Maggie Norsworthy is an audio post producer at New York City’s Mr. Bronx, an artist-owned and operated audio post studio that creates soundscapes for ad campaigns, feature films, TV series, experiential installations and theme park rides. Mr. Bronx offers an array of services, including mix, sound design, Foley, ADR, VO record and VO casting.

What does your job entail?
I wear a few different hats. I oversee high-level studio management, mid-level production and in-person production. I also track work for social media posting.

It usually starts with fielding incoming requests and breaking down project needs using creative or sound design briefs to generate estimates. After all that’s done, we get on creative calls to help bring the project to life. I also assist with coordinating sessions in a way that’s optimal for the talent along with the creative, editorial and production teams. As sessions progress, I manage communications between the engineers, talent, clients and everyone else. Finally, I ensure delivery of the final mixes for the client.

Separately, I now double as a casting director when needed. After honing the casting brief with the client, we curate a talent list and then send out our favorite options. Other various items include non-audio-specific tasks, like client outreach and sales.

What would surprise people the most about what falls under the title of audio producer?
The diversity of what “audio producer” means is really funny. Podcast audio producers often have journalism degrees; music audio producers lay down tracks. I’m not an engineer at all — I coordinate and keep the trains running. That always surprises people. I think they get surprised that post studios do castings too. Casting can be a mysterious process to people, and it’s cool that those are done in-house.

What’s your favorite part of the job?
I love it when a session goes smoothly. It’s great when, once the actual recording or mix session starts, people know the important information and have all the answers to questions, which lets the engineer relax and do their thing. When everyone is comfortable and can collaborate well together, that’s a great feeling.

I also love in-person work, when clients come in and can see our new space. Paired with this, I love going to in-person events, meeting new people and finding ways to collaborate. In many ways, this is the perfect job for an extrovert.

What is your least favorite?
When we have a lot of sessions going on at the same time. It’s great for us — we want our engineers to be booked — but sometimes that means multiple urgent requests come in at once. That’s why I prioritize time management to assess what really needs to get done first because it can be a challenge to juggle many “emergencies” at once.

What is your most productive time of the day?
Probably midmorning. When we don’t have sessions at the very beginning of the day, I have more time to review our documents and calendar. If I can get that high-level perspective at the beginning of the day, it sets me up for a smoother day ahead.

How has your section of the industry changed since COVID? The good and the bad?
It’s definitely changed in lasting ways, including the huge uptick in remote recording. We used to do some remote recording, but now the importance of testing equipment with talent has skyrocketed because we need to provide the highest quality audio possible.

It’s great for talent because it gives them chances to record in places where they’re not local. Before, everything revolved around an in-person session. We can accommodate more sessions in a day now too. But it’s a different beast because it means more emails, fewer calls and handling things remotely that would have been handled in-person before, which skews the balance toward remote work. Hybrid coordination is different than mostly in-person. It’s cool, though. The engineers have home setups and more flexibility, and it’s easier for clients to join via Zoom.

Do you see some of these workflow changes remaining with us going forward?
For sure. Clients still love to come in, and we love to have them, but if they’re suddenly slammed, it’s great that they can join over Zoom and we can continue the work. It adds a layer of convenience that wasn’t there before.

If you didn’t have this job, what would you be doing instead?
I would probably be in politics. I’ve done a lot of things. I’ve been a Capitol Hill intern studying political science. I’ve also worked at a cheese and wine store. I love both cheese and wine, so maybe I’d work in one as well. Ultimately, I like learning about people and making things happen, which is why I studied anthropology and political science.

Why did you choose this profession?
Ever since I found out what an audio producer was, I was interested. I like that it’s client-facing. I think post production is stimulating since you work on many things in a day. It’s great being the trusted partner in problem-solving and getting clients to the finish line. I like looking for ways to make processes more efficient.

Can you name some recent projects you have worked on?
Mr. Bronx has such high respect for quality and craft, which means we work on some of the coolest stuff ever: most recently the Dolby Atmos mix for Studio Ghibli’s The Boy and the Heron English release. We’ve also done work for Beyoncé projects, including trailers for the Renaissance world tour film and sound design and mix for her Black Is King and Lemonade visual albums.

On the serial side, we also worked on FX’s Welcome to Wrexham. That was my first time seeing my name in the credits of a TV show. Recently we worked on sound for the documentary Lakota Nation vs. United States, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was purchased by IFC Films.

Ultimately, I love working alongside people with high standards and excellent output.

Name three pieces of technology you can’t live without.
The Google Tasks list, Slack and Google Calendar.

When you can listen to music, what do you have playing?
It depends on what season of life I’m in. Lately, I’ve been listening to this “Bossa in the Background” Spotify playlist, which has bossa nova music that’s mellow enough not to be distracting.

I also have a tried-and-true classical playlist from college that’s very good. Sometimes I’ll listen to regular music, but classical music and bossa nova usually make it easier for me to get in the zone. For when I am feeling emo, I have a specific playlist of my favorite songs from when I sang in choir in college.

What do you do to de-stress from it all?
I’m training for a half marathon, so I’ve been running. I also go to a lot of live music shows and hang out with my friends all the time. I rarely say no to going to do something.

Finally, would you have done anything different along your path?
I’m a person that needs to get things out of my system. If I hadn’t worked on the Hill, I would have been thinking about it forever. I don’t regret doing that. Same thing with cheese and wine; I’m happy I have that knowledge now. Maybe I would have been more aggressive earlier on about learning about the audio industry. It’s not always easy from the outside looking in to learn more about jobs like audio post producer.

Any tips for others who are just starting?
For those just starting, I’d say networking isn’t as intimidating as you might think. It’s not what you fear it has to be. Everyone wants to meet people they get along with. Everyone wants to make connections, and everyone has an interest in other people’s industries. You don’t have to feel weird talking to people and asking questions. The number of random connections that have emerged before and after I started at Mr. Bronx is so funny to me at this point, but that’s a story for another time…