Documentary work I record
Long-form & unscripted
- Sit-down interviews — boom and hidden lav on isolated tracks for every subject, a quiet room, and a rig that doesn't intimidate anyone who's never been on camera.
- Verité & follow-doc — real people living real moments. Small footprint, wireless that stays hidden, and the patience to wait for the story instead of interrupting it.
- Multi-day field production — docuseries and long-form projects that move around the state. One sound department, consistent audio, day after day.
How I work on documentaries
The moment only happens once
- Boom + lav on everything — primary boom, backup lav, each on its own isolated track on a Sound Devices 833. The editor picks; nothing is baked in.
- Redundant recording, always — two media on every job. Documentary moments don't repeat themselves, and I plan for that.
- Built for Florida conditions — heat, humidity, boats, wind off the water, afternoon thunderstorms. I've recorded in all of it and the gear is prepped for it.
- Timecode to every camera — jam-synced Tentacle timecode, so multi-cam verité cuts together without a post headache.
Credits where documentaries live
Full-time since 2008
- Long-form and documentary work for HBO, Netflix, Discovery Channel, BBC, NatGeo, Investigation Discovery, A&E, Smithsonian Channel, VICE, Peacock and PBS.
- Thousands of broadcast productions overall — including ESPN, ABC, TNT, NFL Network, MLB Network and HGTV — so the pace and problem-solving of network TV comes with me to your doc.
- A complete professional sound package travels with me — see the full gear list.
Anywhere the story is. Based in Tampa and traveling statewide for documentary work — Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Gainesville, Tallahassee, the Keys and the Panhandle. Even with travel, it's still cheaper than flying a mixer in from out of state.
Common questions
Boom or lav for documentary interviews?
Both, on every interview. A boom (Sanken CS3-e, or Schoeps CMC6 MK41 indoors) as the primary, and a hidden Sanken COS-11 lav as backup — each on its own isolated track, so the editor chooses later.
Do you travel for multi-day shoots?
Yes — multi-day field production is a core part of the work. No travel fee within 50 miles of Tampa; statewide travel is billed at the standard federal mileage rate. More on statewide coverage →
What does a location sound mixer actually do on a doc?
I wrote it up here: What a location sound mixer does — from prepping wireless to protecting the edit.
More: ENG & broadcast sound · Commercial production sound · Production sound mixer in Tampa
Florida Sound ManJoe Giannotti
