Monkeyland 2013: 20 years in the making

December 23, 2013

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

It's hard to believe it's almost 2014, and Monkeyland's 20th year is quickly coming to a close. As has become our tradition, we'd like to take a look back at the previous year's monkey business, highlighting the projects, changes and moments that made up our 2013. As good fortune would have it, there was hardly a dull moment and the Monkeyland crew was able to spend another year doing what we love so much on a wide variety of projects with our incredibly talented clients, friends and colleagues.

"Manhunt": The Mad Dash To Sundance '13: One of our first projects of 2013, "Manhunt" had to happen fast, as it was premiering at Sundance in mid January. It's our third film working with Director Greg Barker. The documentary would later air on HBO and in September would take home the primetime Emmy Award for Best Documentary.

Lots more excitement was happening the first part of the year as the Monkeyland crew took home their 2nd MPSE Golden Reel Award. This one for their Sound Effects work on "Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden." Later in the fall we were honored again with a Primetime Emmy Nomination for the same film.

Expanding our Soundscape: 2013 also brought a major move for Monkeyland... literally. After nearly 6 years at the 4620 Magnolia address and a change in building ownership, Monkeyland relocated to our current three facilities. Our new homes feature a wide variety of stages including 2 larger theatrical mix stages, great amenities as well as a few different options in location. We feel the move is a fantastic opportunity for our company’s long-term growth and can’t wait to share with you all the exciting new things to come!

2013’s slate of projects proved to be a very eclectic assortment that included feature films, television shows, web series, promos, commercials, trailers, and some really cool short films. On the feature film front, our sound team completed full editorial and mixing on the following: Crime Thriller "Ten Cent Pistol", Jerry Lewis starrer "Max Rose", which premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival, "Wer", the follow-up Horror film from "The Devil Inside" filmmakers, Mystery Thriller "Terroir", Dramas "Las Horas Contigo", "The Wilderness of James" and "Old Fashioned", SXSW Thriller "Snap", Romance Drama "Beyond Paradise", Action Crime Drama "Betrayal", feature doc "State of Control" and the annual Warren Miller high octane sports documentary, "Ticket To Ride." We have also just started editorial on "Victor", a period piece set in 1962 Brooklyn, directed by Brandon Dickerson. Keep an eye out for all these films coming to theaters and/or home video in 2014.

We also had some exciting television projects in house this year. We provided complete sound editorial and mixing for “American Ninja Warrior”, back for it's fifth season on NBC & the G4 Network. Season 2 of Cinemax's "The Girls Guide to Depravity" was also back, along with Bio series "The Ghost Inside My Child", Showtime's Floyd Mayweather documentary "30 Days in May", "Seven Lives Exposed" and an episode of MTV's True Life series. We are also excited for a new TV series we just finished, "Don't Trust Andrew Mayne", premiering in January 2014 on A&E.

Other films which came in for additional editorial and mixing at Monkeyland throughout the year include: "May in the Summer", "Project Blue Book", "The Art of the Steal", "The Black Russian", "Worm", "The Secret Life of Dorks", "Gus", "At the Top of the Pyramid", "American Seagull", and "Hello Herman".

Some of the shows that visited our ADR and Foley stages include: "Way of the Wicked", "The Sacrament", "Site 146", "5 To 7", "Chalk PreSchool", "In Lieu of Flowers", Lifetime's "Santa Switch", "108", and the animated "Timm's Industrial Piping". A few other films recently in for ADR and headed for the 2014 Sundance Film Festival were "The Signal" and "The Guest", both premiering as part of the Park City at Midnight program, and "The Skeleton Twins", which is part of the U.S. Dramatic competition. Congratulations everyone!

Speaking of Sundance, Monkeyland is proud to be doing complete sound editorial, design and mixing on 3 additional feature films premiering in Park City next month. We have just completed the mix on Gregg Araki's new feature "White Bird In a Blizzard", which will be premiering at Sundance on January 20. Prior to "White Bird", Monkeyland has done the post sound on Gregg's 3 most recent features as well. And just as the year started, so shall it end, as the rush to Sundance is on with the other 2 Sundance features we are currently completing: Director Malik Vitthal's "Imperial Dreams" will screen as part of the "Next" Program, and Greg Barker's latest documentary "We Are The Giant" is premiering too. Thanks again for trusting Monkeyland with your post sound and congratulations to all!

