Neil Hillman

Early life

Neil Hillman was born in Sutton Coldfield in 1960. He began his career as an electronics engineer with American machine tool manufacturer Cincinnati Milacron. After completing his apprenticeship he graduated from the University of Aston in Industrial Electronics and Instrumentation in 1981, after previously studying Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at Matthew Boulton College and North Birmingham Polytechnic (now Birmingham City University).

Career

After completing his foundation degree and apprenticeship in Electrical Engineering, Hillman joined the Midlands-based Central Independent Television in 1982 as a sound technician, working on all aspects of broadcast audio. He left Central TV in 1989 to work as a freelance location Sound Recordist, Dubbing Mixer and Broadcast Sound Supervisor. During this time he contributed regularly to long-running BBC TV series', including The Antiques Roadshow (where he introduced stereo location recording to the programme), travelled extensively overseas to record sound for programmes such as Tomorrow's World and Top Gear, and recorded and mixed choral music on location for Songs of Praise.

In 1999 Hillman was invited to join Optical Image, a growing UK video post-production company, in a new position as Head of Sound. Hillman set up the post-production sound department for a joint animation venture with Mike Young Productions, Butt Ugly Martians; a 26-part production where Hillman worked alongside Producer Bill Schultz, better known at this time for his role as a Producer on US animation hits The Simpsons and King of the Hill. Hillman was the Sound Designer and re-recording mixer for the entire Butt Ugly Martians series, collaborating with multiple-Emmy winning Sound Editor, Rick Hinson MPSE on episodes 1 and 2.

Between 2000 and 2001, he both location recorded and then audio post-produced a four-part series for Discovery, called Beyond The Horizon, which documented a year in the lives of a group of RAF pilots as they attempted to qualify for the elite Red Arrows display team. The year spent working alongside such excellence, Hillman later said, would irrevocably focus his determination and commitment to achieve similar levels of quality and professionalism in his own work.

Hillman left Optical Image in 2002 to form his own audio post-production studios, The Audio Suite. Between 2002 and 2012, The Audio Suite worked as preferred audio suppliers to All3Media, the UK's largest television Production Group, and they were also suppliers to the terrestrial channels of BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel Five and the digital channels BBC Three, BBC Four, ITV4, National Geographic and Discovery. During this time Hillman and The Audio Suite worked on some of the most popular shows on UK television, including Channel Five's The Gadget Show, as well as contributing ADR (also known as dubbing) to prestigious TV dramas such as Spooks, Hustle and Survivors for the BBC.

Also during this period, Hillman passed the 500 IMDb (Internet Movie Database) credit mark and worked as the Sound Designer and Re-recording mixer on feature films including The 13th Day (for which he was awarded a World Medal for Sound Design at the 2010 New York Film Festival), The Mandrake Root, The Craftsman (a finalist in the 2013 New York Film Festival best soundtrack category), Handle With Care (the film earned two Royal Television Society awards: Best Production Skills for Hillman's soundtrack and Best Short Film), Money Kills, and contributed ADR services to film productions such as Director Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, (re-recording the dialogue of the character Tad Lincoln, played by Gulliver McGrath) for DreamWorks, New York I Love You, (re-recording Oscar-winning actress Julie Christie with Director Shekhar Kapur, who took the Directorial reins following the untimely death of the original Director Anthony Minghella) and Grace of Monaco.

In 2012, Hillman transitioned The Audio Suite from a large commercial work-for-hire post-production facility, with a large city-centre studio complex, to a smaller, bespoke Sound Design practice with in-house studios, where he currently works as a Broadcast Sound and Post-Production Consultant.

Current Work

After transitioning The Audio Suite into a smaller and more agile Sound Design practice, two of Hillman's initial projects were the sound design and mixing of Film Director Pip Piper's musical documentary Last Shop Standing, featuring British musicians Paul Weller, Johnny Marr, Norman Cook, Clint Boon, Richard Hawley and Billy Bragg, which went on to earn a maximum 5-star review in Q magazine; and the sound design, sound editing and mixing of Director Lisle Turner's feature film Here And Now, with final mixing taking place at the legendary AIR studios (Associated Independent Recording), London.

He has recently contributed to a number of television shows and features, including Star Wars Rebels for Disney in the US, and Doctor Who, The Only Way Is Essex, Death Comes to Pemberley, Doc Martin and Peaky Blinders in the UK.

Through the Audio Suite's Sound Design practice, he is also regularly engaged by marketing agencies and commercial production companies to help with the promotion of national and international brands.

