Skywalker Sound is the sound effects, sound editing, sound design, sound mixing and music recording division of George Lucas' Lucas Digital motion picture group. Its main facilities are located at Skywalker Ranch in Lucas Valley, near Nicasio, California. It began as Sprocket Systems in San Anselmo, California and its name officially changed to Skywalker Sound in 1987 after the company moved to Skywalker Ranch.
While located in San Anselmo, Sprocket Systems came into contact with the local residents from time to time. For instance, Kentfield resident Pat Welsh was "discovered" while shopping at a camera store and went on to provide the voice for E.T.. During the sound recording of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harrison Ford could be spied practicing his bullwhip technique in the parking lot.
Sprocket Systems moved from San Anselmo following a disastrous flood in January 1982.
Its staff of sound designers and re-recording mixers have either won or been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound and Best Sound Editing every year since Star Wars in 1977 (in that year Ben Burtt was given a Special Achievement Award, since the category for Sound Editing had not yet been established).
Mixing stages, editorial services and scoring stages are all located in a central 'Tech Building', with dining areas and living quarters in the vicinity but separate from the main work area.
Richard Beggs – Galaxy Quest, Bugsy, Red Knot, Lost in Translation
Tom Bellfort (1980's–2005) – The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Titanic, XXX: State of the Union, Frequency, Hart's War, Volcano
Steve Bissinger – Despicable Me, La Source, Ain't Them Bodies Saints, Frank & Lola
Steve Boeddeker – Monkeybone, Hart's War, Hellboy, All Is Lost, Frequency, Naqoyqatsi, The Divergent Series: Allegiant
Jeremy Bowker – Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, Inside Out, 9, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Red Tails
Christopher Boyes – Titanic, Pearl Harbor (supervising sound editor), Volcano, Titan A.E., Iron Man, Jurassic Park, Armageddon
Ben Burtt – Star Wars, Young Indiana Jones: Attack of the Hawkmen, Wings (2012 re-release), The A-List, WALL-E, Indiana Jones
Bob Edwards – The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Fruitvale Station
Frank Eulner – Supervising Sound Editor – Bolt, XXX: State of the Union, Cowboys and Aliens, Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean, Twisted; Sound Designer – Lions for Lambs, Sound Design and Supervising Sound Editor – Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation; Sound Effects Editor – Volcano, Mars Attacks!; Sound Effects Editor/Assistant Sound Designer – Backdraft; Supervising Sound Editor/Designer Lilo and Stitch, Armageddon
Andre Fenley – Assistant Supervising Sound Editor – Bolt, Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (sound effects editor), Mars Attacks! (assistant sound editor), Saving Private Ryan (supervising sound assistant), Fanny, Annie and Danny (supervising sound editor)
Ryan J. Frias – Re-Recording Mixer & Sound Editor – Star Wars Rebels (Season 1); Digital Editorial Services
Richard Hymns – Supervising Sound Editor – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Hulk, Mars Attacks!; Sound Effects Editor – Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Hellion, Avengers: Age of Ultron
Leslie Ann Jones – Director of Scoring and Music Recording
J.R. Grubbs – Bolt, Hoodwinked!, Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean, Jurassic Park, Baby's Day Out, The Adventures of Tintin
Scott Guitteau – Pearl Harbor, Bolt, Forrest Gump, Volcano, Pitch Black, Armageddon
Lora Hirschberg – Re-recording mixer – Titanic, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Dark Knight, Inception, Monkeybone; Dialogue Freshener – Bum's Paradise; Audio Print Mastering – Sentenced Home; Sound Design and Mixing – Blessed is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh; Sound Designer/Supervising Sound Editor – The Dog
Pete Horner – Jurassic World, Hemingway and Gellhorn, Rio, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Ren Klyce – The Game, Se7en, Oblivion, The Boxtrolls, Inside Out
Casey Langfelder – Hemingway and Gellhorn, Iron Man 2, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Dennis Leonard – The Iron Giant, Free Birds, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, What Lies Beneath, The Polar Express, 500 Nations, Despicable Me
Michael Levine – Digital Transfer; Restoration and Library Services – Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Scott Levine – Digital Editorial Services
Tom Myers – Quest for Camelot, Hoodwinked! The Dust Factory, Cars, Toy Story 3, The Mexican, The Sky Crawlers, Toy Story of Terror, Up, THX 1138 (2004 Director's Cut), Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean, Armageddon, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood
Al Nelson – Book of Dragons, Jurassic World, Paragraph 175, ADR1FT, Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean, Bully, A New York Heartbeat, A Town Has Turned to Dust
Tim Nielsen – Monkeybone, John Carter, Finding Dory, Moana
Steve Orlando – Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, Jurassic World, Rio, Unearthing the Dream
David Peifer – Digital Editorial Services
Juan Peralta – Oblivion, Titan A.E.
