Full Sail University Graduate Gary A. Rizzo Awarded Oscar

Full Sail University is proud to announce that Recording Arts Graduate

Gary A. Rizzo was awarded an Oscar® in the Best Achievement in Sound

Mixing category for his work on the film Inception. The Oscar® was

presented by Scarlett Johansson and Matthew McConaughey at the 83rd

Annual Academy Awards which aired live on ABC on Sunday, February 27, 2011.

This year marks Rizzo’s first Oscar® win and third nomination. In 

2004, he received his first nomination in the category of Best 

Achievement in Sound Mixing for his work on The Incredibles, and his 

second took place in 2008, in the same category for his work on The 

Dark Knight. In addition, Rizzo was recently awarded the British 

Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award for Best Sound for 

his work on the film Inception.

Rizzo’s professional career as a Re-Recording Mixer began in 1995 at 

the famed audio post-production facility Skywalker Sound--on George 

Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, CA. Here he learned to mix 

from Skywalker mixing legends on such films as Toy Story, The Lost 

World: Jurassic Park and Titanic. Some of Rizzo’s most notable work 

includes mixing dialogue and music for Tron: Legacy, How To Train Your 

Dragon, The Incredibles, and Hellboy. He is currently in production on 

Rio. Gary was inducted into the Full Sail University Hall of Fame in 

2009.

“On behalf of the entire Full Sail family, we congratulate our 

graduate Gary Rizzo on his first Oscar win,” said Jay Noble, Director 

of Alumni Relations. “This is a proud moment for our graduate, our 

educators, and for our current students as we all celebrate this 

tremendous and inspiring achievement.”