presented by
June 17-20, 2024
Sandra Piccolo Trailblazer Recipients
Mark Lanza
Sound Supervisor, President of MPSE
Mark Lanza has been crafting sound for top movies and television for years. His first job in the industry was working for Oliver Stone. Some of his credits include Independence Day, True Lies, Natural Born Killers, JFK (for which he won a BAFTA), Homeland, Empire, and Electric Dreams. He has over 30 Golden Reel nominations to his name. Mark is currently working at Sony Pictures where he creates sound for TV’s top network and streaming shows. He is a past Vice-President of the Motion Picture Sound Editors.
Frank Morrone
Emmy-Winning Sound Mixer
Frank Morrone is a two-time Emmy-winning Hollywood audio professional who has mixed sound for high profile television shows and movies including The Strain, LOST, Sleepy Hollow, The Kennedys, Copper, Boss, Ransom and Oscar winning When We Were Kings. He has worked with leading directors and producers including JJ Abrams, Guillermo del Toro, Gus Van Sant, Ron Howard, and Tim Burton.
Bernard Weiser
Supervising Sound Editor, President of EIPMA
Bernard Weiser has worked in motion pictures sound editing for the last 30 years on over 100 feature films. He is president of the Entertainment Industry Professionals Mentoring Alliance (EIPMA), a not-for-profit organization that offers specialized counselling and support to young people aiming to one day have a successful career in the industry. His work as a sound editor has earned him high praise and he has received Primetime Emmy nominations for True Detective, Deadwood, and Ted Lasso.
Alessandra Piccolo
Executive Director, VFF
In her work for VFF, Alessandra consistently placed her own well-being behind the needs of the festival. Every seemingly impossible obstacle that she faced became a simple challenge in need of a solution. Nothing stopped her; she faced the issues and found solutions while considering the comfortability of everyone involved. She knew how to direct us all, not only for the continuing success of this film festival, but more importantly, for a vision of collaboration in a global community of filmmakers.
Tom McCarthy
Oscar Winner, Past President of MPSE
Tom McCarthy is a sound editor. At the 65th Academy Awards he won Best Sound Editing for Bram Stoker's Dracula. His Oscar was shared with David Stone. His current position is Executive Vice President of Post-Production Facilities at Sony Pictures Studios. In 2016 he was elected as the new President for the Motion Picture Sound Editors.