2015 (Production)

2015-04-17 (Production)

English (Original)

Interviewee: Bob Heiber
Interviewer: Betsy McLane

Professional production

United States

Audio Restoration Engineer Bob Heiber is interviewed by Betsy McLane at the Rick Chace Theater in Burbank, CA in 2015. Heiber discusses his career in film audio restoration at Chace Productions from 1990 to the 2000s.

Bob Heiber is interviewed by Betsy McLane at the Rick Chace Theater in Burbank, CA on April 17h, 2015. Heiber remembers growing up in a large family in the suburbs of Cleveland. He recalls seeing silent movies and THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) with his father, an accountant. Heiber says that he attended Purdue University to study engineering, but transferred to communications when he developed a passion for filmmaking. Heiber details his first jobs as an assistant in Chicago for Pilot Productions. He describes his decision in 1979 to move to Los Angeles, where he worked in operations at Warner Bros. for ten years. Heiber remembers meeting Rick Chace during a job interview for Chace Productions in 1990. He discusses Rick Chace’s career: Chace started in TV news, then became an audio engineer for Modern Videofilm, and eventually started his own audio post-production facility specializing in VHS distribution. Heiber moves on to Chace’s innovations, including Chace Surround Stereo and the Comtrack. He discusses the company’s work with Ted Turner restoring stereo soundtracks for GONE WITH THE WIND (1939). Heiber describes Rick Chace’s AIDS diagnosis, and their decision to keep his illness a secret as the company moved to its Burbank facility in 1992. Rick Chace died shortly after the move. Heiber describes taking over Chace Productions after Rick Chace’s passing. He remembers using his position to speak for the importance of sound in film preservation at the Association of Moving Image Archivists, the Motion Picture and Sound Division of the Library of Congress and the National Film Preservation Board. Heiber differentiates between film preservation, which prevents or delays element decay, and film restoration, which alters or attempts to improve upon original elements. Heiber discusses examples of each, including BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957), WEST SIDE STORY (1961) and MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969). Heiber talks about the legacy of Chace Productions. He discusses his decision to start the Rick Chace Foundation and funding a scholarship in Rick Chace’s name. Heiber describes the difficulties of technology preservation, and his hopes for digital preservation in the future. He states that audio restoration is an art, and that he hopes that Chace Audio will be remembered as an innovator and a family.

Bob Heiber (born 1951) is an American film preservationist raised in Cleveland, Ohio. A graduate of Purdue University, Heiber began his work in film as a camera operator and assistant in Chicago, Illinois. He moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to work for Warner Bros., before joining sound engineer Rick Chace as General Manager of Chace Productions in 1990. When Chace died in 1992, Bob Heiber took control of Chace Productions and continued Chace’s legacy of advocating for quality film sound preservation and restoration. As CEO of Chace Productions, Bob Heiber oversaw several award-winning sound restorations, including three Film Heritage Awards from the National Society of Film Critics.

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