Monkeyland is also honored to have participated in the editorial and mixing for quite a few short films this year: "Reaver", "Woman In Fragments", "Mop Bucket Mastermind", "Nini", "Interstate", "The Council", "Veladora" and "The Conversation". We anticipate many great things for the filmmakers involved in these projects. Outstanding work, folks!

This year we also had a very unique opportunity to work with famed artists Paul and Damon McCarthy, for whom we edited, mixed, designed and oversaw the sound system installations for their two New York City art exhibit openings this past summer: "White Snow" and "Rebel Dabble Babble". Other exciting 2013 projects for us included editorial and mixing of seasons 3 and 4 for CW Web Series comedy "Husbands", as well as many commercial and promo mixes and recording for our friends at Dirty Robber, Coyote Post, Omelet LA, MRG Productions, The Uprising Creative, Resnick Interactive and the Smithsonian Channel.

In October of 2013, we saw a new addition to our Monkeyland family with Thayer Jester coming aboard as VP of Sales and Marketing. Thayer brings with her 14 years of post-production success and we can't wait for everyone to meet her. Unfortunately at nearly the same time we lost a wonderful creative talent in Peter Lago, who is exploring new sonic adventures at Warner Bros. For over 10 years Peter brought the highest level of creativity, professionalism and leadership to the Monkeyland team and we look forward to collaborating with him again in the future.

Lastly, but certainly not least, Monkeyland is excited to announce our new strategic partnership with Roush Media, allowing for our collective clients to leverage the best talent and technology of each company’s specialties. Based in downtown Burbank, Roush provides On-Set Dailies workflows, Color Management, Digital Intermediate and Deliverables services, specializing in 4K Color grading for Digital Cinema file-based projects.

For more info you can follow the links in this posting or check out the "What's New" section on our website. We’d also love for you to follow us on Facebook and Twitter where we regularly post interesting Monkey news, pictures and other fun project-related stuff.

The Monkey crew and I would like to wish you all a very safe, prosperous, and creative New Year. Happy Holidays and happy filmmaking!

Monkeyland & Roush Media enter into strategic partnership; hire Thayer Jester as VP of Sales and Marketing

Monkeyland Audio and Roush Media are pleased to announce they have entered into a strategic partnership to offer complete picture and sound packages to the entertainment industry. Based in Burbank, California, these service-oriented companies are experts in their field and collaborated successfully on several projects over the years. Monkeyland and Roush hired Thayer Jester to serve as VP of Sales and Marketing to solidify the partnership and provide sound and picture services, including all forms of deliverables to studio and independent clients alike.

Thayer Jester brings 14 years of post-production success to these highly respectable companies. Thayer’s vast contact base as well as her in-depth knowledge of the entire post-production process compliments the artist-owned company’s integrity and intentions. “I am thrilled to be representing such talented and well-respected post-production partners as Monkeyland Audio and Roush Media. They’ve been successful independently and now with their combined service offerings and efficient workflows, I predict we’ll be exceeding client expectations for another 20 years.”

Monkeyland Audio is a multi-award winning facility, providing complete audio post-production services including Re-Recording Mixing, ADR and Foley Recording, as well as full in-house Sound Editorial, Design and Supervision. For 20 years, the Monkeyland creative team has taken extreme pride in their collaborative approach with clients, striving to design rich, unique and detailed soundscapes for each and every project. “We are very excited to be partnering with Keith and his team at Roush,” said Monkeyland founder Trip Brock. “ It’s great to be working together with such a like-minded, artist-owned company, who is passionate about their work and will always put the client and the product first.”

