I had the opportunity to interview sound designer, re-recording mixer, and supervising sound editor Grant Meuers on his most recent work, The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster, as well as many of his other notable credits including The Voyeurs and Harley. We were able to touch on many milestones throughout his career journey ranging from childhood favorite films and his start in the industry, to his first supervising sound editing credit. Grant opened up about his collaborative process with his creative team on ‘The Angry Black Girl’ as well as what it’s like to work with people multiple times in the industry, and build positive connections. Keep reading to find out more about his work and impact in the industry.
Since we are a horror site, we have to ask – What were some of your favorite scary movies growing up?
It’s funny, despite being a huge horror fan now, it’s not something I was very exposed to as a kid, and so a lot of my early horror experiences were through things that were horror-adjacent, especially horror-comedy. The Scary Movie franchise and Shaun of the Dead were big for me. In the animation realm, Miyazaki’s Spirited Away absolutely terrified me as a child, and I loved everything Scooby Doo, which while not being explicitly scary, always dealt with horror tropes and figures, and I think looking back kind of served as a gateway for me to explore the genre as I got older. The American version of The Ring, however, somehow slipped through the cracks, and scared the hell out of me. That movie’s incredible, and absolutely holds up to this day.
Grant Meuers, PC Trevor Stephens
Where did you get your start in the industry?
My first job in the industry was at a studio called Hacienda Post, which does post sound for primarily animated television. As a fan of their work, I cold called them when I was in college, and somehow convinced them to start an internship! I spent a few years there, moving up to an assistant sound editor position after I graduated. I got to be a part of shows I really adore like Steven Universe and Adventure Time, and learned a lot from the very talented people who worked there like Tony Orozco. I eventually left to venture into the freelance world and start my own company, but I’m very grateful to the owner Tim Borquez and studio manager Melissa Waters for giving me that first opportunity.
I’m also eternally grateful to my friend and frequent collaborator Jackie! Zhou, who showed me the sound ropes in college, and helped me secure some of my earliest clients when I made that leap after leaving Hacienda. She’s a director as well, and her new short film Order for Pickup, which I did the sound for, just premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival! I wouldn’t have a career without her.
Your most recent credit, The Angry Black Girl and her Monster, features an innovative first-time Director, Bomani Story, and up-and-coming star, Laya Hayes. What was it like working alongside them, and how did each of you collaborate?
I think they’re both incredible artists and even more so, wonderful people. My collaboration with Laya was primarily in her ADR and voiceover session, which she absolutely crushed. She’s ridiculously talented and a consummate professional, any given take she did could’ve been the one we used. Some actors don’t do too well in a recording booth, having to return to a character sometimes months after shooting and divorced from the set, their costumes and other actors, all the things that might help them get in the right mindset. It’s a difficult thing. But she has extensive experience with voiceover for animation, and she, and frankly, everyone in the cast, blew me away with their work in the ADR booth. She gave us some amazing screams in there too, I think this was her first foray into horror, but she has the makings of a real Scream Queen! Just bloodcurdling stuff. I think her performance is really beautiful and layered in this film, and I hope people notice and start casting her in everything, her agent’s phone better be ringing off the hook!
Bomani and I have been working together for many years now, and we have developed a great shorthand and really strong communication. He’s a director who really trusts his collaborators, but also pushes everyone to do their best work and stretch the boundaries of their abilities, which I think is the mark of a truly great filmmaker. He has a really wicked sense of humor, so the more brutal or disgusting I could make things sound, the more I knew I was operating in his zone!
On the topics of firsts, Grant, I’d love to know what some of your first Sound Design and Supervising Sound Editor credits were?
My first Sound Designer credit was for a film called Rock Steady Row, which won the Slamdance Film Festival back in 2018 and was directed by the incredible Trevor Stevens. It was also my first collaboration with Bomani, who wrote the movie! It’s a crazy, gonzo Spaghetti Western in a post-apocalyptic college setting, and I’m very proud of the whole team’s sound work on it. We really went all out on a very tiny budget. I hope more people check it out after seeing Bomani’s new film, because it’s criminally underseen, a cult movie that hasn’t quite found its cult yet!
