Brian Vessa is a dedicated audio professional with over 40 years of experience in
the industry. After graduating from UCLA Engineering school, he became a
recording engineer, producing albums and recording orchestras. His passion was
hot-rodding studio gear and discovering novel recording techniques. Brian
transitioned into film post as a music editor and sound editor, became a rerecording
mixer at Cannon Films and MGM, then handled audio restoration at NT
Audio. He was hired by Sony Pictures in 1998, and until his recent retirement
was their Executive Director of Digital Audio Mastering and representative to
DCI, chairing the DCI Technical Committee several times during his tenure.
Brian is a member of the AMPAS Sound Branch, AES, and is a Fellow of
SMPTE. He is the founding chair of the SMPTE TC-25CSS Technology
Committee on Cinema Sound Systems and was a key player in standardizing the
IAB (Immersive Audio Bitstream) distribution format for Cinema and IMF as well
as a host of other standards. As one of the founding fathers of IMF, Brian was a
member of the original committee that conceived and wrote the Digital Video
Package (“DVP”) specification, and continued that work with SMPTE to create
the IMF specifications suite. He was instrumental in the early adoption of IMF at
Sony Pictures, advancing the move from tape to digital mastering. Brian has also
written many independent audio specifications, including a white paper on
nearfield mixing for home theater that has been widely adopted.
Brian enjoys recording jazz, rock, and mixing live sound. He is a drummer and
keyboardist in the LA area, an avid backpacker, and an award-winning home
wine and beer maker.