Even though Dean Zupancic is not a famous actor, he said Sunday that he’s been treated like a celebrity this week.
Zupancic, 46, who graduated from Denver’s John F. Kennedy High School in 1976, is a first-time Academy Award nominee.
He and two colleagues, Terry Porter and Tony Johnson, were nominated for their achievement in sound mixing for the film “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
His parents, Eddie and Lucille Zupancic of Denver, were so excited that they threw a party at their house for friends and family during the awards Sunday.
Although “Narnia” lost to “King Kong,” Lucille Zupancic said she was proud of her son. “I feel sad, but he still met his goals in life.”
The Denver native, who lives in Toluca Lake, a community north of Hollywood, learned the sound business from his mentor, Paul Emrich, 80, of Denver.
Emrich ran the sound department at Western Cine, a film lab in Englewood, until 1993. Tears ran down his face when Zupancic told him last month about the nomination, Emrich said.
“He is a hard worker, very intense and serious about his job,” Emrich said. “He’s not the typical story you hear about Hollywood people.”
Zupancic left Denver in 1982 for Hollywood, where he got a job at Glen Glenn Sound, which has done sound for television and movies since 1946.
“It was the place to work,” Zupancic said. “I was very fortunate to meet people that believed in me.”
For the past 23 years, Zupancic has worked as a professional sound mixer for 87 films, including “Pulp Fiction.”
When sound is mixed well, the audience hears a coherent blend of music, dialogue and action. In a gunfight scene, for example, Zupancic strives to get a balance among music, yelling, the sound effects of gunshots and glass shattering.
“It’s like being a chef,” Zupancic said. “I take all the sound effects and I blend them and make sure they sound great. It’s a big weave dance.”
As a sound mixer, Zupancic is usually in the background when a film he’s worked on gets a lot of attention. But an Oscar nomination changed all that. His neighbors have congratulated him, his wife bought a gown and jewelry, he donned a tuxedo, and they took a limousine to the awards ceremony.
Still, he realizes he’s not a celebrity. “I’m nervous because if I’m lucky and I win, I hope they pronounce my name right.”
Staff writer Katherine Crowell can be reached at kcrowell@denverpost.com.
