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William Gazecki

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William Gazecki
NationalityAmerican
OccupationFilmmaker
Known forFilm director, sound mixer
Notable workWaco: The Rules of Engagement

William Gazecki is a documentary filmmaker and former sound mixer best known for his Academy Award-nominated  and News & Documentary Emmy Award winning  film Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997). The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, was awarded the International Documentary Association's Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award, and won awards at both the Melbourne International Film Festival and the Vancouver International Film Festival.

t (1997).[1]

Background

Early documentary projects include the 5-part Lessons in Technical Remote Viewing, produced in 1998 for self-proclaimed "PsySpy" and former Army Intelligence Major Ed Dames, and a 4-part instructional series on Chi Gong with Yo San University graduate Linda Modaro. Prior to that, his The Natural Solutions, produced with Susan Stafford for PBS broadcast in 1993 related to FDA attempts to regulate vitamins and health food supplements. He followed WACO: The Rules of Engagement  with the feature-length documentary Reckless Indifference (2000), produced with Chip Rosenbloom, about a group of American teens wrongly convicted and sentenced to Life in Prison Without Parole, using an outdated statute commonly referred to as the "Felony/Murder Rule". Reckless Indifference won a Golden Satellite Award from the International Press Academy, and was broadcast extensively on the Starz Channel.

Gazecki's Crop Circles: Quest for Truth, released theatrically in 2002, is an examination of crop circles. The film won Best Documentary at the Thomas Edison Film Festival, and was broadcast on the SciFi Channel. His next release, Invisible Ballots (2004), produced for libertarian G. Edward Griffin and featuring activist Bev Harris, presented a critical examination of the issues surrounding electronic voting technology. Around this time he co-produced radio and TV spots for Aaron Russo in Aaron's bid to be elected Governor of Nevada. He also spent close to a year shooting the multipart educational series Energy From the Vacuum  featuring Tom Bearden and John Bedini. Energy From the Vacuum  includes on-screen demonstration of technology originally conceived by Nikola Tesla

He has partnered with LeVar Burton on a series for PBS entitled The Science of Peace, and in 2006 completed Future by Design, a feature-length profile of Jacque Fresco, known for The Venus Project. In 2007, he was completing Behind the Masks: The Story of the Screen Actors Guild, a 4-part, 5-hour documentary mini-series for the SAG Foundation. In 2008 William was asked to help complete the environmental documentary Vanishing of the Bees, which concerns colony collapse syndrome. That year he also filmed reclusive record producer Phil Spector for a documentary on the late John Lennon. In late 2014, the filmic biography of world-renowned vaudeville impressaria Sophie Tucker, the Last of the Red Hot Mamas, was theatrically released.

William's early days began in a music recording studio with Liberace and Andy Williams. Following that was a recording and touring stint with classic rocker Joe Cocker (Luxury You Can Afford), aided by Sax-man Bobby Keys and Woodstock producer Michael Lang. During this period he also worked with Pure Prairie League (Takin' the Stage), Jesse Colin Young (American Dreams), The Cate Brothers (The Cate Brothers Band), Nick Gilder (You Know Who You Are), Richie Furay (Dance a Little Light), and Jackie De Shannon (You're the Only Dancer), as well as a brief stint with record producer Richard Perry on the Leo Sayer album Endless Flight. The peak of his years producing music was collaborating with Paul A. Rothchild, who William considers his most memorable and respected mentor. Together, Rothchild and Gazecki completed The Rose (with Bette Midler), and two albums for The Doors (Alive She Cried and Greatest Hits, Volume II). They also produced actress/singer Katey Sagal's earliest solo recordings.

Gazecki came to documentary filmmaking in 1991 after a multiple Emmy Award career in post-production sound mixing for film and television on such productions as The Rose, Dune, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere (for which he was a co-recipient of an Emmy Award for sound mixing in 1986), Moonlighting, thirtysomething, and In the Heat of the Night. Gazecki also received awards for sound mixing from both the Cinema Audio Society (CAS) and the Motion Picture Sound Editors society (MPSE), and several Gold and Platinum albums.

In 2005 William became a member of the Directors Guild of America (DGA), and immediately began serving on the Documentary Selection Committee which determines the recipient of the DGA Documentary Award. In 2009 he was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and serves on a similar Screening Committee to select the nominees for the Oscar for Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Filmmaking. William resides in California.

Record production and sound mixing

Much of Gazecki's career was in post-production sound mixing for film and television productions including St. Elsewhere (for which he was a co-recipient of an Emmy Award for sound mixing in 1986).[2] Gazecki received awards for sound mixing from both the Cinema Audio Society (CAS) and the Motion Picture Sound Editors society (MPSE), and several gold and platinum albums.[citation needed]

Director

Gazecki directed The Natural Solutions, produced with Susan Stafford for PBS broadcast in 1993 related to FDA attempts to regulate vitamins and health food supplements.[citation needed] In 1997, Waco: The Rules of Engagement premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was awarded the International Documentary Association's Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award, and won awards at both the Melbourne International Film Festival and the Vancouver International Film Festival as well as an Emmy.[1][3]

In 2000 he followed Waco with the documentary Reckless Indifference[4] about a group of American teenagers sentenced to life in prison without parole under the felony murder rule. Gazecki directed 2002's Crop Circles: Quest for Truth.[5]

In 2004 he co-produced campaign advertisements for Aaron Russo's Nevada gubernatorial campaign.

Gazecki is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[citation needed]

Filmography

As sound mixer

Year Title Notes
1986 St Elsewhere Emmy award for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series[6]

As director

Year Title Notes
1997 Waco: The Rules of Engagement News & Documentary Emmy Award, Outstanding Investigative Journalism
2000 Reckless Indifference Golden Satellite Award[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ a b Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997) at IMDb
  2. ^ "Primetime Emmy Award Database". Emmys.com. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
  3. ^ Reavis, Dick J. "The Slow Burn". www.austinchronicle.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  4. ^ "www.recklessindifference.com/". www.recklessindifference.com/. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
  5. ^ "Crop Circles: Quest for Truth". cropcirclesthemovie.com. Retrieved 2015-06-25.
  6. ^ "38th Primetime Emmys Nominees and Winners – Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
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