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From Live Streams to Big Screens: NYC Sound Mixer Celebrates His Clients' 2024 Successes

Writer's picture: Brett AinslieBrett Ainslie

Now that 2024 is officially wrapped up, I want to take a moment to celebrate the accomplishments of my talented clients and collaborators, whose hard work has found success, whether it be awards, making a splash on the big screen, or an impact in human hearts. I’ve been fortunate to work alongside some truly inspiring people on powerful intimate projects. I’m incredibly grateful for the trust, support, and shared vision that have helped make this year's documentaries, reality shows, web-series, live streams and BTS packages so successful. As we look back, here are a few highlights that have made 2024 an unforgettable year:

Award Season Brings in Some Brass!

Heat Eaters Webby Award Winner by Complex Media Networks

In 2023, I mixed location sound on a food based web series for First We Feast. The show, Heat Eaters (Season 2), won the Webby award for Video Food & Drink (Series & Channels) 2024. Season 2 currently has over 7 million views on YouTube for its 8 episodes, up from just over 4 million from season 1. Host Esther Choi was also nominated for "Best Web Personality/Host". Check out season 2 of the show on YouTube!


Wicked Wins a Golden Globe

I mixed sound on a BTS package for costume designer, Paul Tazewell, of Universal Pictures' Wicked, which won the Golden Globe for "Cinematic and Box Office Achievement". The video was produced by La'Chris Jordan, who meticulously assembled a crew, who's not just qualified technically, but who each were a great personality-fit to ensure Paul still felt at home in his home. Paul Tazewell is an Emmy Award winning, Tony award and Oscar nominated costume designer known for his work on Broadway's Hamilton, Spielberg's West Side Story and Focus Features' Harriet. Paul and his team were recently nominated for the Oscar for Best Costume Design for their work on Wicked.

I'm Your Venus Premieres at Tribeca Film Festival

I'm Your Venus documentary movie poster

A powerful, important and moving documentary I worked on in 2022 and 2023 premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and later at BFI London before winning the "Victor Rabinowitz and Joanne Grant Award for Social Justice" at the Hamptons International Film Festival. I'm Your Venus is a film about the murder of Venus Xtravaganza, a trans woman in the ballroom scene made famous by the renowned film, Paris is Burning. I'm Your Venus follows her biological family and her ballroom family as they try to solve her mysterious and dark murder from 35 years ago, while setting a blueprint for community healing. This is one of the films I'm most proud to have mixed as it amplifies an important story and gives a rare glimpse into the lives of an often neglected community. I hope it will continue to spread awareness and open up the cases of other murders in the LGBTQIA+ communities and ballroom families. This true crime LGBTQIA+ film was produced by Mike Stafford and Dani Drusin at Stick Figure Productions, and directed by the incomparable Kimberly Reed! Here's a Rolling Stone article about the film.

I Was the NYC Unit Sound Mixer on an Intriguing Film About the Pap Smear Test

In 2023, I mixed location sound on an intriguing documentary about the history and evolution of the pap smear test to detect cervical cancer in women. The Cancer Detectives, which premiered on PBS in 2024, was an eye-opening experience for myself, as a man previously unfamiliar with the test. Directed by Amanda Pollack and associate-produced by Katie McHale at Insignia Films, this documentary was featured as a 1 hour episode of American Experience on PBS. It is also available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video, or on PBS's website in its entirety. Insignia Films produces some really fantastic documentaries such as Free Money, for which I mixed sound in 2022.


Chrome Bumper Films' Artist's Profiles Wins Telly

MASOT, Chrome Bumper Films

Through his Detroit / Los Angeles-based production company, Chrome Bumper Films, director John "Quig" Quigley has been producing a video-series for Park West Gallery featuring artists for a few years now. I mixed sound on one of these episodes in 2023 profiling Christian Masot. In 2024, an episode on Michael DeWulf won a Gold Telly Award for "Museums & Galleries - Social Video".

I Mixed Location Sound on a Faith-Based Series for Black Christian Men

My former pastor, Rasool Berry, along with Dr. Maliek Blade, and Jerome Gay wrote a very necessary book, published by Our Daily Bread, titled The Whole Man: 40 Spiritual Reflections from Black Men on the Head, Heart, Hands, and Soul. Our Daily Bread Films traveled me around the U.S. to mix location sound on an accompanying web-series for the book along with recording episodes for their podcast, Where Ya From?, hosted by Berry. The book and web-series also contain some very deep, healthy and unfortunately, rare conversations for Christian black men that push back against toxic-masculinity and model a path to connection and vulnerability. As a black Christian Man myself, seeing and hearing these men tell their stories and dissect their experiences of their own emotions, mental health, spirituality, their work and daily lives, I felt like many stereotypes were being torn down in such a healthy way. Check out the 4 episodes of The Whole Man for free at ExperienceVoices.org!


People's Television Nominated for a Webby Award

Last Summer, I proudly mixed sound on a powerful and necessary PSA / advocacy video produced by People's Television for the Clean Slate Initiative called For the Record, directed by Praise Paige. Through this public service announcement, Clean Slate Initiative "advocates for streamlining [criminal] record sealing to help those who are eligible move beyond their [criminal] record." NY / D.C.-based production company, People's Television produces uniquely fresh branded and social justice advocacy videos and was just nominated for the Webby award in the category of "Series (Branded) Video" 2024. 


I worked on quite a few other amazing and powerful documentaries, commercials, live streams and digital content in 2022-2024 which I still anticipate the release dates of and being able to share them with the world. But until then, hopefully I'll see you on the next project!

 

Brett Ainslie, NYC, New York Sound Mixer posing for a portrait on set of a reality show

Brett Ainslie is a NYC based freelance non-union Production Sound Mixer owner/operator.


He has been mixing sound on location for Film & TV since 2010 for narrative feature films, TV commercials, corporate videos, musical and corporate event live streams and broadcasts, digital content, documentaries and network reality shows. Brett has mixed sound for TBS, HBO, Showtime, Bravo, Disney ABC, Discovery, Food Network, Fox, VH1, A&E, ESPN, MTV, National Geographic, Bloomberg, Vice and more.

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