Brian Riordan
Brian Riordan | |
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Brian Riordan at Levels Audio | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Brian Riordan |
Occupation(s) | Re-recording mixer, sound designer, sound engineer |
Instruments | Guitar and piano |
Years active | 1995–present |
Website | www.LevelsAudio.com |
Brian Riordan (1974) is a re-recording mixer, music mixer, music producer, musician, entrepreneur, and founder of Levels Audio. Riordan has received eighteen Primetime Emmy nominations and is a four time Emmy Award winner.
Early career
At age five, Riordan began playing piano, then guitar at age ten. After playing in several rock/pop bands in grade school and high school, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston where he studied Jazz Composition, Songwriting and Arranging. While at school, he produced and engineered various local music artists.
In 1995, after graduating from Berklee, Riordan moved from Boston to Los Angeles and began working as an engineer at several audio facilities. He began working on a wide variety of projects including records, commercials, television shows and films including many Disney and Pixar animated features such as Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bugs Life, Dinosaur, Hercules and Tarzan.
Levels Audio
1998–2005
In 1998, Riordan opened his audio post-production facility, Levels Audio, in Hollywood, CA. This was primarily in response to a shortage of independently owned and operated post audio facilities, which at that time were fleeing to Santa Monica and the westside of Los Angeles in a rash of corporate mergers.
In 2003, Riordan began working on American Idol which remains one of Levels Audio's most active clients to date. After the first season of American Idol, Riordan realized he needed to expand the facility, so he bought out his business partner and became the sole proprietor. Riordan and his team worked out of the original location for another two years.
2005–present
In the fall of 2005, Riordan acquired the famous site of the Birns & Sawyer Camera Sales and Rental Company in Hollywood, CA. He interviewed close to a dozen architects and eventually hired well known studio designer/architect Peter Grueniesen of Studio Bauton. Most of 2006 was spent designing a completely new 13,000-square-foot (1,200 m2) post production facility specializing in 5.1 sound work, with five Digidesign ICON integrated console environments. The studio provides 5.1 audio post production, music production, and sound design services.
Levels Audio features five ICON–equipped 5.1 audio dub stages along with an ADR/Foley stage, three audio editorial suites, five HD offline/online bays, and two visual effects suites, and a central machine room.[1]
Within a year Riordan and his team began working on projects such as American Idol, Flight of The Conchords, So You Think You Can Dance, The Academy Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, MTV Movie Awards, and the 2009 Grammy Award Winning documentary film Tom Petty: 'Runnin' Down a Dream', directed by Peter Bogdanovich.
In June 2009 Levels Audio completed their work on Expedition Africa, Mark Burnett's latest production for the History Channel as well as Season 8 of American Idol.[2] Brian and his team are currently working on various projects for Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, MTV, VH1, HBO, Comedy Central and The Disney Channel.
Awards
Riordan has won three Primetime Emmy Awards, one Daytime Emmy Award, and one C.A.S. Award.[3]
Nominations are listed below. Awards won are listed in bold.
Primetime Emmy Awards
Awards and nominations[4]
- American Idol (2003) Outstanding Sound Mixing For Nonfiction Programming (Single Or Multi-Camera): Re-Recording Mixer
- The 76th Annual Academy Awards (2004) Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Or Music Series Or Special: Re-Recording Mixer
- American Idol (2005) Outstanding Sound Mixing For Nonfiction Programming (single Or Multi-camera): Post-Sound mixer
- American Idol Finale (2005) Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Variety Or Music Series Or Special Or Animation: Re-Recording Mixer
- American Idol (2006) Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Variety Or Music Series Or Special Or Animation: Re-Recording Mixer
- American Idol Finale (2008) Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Variety Or Music Series Or Special: Pre-Production Packages Mixer
- American Idol (2009) Outstanding Sound Mixing For Nonfiction Programming: Re-Recording Mixer
- 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009) Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Variety Or Music Series Or Special: Pre-Production Packages Mixer
- American Idol Finale (2009) Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Variety Or Music Series Or Special: Pre-Production Packages Mixer
- Flight of The Chonchords (2009) Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation: Re-Recording Mixer
- 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert (2010) Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series of Special: Re-Recording Mixer
- American Idol (2010) Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or Special: Re-Recording Mixer
- American Idol Finale (2010) Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or Special: Re-Recording Mixer
- 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010) Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or Special: Re-Recording Mixer
- American Idol (2011) Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or Special: Re-Recording Mixer
- 84th Annual Academy Awards (2012) Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or Special: Re-Recording Mixer
- American Idol (2012) Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or Special: Re-Recording Mixer
- American Idol (2013) Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or Special: Re-Recording Mixer
Daytime Emmy Awards
- Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade (2013) Outstanding Live and Direct to Tape Sound Mixing: Post-Production Mixer
Technical Excellence and Creativity Awards
- American Idol (2007) Outstanding Creative Achievement in Television Sound Production: Supervising Sound Editor and Re-Recording Mixer
- (2007) Outstanding Creative Achievement in Studio Design Project: Levels Audio, Studio Owner
- American Idol (2006) Outstanding Creative Achievement in Television Sound Production: Supervising Sound Editor and Re-Recording Mixer
Cinema Audio Society Awards
- American Idol: Season 7 Finale (2009) Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for 2008: Television – Non-Fiction, Variety or Music Series or Specials: Pre-Production Packages Mixer
- Lady Gaga Presents: The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden (2011) Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television – Non-Fiction, Variety or Music – Series or Special: Re
- 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (2012) Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television – Non-Fiction, Variety or Music – Series or Specials: Re-Recording Mixer
Gopo Awards
- The Rest is Silence (2009) (Best sound in a film)
References
- ↑ POST, January 23, 2007.
- ↑ POST, June 2009.
- ↑ Brian Riordan's Awards, IMDB.
- ↑ "Brian Riordan: Awards and Nominations". Television Academy. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
External links
- Levels Audio
- Brian Riordan at the Internet Movie Database
- MIX Magazine
- POST Magazine
- Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
- Grammy Awards at the Internet Movie Database
- TEC Awards website
- Cinema Audio Society
- American Idol owned by Fox Interactive Media