Digital media changing Austin industries

By Lilly Rockwell

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Friday, September 01, 2006

Technology and creativity collide in the universe of digital media.

In Austin, that collision is changing business and entertainment landscapes. The lines are blurring between industries such as advertising, games, music, movies, television and Web design. The rise of the Internet, digital graphic arts and the digitizing of photos and videos is shaking the foundation of established entertainment businesses — witness Hollywood’s troubles adjusting to the new technological environment — affording opportunities to small companies.

Boundaries are moving, too. Job titles are no longer strictly defined. A TV production company now also makes Web sites. A sound engineer can work on a Web site and a TV show. An animator can work on movies and games.

Austin is paying attention to these changes, organizing the Digital Media Council to promote growth of this burgeoning industry. Starting Wednesday, the city will host the three-day Austin Games Conference, a 2,400-person confab highlighting the growth of digital media.

Curious about the artists and business leaders who will intersect at the conference, we followed three people through the digital media maze. These Austinites represent the growing integration of movies and TV, games and commercial design in our community.

Sound engineer exploits digital revolution
From Kinky to Hank Hill, Eric Friend’s in on some of Austin’s best jokes

Getting paid to hear Mike Judge do his Hank Hill voice for “King of the Hill” is just his day job. On the side, Eric Friend listens to Kinky Friedman’s latest one-liners.

As a free-lance sound engineer, Friend, 33, works in movies, TV, games and the Web.

The computer at his East Austin home is his office; it’s where he makes his sound effects, records dialogue and edits. He uses the same digital editing software for each medium and sends his finished product via e-mail.

Friend also plays keyboards, piano and guitar, and uses these instruments for soundtracks. He played keyboards for the Austin band Spoon for three years.

Friend went to the University of Texas to major in radio, television and film and graduated in 1995. He met Mike Judge around that time and has been his sound recorder ever since. He helped Judge with MTV’s “Beavis and Butt-Head” and was later tapped for “King of The Hill.”

“With ‘Beavis and Butt-Head,’ it was easier for him to improvise, because he did all the voices,” Friend said. “He could just make the other character respond to what he said. He can’t do that with ‘King of the Hill.’ “

Friend is one of only two people employed by Judge. He also works for Collection Agency Films, which was hired to create Kinky Friedman political cartoons for the gubernatorial candidate’s Web site.

For sound effects, Friend doesn’t like to look through his bank of pre-recorded electronic noises. He wants to make them organically. So when a Kinkytoon called for the noise of a politician kissing a baby, he kissed his 17-month-old son.

He’s also done the dialogue and sound effects for a PC game called “The Freelancer,” the story of an intergalactic adventurer who likes to drive space shuttles while dodging asteroid belts. It took nine months just to record the dialogue, Friend said.

Because he works for hire, Friend can easily jump from one medium to the next. One day he’s doing something for the Web, and that night he could be called in to work on a documentary, he said.

“I like being able to work in multiple fields,” Friend said. “I love working on movies and documentaries, TV shows and video games.”