Local Foley team wins Creative Arts Emmy
Lisha Van Nieuwenhove
Foley supervisor and editor Randy Wilson, from Uxbridge, holds his Emmy for “Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series” for his work on The Last of Us, an HBO Max production. Submitted by Randy Wilson
It’s awards season, and Uxbridge is walking the red carpet!
Randy Wilson and Davi Aquino recently brought home the Creative Arts Emmy for outstanding sound editing for a comedy or drama series for their work on HBO Max’s The Last of Us.
“We were up against The Boys, House of The Dragon, Andor, and The Lord of The Rings: Rings of Power,” says Wilson. “I knew we were nominated in July, but when it came to our category, there was so many names, and then they said, “the crew from The Last of Us”. It was a shock. None of us moved, because it took a few seconds for us to realize that it was actually us!”
Wilson says it was nice to finally meet face to face with so many colleagues that he had only ever emailed, texted, or FaceTimed with.
“At the awards, Pedro Pascal came up to us and congratulated us and spent some time chatting with us, and I had little chat with Weird Al (Yankovic) at the reception later on. The most important thing I’d like to convey, though, is that this is a team effort. It’s hard to ‘toot my horn’ when it’s such a collaborative process. This is an award I share with everyone who was on the stage, and so many more who couldn’t have their names on the ballot. I feel so lucky to have been a part of this.”
Wilson explains Foley as “the very specific sounds in a soundtrack that would be too difficult to normally put in from conventional sound effects libraries. It could range from footsteps, hand pats, glass debris, to little subtle clothing and cloth movements an actor might be doing onscreen.”
On the Foley team, Wilson is a supervisor and Foley mixer. “In addition to bringing in jobs and putting Foley teams together for each project, I’ll record a Foley artist as they perform the sounds in front of microphones.”
Aquino (who currently resides in North Bay), as a Foley editor, takes recorded tracks and edits them to be in perfect sync with the picture, as well as eliminates any unwanted sounds that may have made it to the tracks.
Wilson and his freelance team do Foley work for some of the larger studios in Toronto, in addition to some of the big ones in Los Angeles.
Wilson was nominated for a Daytime Emmy award “a few years ago,” and has won a Canadian Screen Award.
“I just found out that the Cinema Audio Society has included me for nomination for Television Series - One Hour for The Last of Us too. Those awards are going to be down here (Los Angeles) in March.”
When asked if there are any other awards he’s aspiring to, Wilson humbly replies: “Honestly, as nice as the awards and recognition are, I do this because I love sound, and I love my job. It’s never the same day twice. It’s nice to work with people who are passionate about what they do, even after 20 or 30 years of doing it. I love the team I work with, and I love working with the people in this industry. The biggest reward is when you hear your tracks being played in the show’s soundtrack. I know it’s cliché, but it’s the truth!”
Randy Wilson chums with ‘Weird’ Al Yankovich during the Creative Arts Emmys celebrations. Submitted by Randy Wilson