GLENN KISER
General manager and vice president
San Francisco // 40

Just how does T2’s futuristic liquid robot sound when it morphs? Or that giant pterodactyl-dragon from Avatar when riding an updraft? The sound design artists who work with Glenn Kiser know. As general manager and vice president of Skywalker Sound, Kiser is tasked with matching film and TV projects with the artists who create moods—or whole new worlds—with sound. The projects range in size and scope from queer indie films like Shortbus, Tarnation, or Howl to behemoths like James Cameron’s new extraterrestrial blockbuster. In fact, for Avatar, Kiser matched an artist to work with Cameron, assigning him to the project for a full three years. “It can be a lot of pressure,” he admits. Deadlines are immovable, as sound artists are “often the last people to touch a project before it goes to theaters.” For that mercury-like robot in Terminator 2, Kiser’s artists found a solution in an unlikely place. The sound designer “racked his brains to find that sound,” and ultimately found it at home feeding Fido. The sound was “the dog food coming out of the can.” 5