Drew Kunin on the side of a roadway in India during the shooting of &quot;Life of Pi.&quot; He is nominated for an oscar for sound-mixing for
Drew Kunin on the side of a roadway in India during the shooting of "Life of Pi." He is nominated for an oscar for sound-mixing for "Pi." (Photo courtesy of Drew Kunin)

Most of Hollywood is waiting by the phone for the early-morning announcement of Oscar nominations. But Drew Kunin had his phone turned off when the congratulatory calls -- all 17 of them -- started coming in.

Kunin, who earned a nomination for the sound mixing of "Life of Pi," was at his son's school, reading a story to his class, when the news broke Thursday, Jan. 10. When he started listening to those messages, he said: "I was very pleased. I'm surprised, and I'm thrilled for Ang (director Ang Lee, who is also nominated). As hard as we all worked, he worked that much harder, so it's great to see him getting the nomination."

A 1979 graduate of Washburn High School and the son of Anita and Myron Kunin of Minneapolis, Drew Kunin confessed: "I would probably be more excited if I'd gotten more sleep last night, which has nothing to do with the Oscars and everything to do with having a 5-year-old who wouldn't go to bed. He was bouncing in and out of our bed, squealing, and the longer it went on, the more tired we got."

That "we" includes Kunin's partner, Dina Goldman. Presumably, she will accompany him to the Oscars, but that depends on a few things: As of Thursday, Kunin didn't know when the Oscars were (told they are Feb. 24, he replied: "Oh, good. That should work."); whether his thrift-store tux is acceptable attire ("The boss may tell me, 'You're not wearing that.' "); or whether he's allowed to bring a date (he should be).

Kunin said he's proud of the work he and his team did on "Pi," but it's not the most complex movie he's done. That might be "A Prairie Home Companion," a film that -- like one of the movies he will be competing against, "Les Miserables" -- was a tricky job because the actors' singing was recorded live. (Unlike "Les Mis," "Prairie" also recorded the musical accompaniment live.)

Although he has worked on such big films as "Brokeback Mountain" and "Zodiac," this is Kunin's first Oscar nomination. It was unexpected, he says, because "the Oscars tend to appreciate movies that are louder."

"This is not necessarily the type of movie whose sound gets noticed -- like movies with lots of explosions. Or musicals," Kunin said. "So I wasn't counting on anything."

Still, Kunin might have an opportunity to get used to the Oscars. He just finished recording the sound for "August, Osage County," the Meryl Streep-Julia Roberts film already being touted for next year's awards.

So, it might just be worth it for the Minneapolis native to invest in a tuxedo.
