Mac was born into a family of tuba players in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents and older siblings exposed him to films that were a bit mature for his age, and a wide variety of musical styles. Films that stand out from his early childhood are “Murder By Death”, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”, and “The Blues Brothers”. It was on that fateful day when his parents took him to see “Star Wars” in the theater in 1977 that changed it all. After that viewing, Mac knew that he wanted to make movies when he grew up. Mac experimented with video cameras, and picture editing throughout his childhood. He went off to Los Angeles at age 17 to take the Summer Production Workshop at USC Film School, and then made his home in Iowa City at the University of Iowa. Mac marched in the sousaphone section of the Hawkeye Marching Band, and studied film at Iowa. During his time in Iowa City, Mac decided to audition for the Madison Scouts drum & bugle corps in Madison, Wisconsin. He marched as a contra player for only one year due to age eligibility in 1995.

 

The lightbulb really went off for Mac when he got his hands on early digital audio editing software while he was the Music Director at the University of Iowa college radio station, KRUI. This is where sound and picture came together in his mind. The decision was made to start his career in sound editing for movies. Within a year of moving to Northern California, he found his way into the movie industry. Mac has worked on post production sound for over 60 films (“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”, “Toy Story 3”, “Tron Legacy”, “Rango”, “Clerks 2”, “Hoodwinked”) and has been nominated for six Golden Reel awards. He enjoys living in the Bay Area with his wife Ashley, his son Admiral, and daughter Maven.