Gary Rydstrom

Gary Roger Rydstrom (born June 29, 1959) is an American sound designer and director. He has been nominated for seventeen Academy Awards for his work in sound for movies, winning seven.

Life and career
Rydstrom was born in Chicago. He graduated from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts in 1981. He began his career at Skywalker Sound, Northern California in 1983. Offered the job by a college professor, Gary received the opportunity to work with his mentor, Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt.

After gaining invaluable experience as a sound technician in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, he went on to do sound design for the comedy Spaceballs. The sound design for Backdraft, prepared from scratch, would become the precursor for his sound for Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The original sound effects from Backdraft are constantly referenced and have been used for numerous other films including The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and Shrek.

Gary won an Academy Award for his work on Terminator 2: Judgment Day, for which he pioneered techniques still used today for creating realistic sound effects. Rydstrom also worked with Terminator 2 director James Cameron on a new 5.1 surround mix for the original Terminator.

Gary's sound work on Jurassic Park led to further innovations, as he and his team set out to create dinosaur sounds by mixing together numerous different animal vocalizations to make the audience feel as though giant bellowing prehistoric beasts surrounded them. The Oscar-winning film was the first motion picture to be presented in DTS.

He subsequently went on to work on sound for numerous films including Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report and Finding Nemo. He won an MPSE lifetime achievement award, and regularly speaks at various sound design forums sharing his extensive knowledge and enthusiasm with aspiring sound design artists.

He made his directorial debut with the Pixar short Lifted, for which he received his fourteenth Academy Award nomination. It was included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2006. His debut feature film for the studio, Newt, has been put on indefinite hold. He has also directed the Pixar short Hawaiian Vacation and the Lucasfilm animated feature Strange Magic.

Rydstrom has also served as English language director on Tales From Earthsea, Arrietty, From Up on Poppy Hill, and The Wind Rises, all four films were produced by Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli.

Selected filmography

 * Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) (re-recording mixer: 1991 & 1993 special editions) / (sound design: 1993 special edition) / (sound designer) / (sound effects recordist - uncredited)
 * Jurassic Park (1993) (re-recording mixer) / (sound design)
 * Toy Story (1995) (re-recording mixer) / (sound designer)
 * Jumanji (1995) (sound designer)
 * James and the Giant Peach (1996) (re-recording mixer) / (sound design)
 * The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) (re-recording mixer) / (sound design)
 * Hercules (1997) (re-recording mixer) / (sound designer)
 * Titanic (1997) (re-recording mixer: effects) / (sound designer - uncredited)
 * A Bug's Life (1998) (re-recording mixer) / (sound designer) / (supervising sound editor - uncredited)
 * Saving Private Ryan (1998) (re-recording mixer) / (sound designer) / (supervising sound editor - uncredited)
 * Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999) (re-recording mixer)
 * The Magical Riddle (1999) (re-recording mixer) / (sound designer) / (supervising sound editor - uncredited)
 * Toy Story 2 (1999) (re-recording mixer) / (sound designer) / (sound supervisor - uncredited)
 * X-Men (2000) (sound design consultant)
 * Star Wars T.I.E. (2000) (re-recording mixer) / (sound designer) / / (sound supervisor - uncredited) / (supervising sound editor - uncredited)
 * Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) (re-recording mixer) / (sound designer) / (sound supervisor) / (supervising sound editor - uncredited)
 * Monsters, Inc. (2001) (re-recording mixer) / (sound designer) / (supervising sound editor - uncredited)
 * Mice Tales (2001) (re-recording mixer) / (sound designer) / (sound supervisor) / (supervising sound editor - uncredited)
 * Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (2002) (re-recording mixer)
 * Finding Nemo (2003) (re-recording mixer) / (sound designer) / (supervising sound editor)
 * Jose Maldonado: The Biggest Movie Ever (2003) (re-recording mixer) / (sound designer) / (sound supervisor - uncredited) / (supervising sound editor)
 * Hulk (2003) (re-recording mixer) / (sound design)
 * Puppet Pals (2006) (sound designer) / (supervising sound editor)
 * The Adventures of Tintin (2011) (sound consultant)
 * Brave (2012) (re-recording mixer) / (sound designer)
 * Wreck-It Ralph (2012) (sound designer) / (sound supervisor - uncredited)
 * Alaina Gleen 2 (2013) (re-recording mixer) / (sound designer) / (sound supervisor - uncredited)
 * Jurassic World (2015) (consulting sound designer)
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) (re-recording mixer - uncredited) / (sound design) / (supervising sound editor - uncredited)
 * The Pixelators (2016) (re-recording mixer) / (sound designer) / (supervising sound editor)
 * Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) (consulting sound designer)
 * Puppet Pals Forever (2018) (re-recording mixer) / (sound designer)
 * Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) (sound designer)
 * Jurassic World: Dominion (2021) (sound designer)