WIM returns to the legendary Village Studios for the third annual installment of Shop Talk! During this event, attendees will have the opportunity to learn from top industry professionals, including the women engineers from The Village staff:
Lenise Bent | Lenise Bent is an audio engineer and producer whose creativity and talent can be found on iconic records including “Aja” by Steely Dan and “Breakfast in America” by Supertramp. She is the first female engineer on record to receive a platinum album for Blondie’s “AutoAmerican” album which includes the very first hit rap song with music, “Rapture”. Lenise is also a post-production audio professional, specializing in recording and editing Foley sound effects for many films and animated series and has traveled the world for Dreamworks supervising the foreign dialogue recording and producing the vocals for such animated features as “Shrek”, “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron” and “Shrek 2”. She also archives and repairs audio, instructs, consults and holds workshops for audio students and singer/songwriters. She is a long- standing member of many audio organizations including the Audio Engineering Society, SoundGirls and the Producers and Engineers Wing of the Recording Academy. Lenise enjoys working in both analog and digital formats and is currently exploring Panelists Jasmine Mills | Head Engineer at Beets & Produce, Inc. - Jasmine has worked with artists such as Kesha and Weezer and writes technical articles about recording equipment and production. A member of WIM, she also serves as the Soundgirls representative for EIPMA, and is on the executive committee of the LA Chapter of AES. Claudia Pinel Iatalese | Claudia is a 2022 graduate of Berklee College of Music, where she received a Bachelor of Music with a dual major in Music Production and Engineering and Music Business/Management. As a seasoned pianist, Claudia continued to develop her skills at Berklee. During her studies, she was also awarded the Shure Award for exceptional work in Music Production and Engineering. Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Claudia worked at the Ugly Duck Studios in Boston before moving to Los Angeles after graduation, where she began working at the world-renowned Village Recorder. Alisse Laymac | Alisse is an audio engineer, producer, and singer/songwriter from Michigan who graduated with degrees in music production and engineering. She moved to LA and began working at The Village in 2018, now meeting and working with people who inspire her every day. Hannah Samuels | Hannah graduated at the top of her Berklee class, winning the prestigious Liberal Arts Academic Award and Shure Award established to empower outstanding engineers and producers. Hannah now works at the world-renowned Village Studios honing her craft, surrounded by the best in the business.
Nicole Schmidt | Nicole is an engineer, songwriter and producer, who felt fortunate to have grown up in a very musical family. Her father studied vocals, piano and law and her mother is a trained conductor, vocal coach and piano teacher. Nicole started trying to play the piano when she was two years old and after that was classically trained until college. She has sung her whole life and practically grew up in her parents’ choir. Today she loves collaborating with people who are passionate about their music, no matter the genre, and likes to think of her engineering role in the studio as providing a space for the artists to be able to fully focus on their art by taking care of all of the technical aspects. Nicole is currently working as a staff engineer at The Village, where she has had the chance to work on many different projects like full band recordings, writing sessions, film scores, voice overs and live concerts.
