John Roesch

Foley Artist

Mini Bio
Actor at Radnor High School and in 1972 attended the United States
International University School for Preforming Arts in San Diego for a year.
After that, he attended New York University and graduated with a BFA in Film.
Next he attended the American Film Institute in California and after that was
Beverly Hills. Got into foley when a fellow film maker asked for his help
making sounds for their film and never looked back after that.
He is a member of Local 700 , Motion Picture Sound Editors, and the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Been in the foley business for 40 years and has over 400 credits to his name.
Worked for Warner Bros for over 22 years before joining Lucasfilm Ltd.s
Skywalker Ranch.

Over 400 credits to his name including:

The Dark Knight

Finding Dory

Moana

Alice Through The Looking Glass

E.T.

Captain America: Civil War

Inception

Inside Out

The Matrix

Halo 5: Guardians (Video Game)

SING

Frozen

Star Trek Beyond

Big Hero 6

The Princess and the Frog

Rise of the Guardians

Thor

Tangled

Kingdom Hearts II

Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch

Terminator Salvation

Batman Arkham Asylum (Video Game)

And many more...

He's worked for Disney, Warner Bros

studios and he also did all of the foley
sounds for Michael Jackson's Thriller
music video.

Early Career
John Roesch originally was an actor before getting into film making, him and
some friends made a film that won the San Diego film festival in 1972.
He attended several Institutes where he just tried out a range of things, he was
open to anything as long as it was to do with the arts and at the time he did not
know that there was Foley, or that he wanted to be a Foley artist. He just knew
he wanted to be in the arts.
He got into Foley when a friend who helped him on a film asked him for help to
do with foley sounds, at the time he thought it was silly and was just messing
around, then her husband liked his work and asked Roesch to work for him so
he went for it.
His apartment manager asked where he was going, he replied to a foley stage,
the manager knew what foley was as she was a foley artist too and told him
there was an opening where she worked, he got the job and never looked back.

Career Timeline
Started in Foley in the late 1970s, first at Gomillion Sound and
then at Warren Sound West before settling at Samuel Goldwyn
Studios at their fabled Sawyer Sound facility where he worked on
such films as The Black Stallion and Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
After that spent nine years at Taj Soundworks, which became
famous in the Los Angeles post-production community since its
opening in early 1983 as the place to go to for Foley and became
the top of his craft since the early 1980s.
Left Taj in 1992, Roesch went back to Warner Hollywood, where
he stayed for eight years before the name changed to Warner
Bros in 2000, he stayed there for 22 years.
2014 joined Lucasfilm Ltd.s Skywalker Ranch.

Skywalker Sounds
Skywalker Sounds is his sonic studio
specifically for foley, it has a backroom full of
objects to make sounds with.
It has specialist recording equipment.
The building was created for the sole purpose
of foley, it goes all the way down to Earth
perfect for creating echo and thud sounds. It
has a splash pool that holds gallons of water
perfect for aquatic sounds.

Awards
In 2013 John was the first foley artist to receive the Career Achievement Award
at the Motion Picture Sound Editors 60th Golden Reel Awards
He has been nominated many times for the Golden Reel Award and him
alongside his team have won it several times:
In 2016 won Golden Reel Award for his sound work on Halo 5: Guardians and
Inside Out.
In 2015 won Golden Reel Award for Best Sounds in Big Hero 6.
In 2011 won Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects and
Foley in a Feature Film in Inception.
In 2009 won the Golden Reel Award for The Dark Knight.
In 2000 won the Golden Reel Award for The Matrix.

We cannot change the cards we are

dealt, just how we play the hand.
When the door is there, dont be afraid to
walk through and try.
John Roesch

Bibliography
Career Timeline: Blake, L. (2015) John Roesch at Skywalker Sound Large New Stage Greets
Renowned Foley Artist. At: http://www.mixonline.com/news/facilities/john-roesch-skywalkersound/426269 (Accessed on 21 January 2017)

Early Career: Ejnes, S. (2013) An Interview with John Roesch [Interview]. At: http://
designingsound.org/2013/12/an-interview-with-john-roesch/ (Accessed on 21 January 2017)

Awards: Giardina, C. (2012) Foley Artist John Roesch to Receive Career Achievement Award From
Sound Editors [News Article]. At: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/foley-artist-john-roeschhonored-397570 (Accessed on 21 January 2017)

Awards: John Roesch - Awards. At: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0736430/awards (Accessed

on 21 January 2017)

Biography: John Roesch Biography. At: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0736430/bio?

ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm (Accessed on 21 January 2017)

Worked On: John Roesch Known For. At: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0736430/ (Accessed on

21 January 2017)

Skywalker Sounds: Where the Sounds From the Worlds Favourite Movies Are Born. (2016)
Created by WIRED. 21 April 2016. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GPGfDCZ1EE
(Accessed on 21 January 2017)