KellieWaymire.com Interviews Maniacts Sound Effects Editor Joseph Tsai
July 29, 2002

Tell us a bit about yourself, and your work.

I am currently a production assistant for Bruce Stambler at Soundstorm in Burbank, California. We just finished the sound for "XXX," which we started working on in February. Personally I am trying to work my way up to be a union (Motion Picture Editors Guild) sound effects editor, which is probably still a couple years away for me. I keep myself busy cutting sound on a lot of USC [University of Southern California] student films - it was at USC film school where I really got into creating sound for movies.

How did you get the job for Maniacts?

Over the summer of 2001 I called and visited as many post-production houses in Los Angeles as I could, inquiring about work. I met an extremely cool guy named Michael Sable at Mix Magic in Hollywood. I showed him my demo reel and we hit it off. He didn't have any work for me immediately, but then in November 2001 he called me and asked if I wanted to cut on a feature for him. I jumped at the opportunity, as I had never cut on a feature before.

What exactly were your duties as Sound Effects Editor?

I basically cut all of the sound effects in the film except for gun shots and cars - the Supervising Sound Editor Matthias Schmitz cut those elements as well as the dialogue. I got to have a lot of fun with the gory scenes, as any sound editor would.

How did the job differ from previous work?

It didn't really differ from my previous experience cutting sound, I had cut several student films before this one. Only major difference was the length of the film and the paycheck.

Did you have the chance to meet Kellie at all?

Yes, I did. The ADR [Automated Dialogue Replacement] for the film was shot at Mix Magic while I was cutting sound effects in the room next door. I happened to meet Kellie when she was taking a short breather from ADR. I introduced myself and told her what my job was on the film. I remember saying to her, "I've been seeing your face all day for the past couple of weeks." She quickly replied, "Oh, I'm sorry..." in the cute way you would imagine. Kellie was really perky and fun, she was clearly having a blast. Thank goodness she wasn't too "Hollywood" to talk to a young crew member.

Any word when Maniacts will come to video?

Your guess is as good as mine. I've been trying to find out as well, but nothing on the Internet seems to have a concrete answer. I emailed Lions Share Pictures and they replied saying to expect it "Later this year." Mix Magic also doesn't seem to have a firm answer. Supposedly it was getting a theatrical release, so we'll have to wait and see.