As well as his operational work of sound designing, editing and mixing, Hillman consults to Production Companies and Broadcasters on strategic planning for projects with complex workflow and delivery requirements, with clients such as the Olympic Broadcasting Services and UEFA. He worked as an Audio Mixer and as Commentary Control Liaison at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, the Foreign Commentary Broadcast Liaison (CCR) for the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final and was the sound supervisor for Boxing at the 2014 XX Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Writing and Publications

In 1997 Hillman started writing articles regularly for the industry-leading audio magazine Studio Sound, as well as other industry titles including Audio Media, TVB Europe, Line Up and Stage and Screen, and occasionally for mainstream publications such as BBC Top Gear magazine.

In 2001 Hillman was asked to become a member of a small team of writers for a new professional audio magazine called Resolution, assembled by ex-Studio Sound Editor Zenon Schoepe. Hillman went on to contribute regularly to 'Resolution' magazine for over ten years, commencing with its first issue, writing on modern sound production and reviewing equipment.

His first book, Journeyman, was published in October 2013 and is a retrospective view of the most significant decade of digital development (2000 - 2010) in the professional audio-for-picture sector.

Research and Teaching

In 2010 Hillman commenced a part-time Ph.D. by Practice within the University of York’s Department of Theatre, Film and Television (TFTV), researching ‘Emotion in Sound Design’ under the Supervision of Dr. Sandra Pauletto. His research involves the Emotion of Sound Design and how sound designers may determine and predict how an audience will react to certain audio stimuli when these are used to support and enhance moving pictures. He is a member of the TFTV Sound Design research group, under the leadership of Dr. Sandra Pauletto.

His Ph.D. research has resulted in three academic papers so far. ‘The Craftsman: the use of sound design to elicit emotions’ was presented at the University of Ulster's Cinesonika 3 conference in February 2013, and in July 2013 Hillman presented ‘Organic and free-range sound design’ at the University of York's International Sound Symposium. Both papers have subsequently been published, with 'Organic and free range Sound Design' published by Edinburgh University Press in edition 4.2 of The New Soundtrack and ‘The Craftsman: the use of sound design to elicit emotions’ published by Intellect in edition 7.1 of The Soundtrack. In March 2016 ‘Audio Imagineering: Utilising the Four Sound Areas Framework for Emotive Sound Design within Contemporary Audio Post-production’ was published by Edinburgh University Press in edition 6.1 of The New Soundtrack.

As part of his wider academic work he is an enthusiastic supporter of new talent and regularly teaches undergraduate, postgraduate and Continuing Professional Development theory and practical sessions at the University of York. He has also lectured in Film Production at Staffordshire University and the University of Gloucester; and in Sound for Film and Video at the School of Digital Media Technology at Birmingham City University (BCU), where he is a member of BCU’s School of Digital Media Technology Industrial Advisory Board. As an invited international speaker, he has delivered workshops at SAE Brisbane and Queensland University of Technology.

Awards and recognition

In 2008 Hillman sound designed the short film Steamy Windows for UK production company ST16, which won the New York Film Festival Gold Medal and the IVCA Gold Award. That same year, The Audio Suite were nominated for a high-profile Conch award in the TV Facility of the Year category

In 2010, he was recognized by The Royal Television Society when he was bestowed with their 'Best Production Craft Skills' Award for his work on the feature film Handle With Care He also received the New York Festivals Film and Television Festival World Medal for his Sound Design on the feature film The 13th Day in 2010. and was a Finalist in 2013 for his work on The Craftsman. Hillman has contributed to many other award winning films and programmes.

Neil Hillman is a member of the prestigious Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) society. He was proposed for membership by Rick Hinson, the President of the American academy of Motion Picture Sound Editors, a friendship from when they worked together on Butt Ugly Martians.

He is also a regularly invited member of the New York Festivals Grand Jury, working with other international award-winning Directors, Producers, Writers and Sound professionals to judge entries to the festival

Personal life

Neil Hillman operates from studios in Birmingham, UK and Brisbane, Australia. He is married to Heather, who is the joint Managing Director of The Audio Suite and occasional voice actress.

He is a keen guitar player and composed, recorded and played the music for StorySmyth Tales - a series of six animated films for young children: Scruff Sheep, Pond Goose, Little by Little, Little Apple Goat, Just Like Tonight and Hurry Up And Slow Down.

He is an experienced sailor, motorcyclist and racketball player and has practised Wadō-ryū karate since his early teens. He is a Senpei at Team Blackbelt

Selected Work

Film

Television