Carl Warner:  September 1997 
For more than 40 years I have been working in motion picture and video audio.  At age 72, I still work as a motion picture production sound mixer specializing in location sound.  The way I got my start, this business, you probably wouldn't consider.  It has to do with a committed desire to achieve a goal and the guts to work and to do whatever is necessary to make that goal a reality. 

As president of Warner Location Sound Services I am constantly contacted by young neophytes who want to learn about film/video sound. They DEMAND that I pay them an hourly rate of ten dollars (or more) while they are learning the job! 

When I started I would travel (at my expense) to feature film locations to observe the sound crew. When they weren't busy on the set I would ask questions--a LOT of them. I got turned on to the business.  Then I went to a technical school to learn about the technology of audio and read a ton of books about the subject. 

Next, while I was at college I offered to work at a local radio station for FREE, to gain some professional experience working with audio. Now the next step, perhaps the most important in getting started---NETWORKING. In this business it's still WHO you know that is all important. 

 Once you have the technical knowledge and some on hands experience with audio, you still require something else to become a top notch motion picture production mixer or similar position---TALLENT!!!  You see, this work is NOT just a CRAFT it is a combination craft and ART. You can learn the technology at school or from books, but unless you were born with an artistic gene, it is very unlikely that you will ever make a really first rate motion picture production mixer (or similar position). If you are really willing to work, then GO FOR IT! 

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