2019 graduate enjoying the sweet sounds of success as a Hollywood sound editor

Christopher Pentecost, BSC ’19, is seen inside Ohio University’s Schoonover Center 448, the MDIA Sound Post-Production and Listening Lab, where he spent countless hours as an undergraduate mastering the skill of creating and editing the mosaic of sounds that bring stories to life.

Christopher Pentecost, BSC ’19, spent countless hours as an undergraduate in Ohio University’s Schoonover Center 448, tucked away from the sounds of the outside world as he mastered the skill of creating and editing the mosaic of sounds that bring stories to life. Just one year after graduating, Pentecost is working in the entertainment capital of the world and enjoying the sweet sound of success.

Like the harmonies of ambient sound, dialogue and music he blends to immerse audiences in a film, Pentecost’s road to success is rooted in timing, tenacity and talent, weaving together resources and opportunities that have taken him from Athens to Hollywood.

It all started in the fall of 2015 when Pentecost began studying integrated media in the Scripps College of Communication’s School of Media Arts and Studies (MDIA). The start of his academic journey coincided with the opening of OHIO’s Schoonover Center, a state-of-the-art building that houses all five schools within the Scripps College and WOUB Public Media.

Pentecost quickly found a home inside Schoonover Center 448, the MDIA Sound Post-Production and Listening Lab, one of three audio facilities where OHIO students finetune their skills in sound creation, mixing and editing.

“I had a couple of classes in the Post-Production and Listening Lab, but I actually spent a lot of time outside of class in there, working alongside friends, playing with the mixing board and doing projects on our own,” Pentecost said from his home in Los Angeles. “We got real hands-on experience and were able to see what worked and didn’t work. Seeing what didn’t work was huge because when you start your career, a lot of times, you don’t really have the opportunity to fail and have no consequences. I stayed busy during my time at OU just practicing sound – and it went a long way to help once I got out here.”

It’s those kinds of experiences that the Schoonover Center’s audio studios were designed to foster.

“It gives our students the opportunity to try things out,” Eddie Ashworth, an associate professor in the School of Media Arts and Studies, said of the audio studios. “A very, very important part about becoming a creative is trying out ideas, seeing what works and what doesn’t and learning from your successes as well as your failures. We really encourage students to be as active as possible while they’re here.”

In designing the Schoonover Center’s audio studios, the University commissioned internationally renowned studio designer John Storyk of the Walters-Storyk Design Group whose road to audio fame began in 1969 when he designed Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios in New York City.

Storyk designed the MDIA Sound Post-Production and Listening Lab, a digitally based studio centered around a Nuage control surface that is commonly used in the post-production audio industry and is set up to monitor in 5.1 surround sound, a format widely used in movie theaters for surround sound effects. One of the highlights of the lab is a 9-pit Foley suite where students use everyday objects to create sound effects.

“This isn’t stuff you learn from a book,” Ashworth said. “Sure, there are theoretical concepts, historical concepts, aesthetic concepts that are very important to one’s ability to reach one’s potential in the workplace, but nothing replaces making things. Our spaces allow students to work on their craft and to create content that they can use for their portfolios moving forward.”

Just one year after graduating from Ohio University, Christopher Pentecost, BSC ’19, is a sound editor at Burbank, California-based Esho Sound, was nominated for a Motion Picture Sound Editors’ Golden Reel Award and worked on an Oscar-winning short film.

That’s exactly what Pentecost did on the Athens Campus, seeking out opportunities to work on audio projects that he hoped would give him a leg-up in the film industry. He helped with sound production on some of the School of Music’s events and landed his first experiences in film production through a year-long course (MDIA 419: Productions) in which teams of students produce short films in their entirety. While working on those films, Pentecost seized the opportunity to gain experience in pre-production, production and post-production.

In fact, it was those on-campus opportunities combined with OHIO’s experiential learning programs that drew Pentecost to Ohio University.

“For me, it was all about those things that were geared toward helping you outside of school and helping you prepare for once you graduate,” Pentecost said. “I saw how alumni from the media school were working at these big media and production companies, and I thought OHIO’s integrated media program would be the best place to put me on a path toward that – and so far, it’s done that, which is really cool.”

Pentecost built his own path by carefully constructing a course load that culminated with him participating in Ohio University’s OHIO-in-LA program, a semester-long immersive learning experience in which students live and work in Hollywood’s media and creative industries. Pentecost participated in the program the spring semester of his senior year, learning from and networking with professionals in the industry in the months leading up to graduation.

His OHIO-in-LA experience not only reaffirmed his passion for working in film but landed a full-time job with the company he interned with, Esho Sound.

Today, he is a sound editor at Esho Sound. Pentecost’s credits include major motion pictures like “Apollo: Missions to the Moon,” which earned him and his colleagues a nomination for the Motion Picture Sound Editors’ Golden Reel Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing and “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile,” a Netflix film about the life of serial killer Ted Bundy, played by actor Zac Efron.

“It’s really cool,” Pentecost said of the opportunities he’s had to work in the film industry. “It’s something that I always looked to do and wanted to work toward, and I really honestly didn’t see it happening so soon.”

Pentecost’s role at Esho Sound also led to his involvement with Six Point Harness, a Los Angeles-based animation studio that was looking to collaborate with a sound team on the short film “Hair Love.”

Pentecost was chosen to produce sound effects and record and edit some of the Foley for the seven-minute film. At the time, it was just another project that Pentecost was eager to work on. Now, it is an Oscar Award-winning Best Animated Short Film, which Pentecost gets to proudly claim credits on.

“It’s a weird feeling for sure, but it’s also really exciting,” he said. “This year gave me a lot of momentum for the work that I’m going to be doing from now on because it sets a precedent for everything that I do, and I want everything to be on that level.”

Pentecost admits that as a new graduate he faced a lot of insecurity and uncertainty when entering the industry, but the experience he gained on campus and through Ohio University have positioned him for success. As he works on new projects with National Geographic and Quibi, a new streaming service, he feels confident that he can rely on the skills and network he gained at OHIO and hopes current students use their time on campus to strengthen their talents as well.

His advice to the Bobcats following in his footsteps?

• “Just work on stuff. Whether it’s in class, whether it’s out of class, get all the experience you can.”
• “Utilize those studios and the tools that the School of Media Arts and Studies offers. You won’t always have free access to that stuff, so use it while you have it.”
• “Don’t be afraid to fail there because it’s better to do that there.”
• “Don’t be afraid to reach out to alumni, big or small. There was a lot of push to do that – to reach out to people working in the industry. I think as a student that seems kind of like a daunting thing. There are so many people out here that are willing to help and that want to help students.”

To read about two OHIO alumni who are rising stars in the field of visual effects, click here.