For Sound Designer/Editor Eugene Gearty '82, Creativity Is Essential to Any Industry Career

Oscar- and Emmy-winning sound designer/editor Eugene Gearty '82 (Hugo, Boardwalk Empire) visited his alma mater earlier this year to speak with students about his 30-year career in sound for film, from his start on low budget horror movies to his work for esteemed directors like Martin Scorcese, Ang Lee, Spike Lee, and the Coen Brothers.

With nearly 100 credits to his name, Gearty won an Oscar for Best Achievement in Sound Editing on Scorcese's 2011 film Hugo (collaborating with fellow Berklee alumnus composer Howard Shore '69) and a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series on HBO's Boardwalk Empire, and has worked on every Scorcese film since 2002's Gangs of New York.

"Being a skilled musician or sound designer, it's all about creativity and being expressive," Gearty says, noting that he's used his guitar for sound effects on various movies, and is constantly looking to find and record new, fresh sounds. "So the fact that I didn't pursue a musical career with my instrument was to me less important than pursuing a sound career in film based on creativity, and that definitely is linked directly to Berklee and the people I met and the teachers I had here."

Mostly working from his studio in South Carolina (and typically traveling to L.A. or New York for final mixes), Gearty's recent credits include the Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy and the HBO mini-series documentary Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All. Upcoming projects include a new 3D movie from Ang Lee, the film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and Scorcese's next film Silence, which Gearty is quick to add "won't be silent, from a sound perspective."

Watch Eugene Gearty '82 talk about his career path from Berklee to his award-winning work in sound design for films like Hugo and Life of Pi.