Sound Man

Los Angeles California Canoga Park Stake President M. Curtis Price didn’t think he was even invited to the Emmy Awards celebration the year he won “Best Sound for a Comedy Series.”

But luckily a friend at work convinced President Price to get a ticket. He ended up attending the awards ceremony at the last minute, having no idea he would be receiving an Emmy Award for his sound work on the “Food Fight” episode of the weekly Frank’s Place.

Comfortable with his place behind the scenes, President Price rarely tells people about his work as part of the crew responsible for music, dialogue, and sound effects for more than half a dozen well-known TV series.

“President Price’s job is demanding,” says Don Parker, a counselor in the stake presidency. “Sometimes he works through the night with only two or three hours of sleep, but he is dedicated and comes to every Church event he possibly can.”

“He is a stable person in a sea of storm,” adds his wife, Ellen. “He never shifts to the side when we have problems in our family.”

Curtis and Ellen have six children of their own but have also welcomed forty-five foster children, seven young single mothers, and three Lamanite children into their home during the past twenty years. They also had a Vietnamese family of six stay with them for a few months during the Vietnam War.

Setting a good example for members of his stake, President Price has made it clear to his employers that he will work only with television shows so as to avoid working on R-rated movies.

Doug Grindstaff, vice-president of Pacific Sound Services, says, “Curtis has set his standards high. If he had decided to work with feature films it would have been quite a career, but he has chosen a higher route.”

Even working with television, Curtis Price still has to deal with scenes that are not in accordance with the gospel. “Satan is working harder than ever, and one of the ways he does it is through the entertainment industry,” he says. “Drinking, drugs, and immorality on television are made to appear so appealing. We must make the decision to avoid these things.”—Amy K. Stewart, Provo, Utah

Award-winning sound engineer Curtis Price at the controls. (Photo by Amy K. Stewart.)