Matthew Wood has been bringing digital technology to the forefront of filmmaking for over ten years. He was invited to join Lucasfilm as a part of the Sound Droid development team in 1990 and joined Skywalker Sound in 1991 as a specialist in incorporating emerging technology into the traditional editorial model. Matthew was the Supervising Sound Assistant on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles from 1992-1994. His crew won an Emmy Award in 1993 for The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: The Somme and, in 1994, a Cinema Audio Society Award for The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: The Hollywood Follies.
Matthew continued to expand his skills by working as the Supervising Sound Assistant on such films as Radioland Murders and One Fine Day, and by working on sound design with Academy Award winning sound designer Christopher Boyes on such films as Con Air, Eraser, and Volcano. Matthew was nominated for a Motion Picture Sound Editors' Golden Reel award for Mission Impossible in 1994.
In 1997, Matthew began to prepare for the upcoming production of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. As a Supervising Sound Editor, Matthew fulfilled his vision of an ideal technological and creative system through which to manage all aspects of audio post-production. This included a groundbreaking portable ADR system (which took the crew all over the world) and numerous other innovations. The Phantom Menace was nominated for Academy Awards in both the Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing categories.
Working at Skywalker Sound in between Star Wars films, Matthew supervised the animated film Titan A.E. for 20th Century Fox. This work received a Golden Reel for Best Sound Editing, Animated Feature in 2000.
As the Supervising Sound Editor for Attack of the Clones Matthew continued to create and oversee the use of completely new technology. The summer of 2000 was spent pioneering digital sound recording on location, as Matthew spent his time ensuring that everything went smoothly between the revolutionary new methods of entirely digital film and audio production. In addition to being on the set in Australia, Matthew spent time gathering sounds rare enough to populate the new worlds of Attack of the Clones.
Before Revenge of the Sith commenced, Matthew was to supervise the re-mastering of the Star Wars Special Edition Trilogy to DVD 2004. Bringing these films into the modern soundstage of DVD and Dolby EX, Matthew and his crew spent months meticulously reconstructing the soundtracks from their original elements. An absolute labor of love, Matthew got to relive his childhood fantasy and also work his sound expertise on his favorite films.
Once again sharing the role of Supervising Sound Editor with his mentor and friend Ben Burtt, Revenge of the Sith would be the proving ground of another sound first. The sound editorial and mixing process would now be unified under one operating platform. Never had a film of this scale attempted a complete sound design, edit and mix with one operating system. A completely non-linear and expandable system was put in place by Skywalker Sound and Matthew, allowing the soundtrack to be completed ahead of schedule and with complete creative flexibility.
Matthew continues in his role as Supervising Sound Editor at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, California.