James Longeretta, owner of global postproduction solutions provider Vortechs, has teamed with veteran supervising sound editor/re-recording mixer Joe Schultz (Amazing Stories for Apple TV, Lost) to launch Waterman Sound. The state-of-the-art sound facility offers sound editorial, sound design, mixing, and ADR from its newly built studio in Toluca Lake, Calif. The company has hired ADR mixer Marilyn Morris (Captain Marvel, Miss Sloane), formerly of Skywalker Sound and Dubbing Brothers, to helm its ADR stage.
Waterman Sound will target scripted and unscripted television series and independent features. It has aligned itself with Vortechs and nearby post-finishing facility The Foundation to provide productions all-inclusive post service packages. Waterman Sound already has several projects to its credit, including ADR for NBC’s The Good Place, Warner Bros.’ Castle Rock, ABC Studios’ black-ish, Fox’s What We Do in the Shadows and the feature films Charlie’s Angels and JoJo Rabbit . It also provided mixing services for Showtime’s The Loudest Voice, Facebook’s Queen America and ABC’s Once Upon a Time. Upcoming projects include HBO Max’s Made for Love and Amazon’s Them:Covenant.
The company’s location, Toluca Lake, is in the same postproduction complex as Vortechs and just a few blocks from The Foundation, making it attractive to productions seeking to consolidate post work flows. “An entire postproduction ecosystem is within easy reach,” said Longeretta. “Vortechs has 40 cutting rooms upstairs. Clients can post their sound and picture editing in one location, then walk up the street for their finishing.” He added that Waterman is just minutes away from Warner Bros., Universal, CBS Radford, Disney/ABC, and many independent producers.
Waterman Sound’s technical resources include a 17’ by 31’ mix stage with a dual operator Avid S6 console, multiple Pro Tools HDX systems, JBL 7.1 monitoring and a vast arsenal of plugins. It also features a sizable ADR stage capable of accommodating up to eight voice actors comfortably and two Pro Tools equipped sound editorial rooms. A producers room, a kitchen, and complimentary onsite valet parking complete the personalized experience. The company is currently working to secure Dolby Atmos Home Theater certification for its mix stage with acoustics designed by Jerry Steckling.
A three-time Emmy nominee for his work on Lost, Schultz has more than two dozen credits across television and features. He has a long association with Walt Disney Pictures/ABC Television. A former musician and luthier, he began his career in sound in 2002 with Sound Dogs under the tutelage of Bob Grieve and Greg King. Other notable credits include Amazing Stories, Queen America, Roadies, Flashforward, and Christmas with the Kranks.
Morris most recently served as a dubbing mixer at Dubbing Brothers, Burbank, where she helmed dubbing sessions for foreign television series and features. Prior to Dubbing Brothers, she spent two years as a mix technician and in sound editorial roles at Skywalker Sound. She began her audio post career at Bell Sound Studios, Hollywood, where she became an ADR mixer and associate chief engineer.
