JCA grad finds his niche as a Hollywood sound artist

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Sound artist Adam Mohundro, a Joliet native, stands on the ice while working on the movie “The Dilemma.” | Submitted photo

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Updated: November 29, 2011 8:00AM

Sound artist Adam Mohundro, formerly of Joliet, said he has to be on toes and ready for anything when shows like Showtime’s “Shameless” come to town.

“They shoot many scenes in many locations in a short time,” Mohundro, 27, of Chicago, said. “Foresight and interdepartmental relations are key because the sound department needs things from every department to get the job done. So if you walk in at the last second with an issue, you might not have too many favors or friends left by the end of the day.”

Viewers may not consciously process it, but part of what makes “Shameless” and other shows come alive is the talents of the audio artists, such as Mohundro. Some of Mohundro’s other projects include the movies “Contagion” and “The Help” and an episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

“I had the wonderful opportunity to intern for Academy Award-winning sound mixer Scott D. Smith on ‘The Promotion’ and afterward stuck around like a lost puppy in the cold,” Mohundro said. “But I worked hard and I love what I do and that makes a difference.”

That job led to one as a “music playback guy” on the movie “Nothing Like the Holidays.”

“I’ve been a steady member of his crew since,” Mohundro said. “But it’s always good when you work with guys that have seen it all, as these gentlemen have.”

An education

Mohundro’s love of sound began in the sixth grade when he began playing music in punk rock bands, a hobby that continued into high school. That love was further encouraged by his favorite Joliet Catholic Academy teacher, the late Robert S. Barich, who had told Mohundro, “Do what you love and the money will come.”

After graduation, Mohundro attended art school at Columbia College in Chicago where he became involved in the film department as an editor. Dismayed at what staring at a computer screen for 18 hours a day was doing to his social skills, Mohundro took a location sound class and met Larry Kapson, who ran the school’s location sound facility.

Kapson quickly assigned Mohundro as sound mixer and boom operator for student projects.

Mohundro soon learned he liked working on production locations and doing a variety of microphone placements for different voices, locations, weather conditions, clothing and effects.

“All this is where the real art form lies, in the ‘sound mix’ that editors use as they are increasingly crunched for time,” he said. “If they can listen to what is synced up to picture and it sounds great, that makes the post-production job and budget a lot smaller.”

Making connections

In October 2009, sound mixer Willie Burton and boom operator Gary Theard sought people for sound utility when they came to Chicago to shoot “Little Fockers.” Mohundro was available.

“I guess I did a decent job because their department kept in touch with me,” Mohundro said. “Nine months later they were looking for someone to go to Mississippi to assist with shooting ‘The Help.’”

Mohundro spent three months — July through October — in Greenwood and Clarksville, Miss.

Despite record-high temperatures, Mohundro enjoyed it.

“During the big ballroom scene, it was the director’s dad that walked Sissy Spacek out,” Mohundro said.

For Mohundro, the best part of working sound is that the job is never the same two days in a row.

“I’m consistently confronted with new challenges, people and places, from the presidential suite at the Hilton to the Cook County morgue on a Friday night,” he said. “So I think the true masters of this industry are the ones that are still learning. And as long as I stay open to that aspect of myself while having some fun, I’ll be satisfied.”