George Watters II (born September 19, 1949) is an American retired sound editor with more than 80 feature film credits. He has won the

Academy Award for Best Sound Editing The Academy Award for Best Sound Editing was an Academy Award granted yearly to a film exhibiting the finest or most aesthetic sound design or sound editing. Sound editing is the creation of sound effects (such as foley). The award was usually ...

twice, for ''

The Hunt for Red October ''The Hunt for Red October'' is the debut novel by American author Tom Clancy, first published on October 1, 1984, by the Naval Institute Press. It depicts Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius as he seemingly goes rogue with his country's cutt ...

'' (1990) and for ''

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

'' (2001). Watters entered the film industry in 1973 as an apprentice in the Television Sound Editing Department at

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. Following his apprenticeship, he became an assistant sound editor for feature films at Paramount; in a 2012 interview, he said, "At that time I had the opportunity to work a bit in picture editing and music editing, but I found I preferred sound FX editing. Sound is sculptural, imaginative, universal and for me the most creative medium." Watters' first credit as a Supervising Sound Editor was for ''

American Hot Wax ''American Hot Wax'' is a 1978 biographical film directed by Floyd Mutrux with a screenplay by John Kaye from a story by John Kaye and Art Linson. The film tells the story of pioneering disc jockey Alan Freed, who in the 1950s helped introduce ...

'' (1978). Watters worked at Paramount Studios until 1992. In his interview, Watters singled out his long relationship with

Jerry Bruckheimer Jerome Leon Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television Film producer, producer. He has been active in the genres of Action film, action, Drama film, drama, Fantasy film, fantasy, and Science fiction film, science fi ...

. Bruckheimer produced twenty-five of the films for which Watters was the sound editor, from ''

Flashdance ''Flashdance'' is a 1983 American romantic drama dance film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Jennifer Beals as a passionate young dancer who aspires to become a professional ballerina (Alex), alongside Michael Nouri playing her boyfriend an ...

'' (1983) through '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'' (2011). In 2012, Watters received the Career Achievement Award of the

Motion Picture Sound Editors Motion Picture Sound Editors (M.P.S.E.) is an American honorary society of motion picture sound editors founded in 1953. The society's goals are to educate others about and increase the recognition of the sound editors, show the artistic merit o ...

(MPSE), which is an honorary society of sound editors based in the United States.A brief biography of Watters was published by the MPSE on the occasion of his career achievement award; see

Oscar Nominations

All of these are in

Best Sound Editing This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awa ...

. * 1986 Academy Awards-Nominated for ''

Top Gun ''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by an a ...

''. Nomination shared with

Cecelia Hall Cecelia Hall (Cece Hall) is an Oscar winning sound designer and sound editor. She was the first woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Effects Editing for ''Top Gun'' and went on to win the Oscar for ''The Hunt for Red October, ...

. Lost to ''

Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...

''. * 1990 Academy Awards-''

''. Shared with

. Won. * 1991 Academy Awards-Nominated for '' Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country''. Nomination shared with F. Hudson Miller. Lost to '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day''. * 1995 Academy Awards-Nominated for '' Crimson Tide''. Lost to ''

Braveheart ''Braveheart'' is a 1995 American historical drama film directed and produced by, and starring Mel Gibson. Gibson portrays Sir William Wallace, a late-13th century Scottish warrior who led the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence ag ...

''. * 1998 Academy Awards-Nominated for ''

Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...

''. Lost to ''

Saving Private Ryan ''Saving Private Ryan'' is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set during the Battle of Normandy in World War II, the film is known for its graphic portrayal of war, especially its depictio ...

''. * 2001 Academy Awards-''

''. Shared with

Christopher Boyes Christopher Boyes is an American sound engineer. He has won four Academy Awards and has been nominated for another ten. He has worked on more than 100 films since 1991. Academy Awards Boyes has won four Academy Awards and has been nominated for ...

. Won. * 2003 Academy Awards-Nominated for '' Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl''. Nomination shared with

. Lost to '' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World''. * 2006 Academy Awards-Nominated for '' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest''. Nomination shared with

. Lost to ''

Letters from Iwo Jima is a 2006 Japanese-language American war film directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood, starring Ken Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya. The film portrays the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers and is a companion pie ...

''.

References

External links

* American sound editors Best Sound Editing Academy Award winners Living people 1949 births {{US-film-bio-stub

Oscar Nominations

References

Further reading

External links