Transcript: Talking with Skywalker’s Leslie Ann Jones

That’s what I’ve done in the last twenty-five years— let’s see, I’ve had five jobs. This is my fifth job. And one of those jobs is counting the three years I spent as an independent engineer. I am pleased to say that, in each of my jobs, I have gone past what I thought I knew or tried something kind of different, with an element of risk.

Realizing that the next career move wasn’t necessarily safe. That’s the only way you can really grow. And that risk/growth relationship is a preview of what you’re going to have to do when you finally sit in the chair as an engineer anyway. You are going to have to get past whatever knowledge you have to when the client says, “That’s too orange.”

You have to figure out what that means and how to make the track sound more “green.” You should know enough about what you’re doing and the tools that you have available to you to creatively get the job done.

Keith: What is the salary range for an entry-level position?

Leslie: Well, interns get paid less than staff positions, although they do get paid. It is anywhere from $10–$18 per hour depending on what the person will be doing.

Keith: When a person is getting started in the business, they are there to primarily learn—not so much to earn. Try to get into a good learning situation, because the money comes later.

Leslie: Yeah. Actually, that’s why I really recommend that a person get a job in the biggest studio they can find and not take a job in a one-room place. Chances are, they’re not going to really learn in a one-room studio.

Keith: Skywalker has an internship program. Could you talk about it briefly?

Leslie: Well, it is handled through our human resources department. First a department like ours must decide each year whether or not to request an intern because the salary to pay the intern comes out of each department’s budget. And then if anyone applied for an internship with the scoring stage as his or her preference, then we would probably get one.

But every company is different. Some do it like Capitol Records, where they would hire six interns from local music business programs throughout L.A., and they would spend a week in each department.

Keith: You mentioned you have a runner/intern now on the scoring stage. Can you estimate what percentage of new hires are current or former interns?

Leslie: Around 20 percent.

Keith: Do you have any tips you can offer to somebody who is thinking about getting into the business? When you started, you walked in and approached Phil Kaye at ABC and said, “I’d like to engineer here.” Things are quite a bit different now, obviously.

Leslie: Yes, I think they are different. A lot of people that we consider tend to come recommended from other people in the business. We also have a relationship with certain schools. I might e-mail the head of the recording department asking if they have any outstanding students, which is exactly what I did the last time we were looking for somebody.