FXF008.5: The Sound One Era, 1968-2012 -- 5: The Foley Artist

Post New York Alliance Podcast

FxF008: The Sound one era 1968-2012

Part 5: The Foley Artist

Elisha Birnbaum, co-founder of Sound One, is considered one of the best NY foley artists of his generation. His stage looked like a suburban garage or basement or attic with various surfaces on the floor and, shelves filled with props used to create sounds. You would often meet Elisha walking around the hallways of Sound One in cut off jean shorts, and womens high heels, which he wore when foleying the sound of womens footsteps. Here, staff and clients retell stories of working with Elisha and others at Sound One in recognizing the creative genius behind Elisha’s work and the role of the foley artist.

From 1968 to 2012, Sound One grew from a solo operation to becoming the most successful post-production sound and editing facility on the East Coast. At its apex, Sound One inhabited five floors of the famed Brill Building housed 150 edit suites and over 300 clients and staff at its apex and commanded 85% of post-production business in New York. As its reputation grew, it became the go to post-production home for such filmmakers as Sidney Lumet, Arthur Penn, George Roy Hill, Jonathan Demme, Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese and through its constant support of independents, helped launch the careers of filmmakers like the Alan Pakula, Spike Lee, The Coen Brothers, M. Night Shyamalan, Michael Moore, Ken Burns and countless post-production professionals and helped post-produce some of cinemas most influential works.

The Sound One Era: 1968-2012 is a multi-part series for Frame By Frame a podcast co-presented by Motion Picture Editors Guild and Post New York Alliance.

Frame By Frame is a podcast series that introduces you to the most influential, respected and accomplished cinema post-production professionals working in New York today. Through intimate, informal discussions between collaborators about post-production craft, aesthetics, process and technique, we’ll recognize and celebrate the iconic films and people that have made New York film history as well as those contemporaries who continue to make important contributions to the art of filmmaking. In conversations anchored by the film editor, we’ll share the stories that define New York as an essential ongoing capital of the global film industry.