Roush Media provides On-Set Dailies workflows, Color Management, Digital Intermediate and Deliverables services. Specializing in 4K Color grading for Digital Cinema file-based projects, Roush Media’s talented staff goes above and beyond their client’s expectations to provide them with efficient quality workflows and creative work. “ Partnering with Monkeyland for our clients sound needs just makes sense,” said Keith Roush. “This partnership allows our collective clients to leverage the best talent and technology of each company’s specialties while streamlining the service and billing.”

Monkeyland Audio and Roush Media are not your average corporate bottom-lined focused post company. They care about creating stunning images and beautiful sound by partnering with their clients to create the most efficient and cost effective workflow possible. They offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee to their clients, insuring that their picture and sound package is delivered with an approved full QC and to perfection.

For more information:
Monkeyland Audio
Roush Media
Thayer Jester

Monkeyland Crew @ the 65th Emmy Awards Creative Arts Ball

The Monkeyland sound editorial crew was honored this year with a Primetime Emmy nomination for their work on the National Geographic channel's "Seal Team Six: The Hunt For Osama Bin Laden". The Creative Art's Emmy Awards were held last night in Downtown, Los Angeles at the Nokia Theatre, and while our team didn't walk away with a golden statue, everyone had a great time as can be seen in the photo above, taken at the Creative Arts Ball, immediately after the ceremony...

Earlier this year our sound editorial team won an MPSE Golden Reel Award for the same film at the 60th Annual Motion Picture Sound Editor's Awards for BEST SOUND EDITING: Long Form Sound Effects and Foley in Television.

We are also happy to report that "Manhunt: The Inside Story of the Hunt for Bin Laden" did take home the Emmy last night for 'Outstanding Documentary or Non-Fiction Special'.  Monkeyland handled all sound editorial, design and mixing for the feature length documentary which premiered at this years Sundance Film Festival and aired earlier this year on HBO. We are so proud of Producer/Director Greg Barker and his entire team, and are honored to be part of yet another one of his amazing films.

A huge congratulations to all of last night's Creative Art's winners and nominees!

It is a great honor to continue to be acknowledged by our peers for our hard work and dedication to this craft we love so much!

Monkeyland Audio: Expanding Our Soundscape

Friends and Colleagues:

Monkeyland Audio is thankful for a great start to 2013. Our first quarter yielded three strong festival premieres (HBO’s “Manhunt” at Sundance, and “Hours” & “Snap” at SXSW), a Golden Reel win for “SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden”, and a steady stream of feature, television and short form projects. With no real downtime, we dive into our second quarter with a healthy roster of projects, and a few other exciting changes!

One of our goals for 2013 was to strengthen the presence, reach, and stability of Monkeyland Audio, and as good fortune would have it, the possibility of doing so has suddenly become a reality for us. Thus, we have begun an expansion of our operations, that will include:

A new home! Effective immediately our new main stages facility will be located at 4720 West Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank, just one block west from our previous home of the last 6 years. We have spent the last month upgrading the facility, which includes 2 large theatrical dual Icon equipped 5.1/7.1 mixing stages, (3) 5.1 television mixing stages, a beautiful ADR Stage, full Avid Online, Final Cut and Color finishing capabilities, and amazing client amenities including a full gourmet kitchen and large cantina-style lounge area.

In addition, we have begun the restoration and reestablishment of Monkeyland at 1750 Flower Street in Glendale, which will become our new sound design & editorial headquarters, as well as home to our foley stage and a new 5.1/7.1 film and television mixing stage.

And finally, the reacquiring and resurrection of Mix Stage A at 2700 West Magnolia in Burbank. A flagship stage for Monkeyland from 2000-2009, we are proud to announce we have recommissioned this great sounding stage at the CDP building where we have mixed literally hundreds of films over the years including “The Grudge”, “An Inconvenient Truth”, “Feast”, and “Pulse”.

We now have a greater variety of stages, including 2 larger theatrical stages, great amenities as well as a few different options in location in order to better serve our clients specific needs. We feel the move is a fantastic opportunity for our company’s long-term growth and can’t wait to show you our new home!

