Berke Sound

The Story of Grimmway Farms

admin — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 20:18:39 +0000

The history of Grimmway Farms is a classic American success story, and Berke Sound’s Mark Escott recently mixed the documentary that tells the tale. Directed and produced by Julie Miller of Life Story Media, “The Story of Grimmway Farms” follows brothers Rod & Bob Grimm as they grow a family business from a corn stand on their grandfather’s chicken ranch into the largest carrot company in the world. The Grimms built their business on honesty, faith and a people-first philosophy that makes the story all the more endearing.

For more information and to view a clip of the film, visit lifestorymediasf.com.

Reinventing Yourself

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:16:49 +0000

InCA Productions has just completed final post-production
on the second film in the ReCreating America series and once again has returned to Berke Sound for their audio post needs. Titled Reinventing Yourself,
the film focuses on five mid-life individuals who have decided to start all over again,
re-shaping their work, their sense of purpose, their relationships, and even their personality.

Visit www.inca-productions.com for more information.

Kamala Harris Records at BerkeSound

admin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:49:45 +0000

California Attorney General Kamala Harris came into the studio recently to record a Pandora radio ad for San Francisco Sheriff candidate Chris Cunney. The 60 second spot will be featured on Pandora and was produced by San Francisco based Storefront Political Media.

VISA

admin — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 18:31:33 +0000

Stephen Berke & Mark Escott have been busy mixing for some of Visa’s latest internal productions. Produced & directed by Karen Bisgeier at Dada, the projects highlight some of Visa’s new security, fraud prevention and business service initiatives.

The San Francisco Symphony at 100

admin — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:37:09 +0000

Following the course set by the critically acclaimed “Keeping Score” series, SFS Media has produced a film to celebrate the SF Symphony’s 100^th birthday and Berke Sound’s Mark Escott once again provided the mix.

The SFS @ 100 project will be released in two formats; as an hour-long documentary airing on PBS later this year, and also as several individual web vignettes as part of the Symphony’s 100^th anniversary multimedia campaign. The film covers the Symphony’s origins, evolution and impact on the bay area community, and features interviews with prominent figures from the Symphony’s past and present. As with the “Keeping Score” series, the musical score tells a large part of the story; recordings from the Symphony help carry the viewer through the years.

For more information on the film and many other events celebrating the Symphony’s 100^th season, please visit www.sfsymphony.org.

Treasures 5: The West on DVD

admin — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:25:16 +0000

The National Film Preservation Foundation’s latest installment in the “Treasures” series, “Treasures 5: The West, 1989-1938” was released on DVD this month. Stephen Berke recorded academic commentary for a number of the films featured in the collection.

The 3-DVD set and companion book showcase a 40-year period of classic filmmaking through movies sourced from some of America’s premier archives; the Library of Congress, National Archives, and the UCLA Film & Television Archives to name a few. The rich and varied material illustrates how these early 20^th century films brought the excitement and adventure of the American West to the rest of the country and eventually the world.

The set will be available through retailers; for more information on the series, please visit www.filmpreservation.org.

The Power of Two

admin — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:12:19 +0000

“The Power of Two,” directed by Academy Award nominated producer Marc Smolowitz, is the extraordinary story of twin sisters living with Cystic Fibrosis. Anabel Stenzel and Isabel Stenzel Byrnes are both double lung transplant recipients living life to the fullest while raising awareness of the plight of those with chronic illness, and Berke Sound’s Mark Escott provided the mix for this emotional and engaging film.

“The Power of Two” made its world premiere at the International Documentary Association’s Academy Award-qualifying DocuWeeks in Los Angeles. Since then the film has had runs in Washington DC, San Francisco, and New York. Recently, “The Power of Two” was named Best Documentary Feature at the Life & Death Matters film festival in Boulder, Co.

For more information on the Power of Two project, please visit www.thepoweroftwomovie.com.

Music Makes a City

admin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 23:09:06 +0000

Congratulations to directors Owsley Brown III & Jerome Hiler’s “Music Makes a City,” which was recently awarded the Director’s Choice Gold Medal for Excellence in a Music Documentary at the 2011 Park City Film Music Festival! The film tells the story of the Louisville Orchestra and its role in both revitalizing the city after the devastating flood of 1937, as well as its great influence on American classical music for decades to follow.

Mark Escott completed the audio post on the documentary, which details the early years of the Louisville Orchestra. In 1948, the small, struggling, semi-professional orchestra in Louisville, Kentucky began a novel project to commission new works from contemporary composers around the world. The efforts of a few visionary civic leaders, a dedicated conductor and orchestra, and the contemporary composers of the time, made modern musical history.

After successful screenings in New York and Los Angeles, “Music Makes a City” is now on DVD accompanied by 3+ hours of bonus interviews. The extra features delve deeper into the stories of a wide variety of Louisville personalities; residents involved with the orchestra, former players and many of the commissioned composers. Mark Escott provided the final audio polishing for the interviews which provide a deeper understanding of the characters and situations discussed in the documentary.

The film was directed by Owsley Brown, III and Jerome Hiler. To learn more about the project, visit musicmakesacity.com.

Keeping Score: Mahler

admin — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 00:00:44 +0000

The San Francisco Symphony’s flagship broadcast program “Keeping Score: Revealing Classical Music” comes to a close with a two-episode feature on Gustav Mahler, and Berke Sound’s Mark Escott once again provided the mix. Mahler’s career was extraordinary in that he composed his songs and symphonies in his spare time, while working as a conductor for operas and symphonies across Europe. SF Symphony Music Director and host of “Keeping Score” Michael Tilson Thomas, a Mahler expert, is the ideal guide for a journey through his musical stylings. The combination of Mahler’s powerful compositions and a lush 5.1 surround-sound mix serves as a fitting finale to this groundbreaking series produced by InCA Productions. For more information and showtimes, visit www.keepingscore.org.

Heathens & Thieves – Trailer

admin — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 04:38:36 +0000

Heathens & Thieves, from LA based Orofino LLC, is an independent film currently in post-production.

“The trailer arrived with very rough sound effects and production dialog. While the music was composed, last minute editorial changes effected sync, forcing me to re-edit the music. Also, I felt there were sections where the music didn’t quite intensify the emotional impact of the visuals, so I re-mixed the music to bring out the rhythmic elements. Dialog arrived as 12 separate tracks. Extensive editing and levelling was required to achieve natural results. Finally, some ‘big movie’ sound design helped to really add impact to the trailer. Listen to the ‘Before’ and ‘After’ versions, at first these changes might seem subtle– but they really add up to a big differenc!”

-Stephen Berke