Kate Finan, who co-founded Burbank audio post house Boom Box Post with Jeff Shiffman, is more than just a studio head. Both she and Shiffman are hands-on as re-recording mixers and supervising sound editors. Their client list includes Nickelodeon, Disney, Netflix, Amazon and others.

Kate Finan

Currently, the studio is working on Gabby’s Dollhouse, a mixed-media children’s television series for DreamWorks Animation. Created and executive-produced by Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey, it follows Gabby, a girl who loves cats, crafting, music, cooking and imaginative play. In each episode, Gabby unboxes a new surprise item that hints at a theme, and we follow her into her dollhouse to play and problem-solve with her “cat-tastic” friends.

We reached out to Finan to find out more about the studio’s work on the series, which they’ve been working on for seven seasons and is available to watch on Netflix.

How did you work with the showrunner? How often were they taking a look at your work?
DreamWorks Animation is based in Glendale, but the co-creators, Jen and Traci, are in New York City, so our work on the series is a combination of in-person collaboration and remote workflow. With seven seasons of episodes, this is a behemoth of a television series, and we have settled into a regular biweekly schedule to keep things flowing smoothly.

Could you describe your workflow?
Every two weeks, we begin a new episode. This kicks off with a spotting session, when co-creators/executive producers Jen and Traci and supervising producer Donovan Cook give us their notes regarding the episode’s creative sound design. They detail what sounds they are looking for and the overall feeling of the episode. Then our team sets off to accomplish the dialogue, sound effects and Foley editorial.

Our supervising sound editor, Tess Fournier, combines our work and presents it in the preview to Jen, Traci and Donovan. They give us their notes and request changes, we complete them, and then the editorial is sent off to the mix stage along with the music. Once there, my re-recording mixing partner, Jacob Cook, and I weave everything together to tell a cohesive story. The clients review the mix in two passes, one in 5.1 and one in stereo to be sure it will play well in both environments, and then the audio is finalized.

What is the recording format for the show?
All episodes of Gabby’s Dollhouse are mixed in 5.1 surround sound. This allows the viewer to be fully immersed in the creative world that Gabby and her friends usher us into. Because each episode brings us a new theme — and therefore a new journey — the soundscape is rich.

In the dollhouse, we can fly with Kitty Fairy through her magical garden, do science experiments with Mercat in her spa, race cars with Carlita or craft a new artistic creation with Mama Box and Baby Box. This means that there are myriad opportunities for 5.1 surround sound to enhance the storytelling and bring the audience into Gabby’s world.

Was there a particular scene or scenes that were most challenging?
The most challenging aspect of Gabby’s Dollhouse is that the premise allows for a completely different creative scenario with each new episode. But this also makes the series incredibly rewarding from a sound perspective. We love nothing more than the opportunity to match our sonic toolbox with the visual artistry of some of the most talented visual artists (aka animators) of our time. When we have the opportunity not just to match the visual intention of a story but to elevate it with sound, we are on cloud nine.

In addition, for Gabby’s Dollhouse, we have been tasked with reaching deep into our lexicon of film references to accomplish episodes in all different styles, such as classic spaghetti westerns, magical fantasies and racing adventures.

Were there any additional, out-of-the-box responsibilities you had on this film?
We began post sound on this series just shortly before the pandemic hit. We had one initial in-person spotting session for which Jen and Traci flew to LA, and then we moved to an entirely remote workflow as the world shut down. This created all of the usual pandemic-related working challenges. But luckily, animation was one entertainment industry sector that could continue production with an all-remote workflow, unlike live-action projects. So, thankfully, we were able to continue our work on the animated bulk of the series, and we held off mixing until the live-action portions could safely be produced.

The most complicated aspect of that new workflow was that we had a cast largely made up of child actors, and they were now tasked with recording themselves at home. We needed to then bring those recordings up to a professional quality standard. The actors were incredible. They received at-home recording kits from the studio and were game to set up makeshift, sound-proofed recording booths in their own homes, often in closets stuffed with clothes, with blankets or towels taped to the doors.

Their parents had to become impromptu recording engineers, helping to set up the gear, get good levels, place the microphones and judge the quality of takes. The results were miraculously higher-quality than you can possibly imagine. But they did still need quite a bit of work in post sound cleanup. That’s where our mixing capabilities came in. We were able to denoise and dereverb the recordings, and at this point, when I watch past seasons with my own kids, I’m proud to say that I can’t easily discern which were studio recordings and which were done at home.

Which system did you use for the sound editing process, and why did you choose it?
We use Avid Pro Tools for all sound editorial and mixing, which is the industry standard. It allows us flexibility, agility and the ability to quickly and easily blend and alter the sonic elements to tell the story that creators want.

Was there a specific tool or feature within Pro Tools that helped?
Pro Tools’ ability to easily export a QuickTime of our work was key given our hybrid in-person/remote workflow. Within just minutes, we can render our work, upload it to SyncSketch and start a remote client review.

How did you manage your time?
At Boom Box Post, one of our company missions is to create a collaborative team that is dedicated to each individual project. Having the same team working seamlessly together on all episodes is key to managing our time. This allows us to divide the work while still having a great collaborative foundation, where we know what to expect from one another.

Our supervising sound editor, Tess, keeps everyone on task and on schedule throughout the process, working closely with the post production supervisor at DreamWorks.

Did you have the support of an assistant editor during the sound editing process for this project?
Yes, we could not accomplish any of our projects without the help of our assistant editor and office administrator. Our assistant editor does the technical part of assembling all of the editors’ work into one master Pro Tools session and cuts the background environmental sounds in each episode.

Jeff Shiffman

Our office administrator handles ingesting all materials for the studio, which keeps things running smoothly and allows us to be completely air-gapped across the studio (meaning that no production workstations have internet access, thus greatly limiting our vulnerability to cyberattacks).

How do you manage the producers’ expectations with reality/what can really be done?
We strive to meet all producer expectations and requests. On Gabby’s Dollhouse, we have accomplished this by keeping an open line of communication via video chat with all remote parties during the mix. This allows us to go over any notes that need clarification, brainstorm creative ideas and get feedback on our approach. We find that if a fix doesn’t seem to work when following a note exactly, then offering another creative solution that might entail a different process but achieves the same desired result is always considered a win by all parties.

When someone who is starting out asks what they should learn, what do you recommend?
I always recommend that individuals starting out in the sound industry take as many entry-level positions as possible in several adjacent fields. This may mean working in the vault of a post studio, interning at a music engineering facility or setting up microphones for voiceover sessions.

You may not love everything — but that’s the best part! You’ll learn not just what you like and want to pursue as a career, but also what you want to avoid at all costs. In the end, shopping around in entry-level positions, while seemingly frustrating, will give you the opportunity to build a career that will have longevity and lasting job satisfaction.