Burton, Gary Rydstrom, Charles Wilborn, Jim Webb, Richard Portman, Tomlinson Holman, Les Fresholtz, Walter Murch, and Don Rogers,

About the CAS Awards:

The 55th CAS Awards will honor Outstanding Achievements in Sound Mixing in seven categories: Motion Pictures, Animated Motion Pictures, Documentary Motion Pictures, Television Movie or Limited Series, Television Series-One Hour, Television Series-Half Hour and Television-Non-Fiction, Variety, Music Series or Specials. The CAS Student Recognition Award will also be presented at these Awards. The CAS Filmmaker Honoree will be announced later in the year.

About the Cinema Audio Society:

The Cinema Audio Society was formed in 1964 for the purpose of sharing information with Sound Professionals in the Motion Picture and Television Industry.

The objectives of the CAS are: to educate and inform the general public and the motion picture & television industry that effective sound is achieved by a creative, artistic and technical blending of diverse sound elements; to provide the motion picture & television industry with a progressive society of master craftsmen specialized in the art of creative cinematic sound recording; to advance the specialized field of cinematic sound recording by exchange of ideas, methods, and information; to advance the art of auditory appreciation, and to philanthropically support those causes dedicated to the sense of hearing; to institute and maintain high standards of conduct and craftsmanship among our members; to aid the motion picture & television industry in the selection and training of qualified personnel in the unique field of cinematic sound recording and to achieve for our members deserved recognition as major contributors to the field of motion picture & television entertainment.

Photo Credit: Cren Frayer

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