The film follows an intimate journey of a young girl trying to reconcile with some of her decisions and maybe facing some of her own monsters. If you had to pick or felt like sharing, what do you feel is the biggest monster you have to face in the Sound Design process?
I think the biggest monster I have to face down with every project is the beginning! It’s always intimidating staring at a blank Pro Tools session and thinking “Where do I start?” It sometimes takes a bit, but once I do, I always find a groove. The biggest beast on this movie was the electricity resurrection sequence when Vicaria reawakens Chris. It’s a scene every Frankenstein adaptation needs to tackle, and Bomani wanted to do something different with it, and insisted from the outset that that sequence would have no music – he wanted it all sound design. As I mentioned, he’s a very generous collaborator, and kept calling it my “Jimmy Page guitar solo” moment. It was a very hefty undertaking, there’s so much going on, and Bomani and I spent a long time sitting down together to get the rhythm and texture right. But I’m very proud of how it turned out, and when most people talk to me about the sound design in the film, they usually mention that sequence first and foremost.
You also worked on another favorite, The Voyeurs and the animated Harley Quinn. Can you expand on what each of these meant for you, either personally or creatively?
The Voyeurs is definitely a favorite of mine as well! I collaborated with the wonderful folks at This is Sound Design on that film as well as on Angry Black Girl, it’s a lot of the same team on both films and we work together a lot. Nathan Ruyle, the founder and Supervising Sound Designer of the studio, supervised The Voyeurs and was our re-recording mixer on Angry Black Girl. It was a joy collaborating with him and our director Michael Mohan, Michael’s an incredibly kind person and a very thoughtful filmmaker. I love trying to make the audience squirm, so working on the LASIK sequences in that film was a lot of fun – Michael and I actually sat down together to watch YouTube videos of actual LASIK operations for inspiration! Although we definitely took some liberties and played it up for the cinematic experience. I’m all for Michael’s quest to try and bring back the erotic thriller, so I’m so glad I got to be a part of that film.
And Harley Quinn is an indescribably fun show to get to work on. George Peters, the sound supervisor for that show, reached out to me to come on board towards the end of Season 2, and when I binged Season 1 to get caught up and get a feel for the show, I just fell in love with it. To get to play in the sandbox with all of those iconic DC characters in a way that is so irreverent and fresh is truly a dream come true. Annie De Brock, our editor on Angry Black Girl, also worked on Harley, so it was exciting to get to collaborate with her again as well!
What are you most excited about in your career currently/ what would be your dream project?
I have a few projects that will be coming out in the near future that I’m very excited about! I recently finished up my work on Season 4 of Harley, which was just announced will be coming out later this summer. I’m currently working on Genndy Tartakovsky’s new movie Fixed for Sony Animation. I also did the sound effects for an upcoming film called Thelma, directed by Josh Margolin, which Nathan supervised over at TiSD. It’s a quasi-action movie about a grandmother who’s been phone scammed and is on a quest for revenge. It’s a lot of fun with an amazing cast so I hope people check it out when it’s released!
As far as dream projects go, I’m very excited about Bomani’s next script, which he describes as Juice meets Lord of the Rings. The fantasy genre’s something we both would love to explore, so I hope we get to make that one, and soon! And a few years ago, I was also working on a show with Stoopid Buddy Stoodios for Quibi, which unfortunately was shelved when Quibi went under and we never got to finish it. I love stop motion animation and adore their work over at SBS, but we haven’t been able to connect on another project quite yet. I think our sensibilities are a match made in heaven, so I hope I’ll get the opportunity to work with them again!
And where can HorrorBuzz readers find you and more of your work, Grant?
My website is snowglobesound.com and I’m now on Instagram @snowglobesound as well. The Angry Black Girl and her Monster is out now in select theaters and everywhere to buy/rent digitally!