Gary A. Rizzo – Sea of Dreams, Major Damage, The Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition, Inception, Daybreak Berlin, Minions, The Divergent Series: Allegiant
Gary Rydstrom – Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Titanic, Single White Female, My Family, Jurassic Park, Jurassic World, Super 8, Bully, Mrs. Doubtfire
Chris Scarabosio – Gumby Adventures, Despicable Me, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Titan A.E., Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
Michael Semanick – Re-recording mixer – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, King Kong, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, Toy Story 3, Cars 2, There Will Be Blood, Monkeybone
Michael Silvers – The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Monsters, Inc., Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Incredibles
Mac Smith – Osmosis Jones, Free Birds, Hoodwinked!, Scout's Honor: Inside a Marching Brotherhood, The Peanuts Movie
Gary Summers – Raiders of the Lost Ark, Toy Story of Terror, The Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition
Randy Thom – Forrest Gump, The Incredibles, The Polar Express, Ratatouille, Ghost in the Shell 2.0, Bolt, The Sky Crawlers, The Iron Giant, The Croods, Osmosis Jones, Return of the Jedi, The Empire Strikes Back, Apocalypse Now, The Peanuts Movie
Ethan Van der Ryn – My Family, Saving Private Ryan, Pearl Harbor, X-Men, Armageddon
Gwendolyn Yates Whittle – Rio, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, The Peanuts Movie, A New York Heartbeat (sound godmother)
Bonnie Wild – Re-Recording Mixer & Sound Editor – Star Wars Rebels (Season 2); Assistant Re-Recording Mixer, Digital Editorial Services
Dug Winningham – Fight Club, Inherent Vice, The Little Prince, The Birth of a Nation, The BFG
Matthew Wood – Titan A.E., Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Revenge of the Sith, The Master, Red Tails, Star Trek: Into Darkness, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Alchemy (1995), Night of the Black Widow; Assistant Sound Designer – Eraser, Armageddon, Con Air, The Rock, Volcano; Sound Designer – Adventures in Animation 3D, Armageddon, The Divergent Series: Allegiant
Many of these people started working in post production sound at The Saul Zaentz Film Center and American Zoetrope, and have worked or still work in conjunction with Skywalker Sound. Dennie Thorpe for example started on Apocalypse Now as an apprentice sound editor at the Saul Zaentz Film Center before working there and later Skywalker Sound as a foley artist.
Sprocket Systems was a sound editing, sound FX, sound design and sound mixing company established by George Lucas. In 1987, the crew moved to the Skywalker Ranch, and changed the name to Skywalker Sound.
Skywalker Sound hires anywhere from 80 to 160 employees (depending on workload), and provides sound and music production services for movies, commercials, TV, IMAX and other large format films, theme park attractions, and video games. Their scoring stage records and mixes music ranging from solo piano pieces to works using full 130-piece orchestras. Each year, they work on 20 to 30 different films; since 2014 they've worked on more or less 100 projects. They've won a total of 18 Academy Awards.
