Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 29, Issue 16 - Index

A Day To Remember - A Night To Forget!
Wheeler Audio Turns 21
Compiled by Amy Wilschke
Twenty-one seems to be the big birthday among
industry companies this summer - with Dallas post house
charlieuniformtango celebrating in SCREEN’s July 28 issue,
and now Kansas City-based Wheeler Audio graces the
cover in all its legal glory. Marketing director Emily O’Brien
chats about what it’s like to have reached such a milestone
- besides having a good excuse to celebrate Wheeler’s 21st
with a massive keg party!
SCREEN: Now that you’re 21, you’re expected to be mature
adults! What do you have planned for the near future with
regard to new projects/hiring/firings (OK maybe not firings)/
new equipment/etc.?
Emily O’Brien: Mature adults? Hmmm…
You know, we like to work hard and play hard here. That’s
always been our motto and I think that’s what keeps our
clients coming back. We hope to continue spicing up our
daily schedule of commercial broadcast work with more
audio projects for motion picture trailers we’ve been doing
with Take Two (Kansas City). We’ve also picked up some
additional ADR work this year, which has been really fun.
We love doing spots, but these projects help us stay fresh.
We’ve recently upgraded to Soundminer - an amazing
digital audio file management system that allows us to keep
all (120,000-plus) of our sound effects in one search engine,
plus our three extensive music libraries. And we just added
brand new Macs to both studios for the producers to use
during sessions.
SCREEN: What are some of the goals you set out to reach at
the start, and have you met those?
EO’B: We set out to form a
stronger bond with our clients
and make the sessions not
only about the work (and
doing it well) but also about
creating a fun and relaxing
vibe. Ad creatives’ jobs are
stressful enough, and coming
over for a session shouldn’t be
part of that equation. We’ve
also been introduced to some
new faces from the
ad agencies, and it’s
been exciting to see
the talent they’ve
been bringing to
table. It’s always
exhilarating to
collaborate with
people who are as
passionate about
their work as we
are.
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The addition of Soundminer and the Macs play a part of it,
but we’ve also added more video games (including “Guitar
Hero Aerosmith”) to our roster and a greater variety of
beer in the fridge that nobody’s seems to be complaining
about.
SCREEN: What do you hope to achieve in the next 21 years,
and what advice do you have for current 21-year-olds who
are gearing up to finish school and set out on music careers
of their own?
EO’B: Well, if the talent is there, then you have to have the
personality to back it up. If you are out there and networking
and making friends and really good at your work, the jobs
will find you. If you are just calling studios to tell them you
have good beats you want to sell, don’t expect anyone to
take your seriously.
Wheeler Audio is an award-winning post production
recording studio that specializes in innovative sound design.
Seasoned with over two decades of experience, they are
mainly known for their radio and television commercial work,
but also produce audio for multimedia, industrial or film
projects and record original music. They are located in the
Crossroads Art District in Kansas City.
Current work includes audio projects for Applebee’s,
Michelin, BCBS, Kubota, Carstar and Time Warner Cable
and ADR work with Holmes Osborne for the motion picture
“The Box,” a Warner Bros. Production.
//www.wheeleraudio.com