From director Amy Poehler, Lucy and Desi explores the unlikely partnership and enduring legacy of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The Prime Video documentary received six Emmy nominations, including recognition in the “Documentary” category, along with those for “Directing,” “Picture Editing,” “Writing,” “Music Composition” and “Sound Editing.”
Co-supervising sound editor Anthony Vanchure was part of a team that also included co-supervising sound editor Daniel Pagan, sound effects editor Mike James Gallagher, music editor Jason Tregoe Newman and music editor Bryant Furhman.
"Getting to work on Lucy and Desi was such an honor,” says Vanchure. “My job as co-supervising sound editor was to help oversee all sound elements of the film. With the help of my co-supervisor, Daniel Pagan, and our FX editor, Mike James Gallagher, we worked hard to achieve the vision of our director, Amy Poehler.”
Lucy and Desi consists of many elements, and Vanchure’s main focus was to improve the clarity of the dialogue while also preserving the archival audio as much as possible.
“The documentary used many different sources of audio throughout, from old analog home recording equipment to old broadcast tapes,” he recalls. “Cleaning up tape hiss, crackle, dropouts and various hums was crucial to making the dialogue intelligible.”
Vanchure says he used a wide variety of plug-ins, from the Waves Broadcast & Production bundle to Izotope’s RX 9 Advanced, to help preserve the audio.
“I’m so proud of the work our sound team was able to accomplish on Lucy and Desi. To help tell the story of these two icons was such a joy."
“Growing up watching I Love Lucy, then working on the documentary about Lucy and Desi is a dream come true,” adds Daniel Pagan. “They were both such an inspiration and part of the reason I am working in the industry today. Anthony…did an amazing job with the dialogue. We had to work with footage from different formats, eras and conditions. It was important to have the dialogue sound clean and continuous. Listening to the dialogue before and after it’s truly a work of art. Having this foundation made it easier to add music and sound effects. Mike James Gallagher did a very tasteful job with the sound effects, creating soundscapes for the silent archival footage and enhancing the prerecorded audio, while keeping the feel for the time.”