After lots of hard work over the past few weeks decommissioning the old Monkeyland while continuing to service our clients, we are proud to announce it is business as usual here at Monkeyland: same amazingly talented staff, same phone number, new location: 4720 West Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA 91505 phone: 8128-553-0955.

As we prepare to leave our previous facility behind, we take with us many great memories from these last six years, and want to thanks all our clients and colleagues for all the years of continued support. After completing over 200+ films, TV and web shows, commercials, and trailers during our stay here, we continue to remain focused and look forward to building a better, stronger Monkeyland. Call us for a tour of the new facility and please be sure to join us on Facebook and Twitter for many Monkey updates!

Thank you,

Your Friends at Monkeyland

2 Monkeyland Films premiering at SXSW this week

It's the 20th anniversary of the SXSW Film Festival and Monkeyland Audio is proud to have 2 film's premiering in the next few days.


Hours, written and directed by Eric Heisserer, gets it's world premiere tomorrow night as part of the Narrative Spotlight. The Hurricane Katrina based suspense drama stars Paul Walker who battles the elements and exhaustion for two days in a hospital while his newborn daughter clings to life inside a ventilator powered only by a manual crank.



World premiering the following day is Snap, starring Nikki Reed and Jake Hoffman. Directed by Youssef Delara and Victor Teran, Snap is a dark psychological thriller set in the underground world of dubstep.

Full post production sound and mixing for both films were completed at Monkeyland. For a great article on our post sound process for Hours, check out Sound Designer Peter Lago's article at The Postlab: Man vs. Time: The Soundscape for HOURS

The festival runs March 8, 2013- March 16, 2013. For more info on the festival and all the films you can check out SXSW.com

Monkeyland Wins MPSE Golden Reel Award!

Congratulations to the entire Monkeyland Audio staff and creative sound team on the Golden Reel Award they received last night at the 60th Annual Motion Picture Sound Editor's Awards for BEST SOUND EDITING: Long Form Sound Effects and Foley in Television.


Pictured (above) celebrating backstage after receiving their awards are Kate Sheil, Alexander Pugh, and Peter Lago, and (below) Peter Lago, Steven Avila, Trip Brock and Alexander Pugh. Congratulations also to Supervising Foley Editor Greg Mauer and Foley Artist Rick Owens who were unfortunately unable to attend the ceremony and all the rest of our amazing crew!


The Monkeyland team won for their Sound Effects, Design and Foley work on The Weinstein Company's feature film "Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden", which premiered on the National Geographic Channel last year. The long form television category actually produced a tie this year and we are extremely proud and honored to share the win in this category with our talented sound colleagues who won for their work on HBO's "Game of Thrones Season 2: Valar Morghulis". Pictured (below) are both sound crews on the stage, with Monkeyland's Peter Lago giving his acceptance speech.



It truly is an honor to be acknowledged by our colleagues and peers for doing what we love to do!



Monkeyland was also nominated this year for another Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue, ADR and Music in a Feature Documentary for their work on "Climate Refugees", and won the Golden Reel Award last year for Best Sound Editing for the Web Series "Aim High".

Best of luck to "Manhunt" Premiering today at Sundance

Director Greg Barker's new HBO feature documentary "Manhunt" premieres today in competition at the Sundance Film Festival. Based on the book MANHUNT, by Peter L. Bergen, this espionage tale goes inside the CIA’s long conflict against Al Qaeda, as revealed by the remarkable women and men whose secret war against Osama bin Laden started nearly a decade before most of us even knew his name.

The New York Times described Greg Barker as “a filmmaker of artistic and political consequence.” A former war-correspondent-turned filmmaker, Barker has worked in more than 50 countries across six continents. "Manhunt" is the culmination of Barker’s 10-year interest in America’s conflict with Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

Monkeyland is honored to be working with Greg and his team for the third time. His previous films include "Sergio", winner of the Documentary Editing Award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, as well as "Koran by Heart", for which Monkeyland was nominated last year by the MPSE for Best Sound Editing in a television documentary.

"Manhunt" will be playing 6 times at Sundance, premiering today and running through January 26th, and will make it's way onto HBO later this year.