Get to Know Bob Chefalas
“I’m lucky, very lucky, to have made a career doing something I always dreamed of,” says three-time Emmy Award-nominated re-recording mixer Bob Chefalas. “When I’d go to the movies as a kid, I’d wait in the theater for the end credits and think, ‘Someday, I want to see my name up there.” In the years since, Bob has seen his name in the end credits of more than 100 television shows, movies and documentaries, including such recent hits as Severance, Gossip Girl and Godfather of Harlem.
Part of the Goldcrest sound team for six years, Bob says the facility’s combination of state-of-the-art mix stages and boutique atmosphere allows him to pursue his craft without constraint. “It’s a great company,” he insists. “They let you take the ball and run. When I joined Goldcrest, I had strong ideas about how I’d like my studio to be set up, and they gave me everything I asked for. As an industry veteran, it’s exciting to be in this building.”
Bob grew up in Queens with his mom, dad and four brothers. His father Bill was a musician and a member of the doo-wop group The Capris (There’s a Moon Out Tonight). Bob didn’t follow his father’s talent in music so instead enrolled in the New York Institute of Technology where he earned a bachelor’s degree in electro/mechanical computer science.
Acting on an interest in sound, he landed his first job with Trans Audio (later Todd-AO), building the largest sound mixing studio in New York. Initially assigned to a technical role, he soon found himself under the wing of three of the film industry’s top mixers, Dick Vorisek (All That Jazz, Dog Day Afternoon), Rick Dior (Dirty Dancing, Ransom) and Richard Portman (Star Wars, The Godfather). As an additional mixer along with Dior, Bob was part of the sound team on Apollo 13, the first film mixed in New York to win an Academy Award for Sound. Bob also worked with Academy Award-winning mixer Tom Fleischman (Hugo) for many years.
“I grabbed every opportunity I could to learn from those legendary mixers,” he recalls. “How they worked with clients, how they handled dialogue, effects, and music tracks. I watched and listened and eventually trained my ear to sense when the levels were right and how a soundtrack translates to a movie theater or a television screen.”
Before long, Bob was mixing projects on his own. His many early credits include the films The Cider House Rules, Cinderella Man, Fair Game and Dude, Where’s my Car. Television series include Boardwalk Empire, Quantico, Smash and Royal Pains. He also mixed all the episodes of the classic TV series Sex and the City, earning an Emmy nomination for his work in 2000. He garnered his other Emmy nominations for the documentaries George Harrison: Living in the Material World and When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. In addition, he won a Cinema Audio Society Award for Apollo 13 alongside three additional nominations for Long Strange Trip, Escape at Dannemora and Severance.
Bob’s current projects also include And Just Like That…, HBO’s sequel to Sex and the City. “The producers called and said, ‘We’re getting the band back together and we’d like you to do the mix,’” he relates. “They were here at Goldcrest a few weeks ago,” he relates. “It was an amazing experience to be once again producing great sound with clients I’ve known for 25 years plus. It felt like a celebration!”
Bob has been married to his wonderful Liz for 33 years. They have four children, Ryan, Katie, Megan and Erin. Megan and Erin are post-production accountants at Trevanna Post.