Bay Area sound mixers nominated for Oscars

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- George Lucas himself once said, "Music and sound is 50-percent of the movie-going experience". And for sound designer Ren Klyce, getting to work on a film like Star Wars, the Last Jedi...is like a dream come true.

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"I was just really happy, really ecstatic."

Ren has been nominated 6 times before: for movies like Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Fight Club. But Ren says this nomination for Star Wars holds special meaning.

"It was different because growing up here in Bay Area and being part of the Star Wars universe as a child and going to see Star Wars here in Marin County where George Lucas is from is very exciting."

We also met one of Ren's friends at the Skywalker Ranch, Gary Rizzo. Another sound mixer, nominated for his work in the movie Dunkirk.

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This is Gary's 5th nomination, and like Ren feels this one is especially meaningful.

"This year was super magical for me because my dad was with me nomination morning. We had a little cup of coffee, we were both nervous and we weren't sure what was going to happen and we got to celebrate together which was very sweet."

The competition is fierce in the Best Sound Mixing category. Dunkirk and The Last Jedi join the ranks of films Blade Runner, and Baby Driver. For Gary, it's not so much about winning, but more an honor to work beside his idol, Greg Landecker, who shares the nomination with him.

"The history is amazing. The universe is amazing." He did the original mixes on those two films. So the fact I got to collaborate with him on a couple projects recently and mostly this one, he finished out his career on this film and we were nominated is magical. cosmically magical for me and really special to me.

Something neat for Gary: He's bringing his 10-year old daughter Luciaana on the red carpet with him for the first time!

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