Juan Ortiz on the importance of mentorship in audio production and building a platform for the next generation.
Producer/sound mixer Juan Ortiz is always on the move. Whether it’s producing high-profile video content for clients like ESPN, Ubisoft, True Classic, and Foot Locker as a freelancer or with his production company Redd Pen Media, or capturing location sound for film, TV, and music projects across the country, Ortiz has made it his brand to be constantly creating, collaborating, and sharing his knowledge with the larger production community. One of his recent accomplishments has been the founding of Behind the Boom, a community project aimed at helping location sound professionals network as well as welcoming and educating newcomers to the profession. Some of the content features Ortiz onsite with his Sound Devices 833 Mixer-Recorder, demonstrating tips and tricks of the trade that he’s learned throughout his many projects.
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Starting out on the music engineering side working with local hip-hop artists in New Jersey, Ortiz got the bug for film after an opportunity to tour with KRS-One in 2007. It opened his eyes to the possibilities of applying that expertise alongside his sound capabilities. Looking to expand his capabilities as he formed his own production company, Ortiz quickly recognised the need for reliable information and training.
“There wasn’t a lot of opportunity or information out there for people with my background when I first started doing this,”
“There’s a community around the profession, but I wasn’t exposed to a lot of that coming up so it required a lot of research and learning to ask the right questions to get my chops together.”
Completely self-taught, mentorship became an important part of Ortiz’s professional journey as he saw opportunities to help younger professionals leapfrog some of the struggles that dogged his early efforts. “I learned a lot from working with other guys in the field and using YouTube, but found a glass ceiling when it came to more advanced stuff like RF Coordination,” he says. “I realized there was an opportunity to gather this community together and share the knowledge in a more concrete way.”
Keep up with Juan Ortiz here, or read more about Sound Devices.
