Meet Marc Antonio Navarro DeBlasi | Sound Mixer for TV/Film

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marc Antonio Navarro DeBlasi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marc Antonio, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
A philosophy I try to live by is the idea that we are all literally living one day at a time. I can’t change yesterday, but I can learn from it. I can only do my best to prepare for tomorrow, but I’m not there yet, and I don’t want to waste all of today thinking about tomorrow. I’m living today right now; and I’m going to do the best I can with it while I’m here. This philosophy isn’t very fiscally practical, but it helps keep me mentally grounded. I think most of us can be easily overwhelmed with everything in our lives, our friends, the world, the news, and the internet. It’s easy to dwell on the past and our mistakes. All of our preparations and dreams and goals for tomorrow can be swept away in an instant. It can help to remember that we only truly have the power to affect the moment we are living right now. What are we going to do with that power?

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My career essentially started when I was in college. I went to school to study Film, which I had decided to do at the very last minute before high school ended. I originally thought I wanted to study Video Game Design, while knowing absolutely nothing at all about it. Deciding on Film was kind of a secondary choice, but looking back it was really serendipitous because this industry combines a lot of the small interests and hobbies I was exploring all my life. I didn’t even know I wanted to be a sound mixer until the last two years of my school career. I stumbled into it by accident my Junior year when I had to replace a student who had broken their arm. The interest and passion for it grew exponentially, and ended up with me being the primary sound mixer for something like 10 out of the 13 senior thesis films that were filming for my Senior year.
After senior year, I knew confidently that sound was where my passion and interest was. Once I entered the professional workforce as a Production Assistant (PA), I spent as much time as I could watching and listening to everything the sound mixers I was working with were doing. I learned as much as I could on sets, I read as much as I could online, and I fiddled with as much gear as I could get my hands on. I had been doing indie short films as much as anyone in their early career would do, but I was also fortunate enough to be introduced to my first mentor in the sound business, Dan Walter, within my first few months working. He had enough faith in me early on to hire me as an A2, less than 6 months after I graduated college and took me under his wing for many years afterward. Dan truly got me started in the sound business, but it was Jen McGinity, the PM for a few shows I had been doing at the time, that took the time to learn that I was interested in sound, and helped me get my foot in the door with Dan. I really owe everything to those two people, as well as Christine Peskosky, my fellow FDU alumni, classmate, and friend who gave my name to Jen in the first place. Without those 3 people and those 3 connections, I have no idea where my career would have gone, if anywhere.

That in itself is a huge lesson to learn; you can’t do any of this alone. Networking, making friendships, finding mentors, and being a mentor yourself is how my industry works. It’s important to keep in mind that your business is not always just a brick and mortar building where you go and do a task, or make an object; You are your business. You are an extension of your business, especially as a small business owner, and what you do, say, and how you present yourself is going to reflect on your business.

My career did not launch into space after I got my first sound job shortly after college. I worked for perhaps 5 or 6 long, hard years full time as a PA on hundreds of sets, meeting hundreds of people across the industry and country. I packed and drove hundreds of trucks, picked up or made hundreds of cups of coffee, took out hundreds of bags of garbage, and on, and on. I worked hard, I rarely said ‘no’ to jobs, and always put one hundred percent into every job, and every task I was assigned. I did my best to make strong, personal connections with as many coworkers as I could; I made sure people knew I was to be trusted with almost any task, technical or logistical. I came to be known as reliable, handy, and capable of helping nearly every department on a set.

Throughout all those years, I was trying my best to learn as much as I could about sound, honing myself and my craft, desperately trying to get as many sound jobs as I could. I started investing in myself and my business early; purchasing and practicing with many types of professional sound gear (on a PA’s income). I used as many indie short films as I could to practice my skills, or work out technical problems. I kept asking questions, I always had my eyes open and my ear to the ground, and I learned quickly how to glean skills and techniques by watching from afar.

There came a point, however, when it looked like it wasn’t happening for me. I was years into my career, I didn’t see any noticeable gain in sound jobs, and I was beginning to get frustrated. I knew after a while that I could not be a PA any longer, and even got close to quitting the industry altogether. Then serendipity again; I was recommended to be a replacement for a respected sound mixer I had known for a few years. This was my second foot in the door. This was my next, and perhaps last, chance to break into this new world. I was lucky enough to be accepted as his replacement, and finally got the chance to work with my next mentor, Travis Breitenbach, whom I had known for a few years, but only in a PA capacity. As luck would have it, this finally was to become my big break into the professional sound world, and I was finally able to leave PA’ing behind.

The most important parts of this story I’ve recounted quickly, but they aren’t to be overlooked. Despite seemingly striking out for so many years, I never gave up on my passion for sound. I used every moment available to watch and learn, or practice and learn. I was always working towards my goal of breaking into professional sound. I never forwent an opportunity to learn anything, in any discipline. I was always asking questions, within reason, to anyone who seemed open to answering, and I was always offering help to anyone and everyone I could. It’s helpful to act like, and truly believe, that we’re all in this together, and no one person’s role is more important than another’s. We’re all part of a team.

These are probably the most important lessons I’ve learned, and what I think set me apart. Even so many years later, working professionally full time as a sound mixer, there is always more for me to learn, people to meet, and practice to be had. Learning never stops, and the moment you think you know everything you need to know, or have progressed as much as you need to, you have failed. This is what I believe sets me apart; my goal is always to keep learning, keep helping, and keep committing to myself and my craft. Most importantly, the longer I’m in the workforce, the more I realize that personality and demeanor is almost more important than skill. Skill is hugely important, and I like to think I have it, and that I do my work exceptionally. However, skill only goes so far after 5 consecutive, 14 hour, sweaty hard working days. Skill gets you through the work, but personality is what keeps you on the show and gets you the next one. I will always have room to improve, and I will always keep trying to.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in the New Jersey/New York City metro area, so there is so much to be said about having some fun here. New Jersey has has incredible food and drink close to the city in an area called “Grove Street,” or the Historic Downtown in Jersey City, as well as the famous Hoboken. In Grove Street I would check out “Razza” an artisan pizzeria. In Hoboken, I’m a huge fan of “Mamoun’s Falafel,” “O’Bagel,” and of course I would be remiss not to go to “Carlos’ Bakery” for some sweet treats (though I might be biased, having worked on a lot of Buddy Valastro’s TV shows). In NYC, my favorite pizzeria is “John’s of Bleecker Street.” Aside from food, you can’t visit NYC for the first time and not see things like the 9/11 memorial, The Highline, Grand Central Station, and take a (quick) peek at Times Square. If you were feeling really adventurous, I would take you to Cape May in New Jersey, which is a shore town and at the cape of NJ along the Atlantic. I call that place, especially the downtown, my “happy place,” it is incredibly serene. Regardless of where we went, its the food that calls me, so I’d probably focus a lot on that.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people who deserve A LOT of credit and recognition for my story. I simply would not be here without the help, mentorship, tutelage, and compassion from people like my parents, my teachers and professors, my friends/family, co-workers, mentors, etc. If I could name them all, we would run out of type. If I had to choose one over all, it would have to be my parents, who truly always encouraged me to do what I thought was right, even if it scared them or they couldn’t see the vision. They trusted me to trust myself, and they were the first people in this world to show me that courage.

Next to my parents, there are 4 people who truly got me to where I am and I will forever be indebted to; Dan Walter, my first mentor in the business, Jen McGinity who cared enough to introduce me to Dan, Christine Peskosky who cared enough to introduce me to Jen, and Travis Breitenbach, another mentor and a great friend.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madsoundservices/

Other: My IMDB page: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7011121/

Image Credits
Steven Thomas