In this episode, Neil and Jason talk to Russ Hughes, who founded the Production Expert blog nearly 20 years ago. Now it attracts over 7 million viewers a year: and all of them drawn to the Expert website by the blog's justifiable reputation for trustworthy, relevant and topical free content for audio-post and music studio professionals.

Five years ago, in the midst of Covid, Production Expert ran a survey to capture the financial health of freelancers in the professional audio industry. Five years on, it has just published its latest survey – and with the number of respondents almost doubled, it makes for sobering reading…work patterns have shifted, costs have risen and maintaining a steady income is clearly taking more effort than it once did.

At times, this is a frank and revealing conversation that makes for difficult listening (please note this episode does contain a reference to suicide); particularly as Russ dives into the survey and lifts the veil on what the true cost is to current craft creatives, in terms of their financial, physical and mental health.

About the presenters:
You can find out more about Russ Hughes's work here and here. The Production Expert website is here and you can read the 2026 Production Expert survey here.

Details about Neil Hillman and Jason Nicholas's work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here.
Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at:
https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com

Details of Neil's books, including his best-seller 'Sound for Moving Pictures', are available here.

Technical notes:

Written, produced and presented by Jason Nicholas and Dr Neil Hillman – IMDb
Recorded using the CleanFeed remote recording system
Programme edited by Neil Hillman and Jason Nicholas

YouTube fair use disclaimer:
Where copyrighted material appears in episodes of The Apple and Biscuit Show, it is used under the 'fair use' guidelines of the Copyright Act: i.e. "Use of these clips follows Fair Use laws regarding commenting and criticizing", where Fair Use allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes such as Commentary, Criticism, Parody, News reporting, Teaching, Scholarship, and Research. In instances where copyright or credit is questioned, please contact us directly to discuss receiving credit, or removing the featured content.

Over a 30-year career, UK indie Producer and Director Pip Piper has Produced nine feature documentaries, including 'Mountain Biking: The Untold British Story' and 'Bicycle', both with two-times BAFTA winning director Michael Baig-Clifford; directed six feature documentaries, including the music industry trilogy 'Last Shop Standing', 'The Vinyl Revival' and 'Long and Winding Road'; and Exec Produced three more. He also Produced the critically acclaimed drama feature 'The Insatiable Moon'.

But Pip has also been busy in other areas, too; for 30 years he has run the One Small Barking Dog charity; spent 16 years running production company Blue Hippo Media; 10 years as the Chair of the West Midlands Producers Forum; 10 years teaching an MA in film distribution and marketing; and he has run three film festivals.

Pip has a new feature documentary coming to British cinemas in March 2026, called 'Jo In The Water'. It was filmed throughout 2025 and it follows Jo Bateman, an Exmouth-based sea swimmer, who became a "reluctant activist" campaigning for clean water in UK rivers and seas when the dumping of millions of litres of raw sewage by her local water company impacted her physical and mental health — a familiar story all over the UK; and such has been the impact of the documentary, on March the 2nd, British MPs attended a special screening of the film at Westminster.

For his work in highlighting social issues to bring about awareness and change, we might fairly describe Pip as an "active activist".

About the presenters:
You can find out more about Pip Piper's work here and here; and a selection of his films can be found on the Vimeo on Demand site, for instance here and here.

Details about Neil Hillman and Jason Nicholas's work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here.
Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at:
https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com

Details of Neil's books, including his best-seller 'Sound for Moving Pictures', are available here.

Technical notes:

Written, produced and presented by Jason Nicholas and Dr Neil Hillman – IMDb
Recorded using the CleanFeed remote recording system
Programme edited by Jason Nicholas

YouTube fair use disclaimer:
Where copyrighted material appears in episodes of The Apple and Biscuit Show, it is used under the 'fair use' guidelines of the Copyright Act: i.e. "Use of these clips follows Fair Use laws regarding commenting and criticizing", where Fair Use allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes such as Commentary, Criticism, Parody, News reporting, Teaching, Scholarship, and Research.
In instances where copyright or credit is questioned, please contact us directly to discuss receiving credit, or removing the featured content.

Jonathan Glazier is one of the television industry's leading lights in television Light Entertainment. Over a 40-year career, Jonathan has directed and produced some of the most popular TV shows, such as 'Stars in Their Eyes', 'Gladiators', 'The Weakest Link' and 'Asia's Got Talent' (and he has the awards to prove it). He has the rare experience of firstly consulting to, and then leading, one of the BBC's most historically significant and influential departments as the Editor of BBC Light Entertainment and International Formats. Today, he works with global clients as diverse as CBC and NHK and creates formats for widely different cultures from 'Suka Lattew' in Malaysia to 'How Normal are You?' in New Zealand.

But Jonathan's remarkable television career started in the sound department at the famous ATV Elstree studios. Jonathan explains how this background has been the foundation of his incredible career.

About the presenters:
You can find out more about Jonathan Glazier's consultancy company here

Details about Neil Hillman and Jason Nicholas's work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here
Our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at: https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com

Details of Neil's books, including his best-seller 'Sound for Moving Pictures', are available here

Technical notes:

Written, produced and presented by Jason Nicholas and Dr Neil Hillman – IMDb
Recorded using the CleanFeed remote recording system
Programme edited by Jason Nicholas

YouTube fair use disclaimer:
Where copyrighted material appears in episodes of The Apple and Biscuit Show, it is used under the 'fair use' guidelines of the Copyright Act: i.e. "Use of these clips follows Fair Use laws regarding commenting and criticizing", where Fair Use allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes such as Commentary, Criticism, Parody, News reporting, Teaching, Scholarship, and Research. In instances where copyright or credit is questioned, please contact us directly to discuss receiving credit, or removing the featured content.

Mark Franken is the double Emmy-winning creator of the sound editing software tools EdiCue, EdiLoad and EdiPrompt; products that since their inception in 2007, have come to be indispensable to dialogue editors, supervising sound editors, ADR recordists and re-recording mixers working in the sound for moving pictures sector. They are now the industry standard protocols for the organisation, exchange and delivery of post-production audio for film and television. With their time-saving capabilities, it's also fair to say that they have had a significant impact on the ability of streaming broadcasters to start the production trend for movie-length, multi-episodic series.

But the integral component in each of these products is borne out of the experience of Mark Franken as a highly successful sound creative in both hemispheres… Before Mark founded his software company Sounds in Sync, he was a busy and time-pressed dialogue editor, sound effects editor, music editor and re-recording mixer, working on major motion pictures.

FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER 2025, enjoy 20% off ALL Sounds in Sync products by using the discount code: APPLEBISCUIT25

About the presenters:
You can find out more about Mark Franken's products, and his company Sounds in Sync, here

Details about Neil Hillman and Jason Nicholas's work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here
Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at:
https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com

Technical notes:

Written, produced and presented by Jason Nicholas and Dr Neil Hillman – IMDb
Recorded using the CleanFeed remote recording system
Programme edited by Dr. Neil Hillman

YouTube fair use disclaimer:
Where copyrighted material appears in episodes of The Apple and Biscuit Show, it is used under the 'fair use' guidelines of the Copyright Act: i.e. "Use of these clips follows Fair Use laws regarding commenting and criticizing", where Fair Use allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes such as Commentary, Criticism, Parody, News reporting, Teaching, Scholarship, and Research. In instances where copyright or credit is questioned, please contact us directly to discuss receiving credit, or removing the featured content.

Dr Iain McGregor is an Associate Professor at Edinburgh Napier University, specialising in interactive media design and auditory perception research. His PhD in soundscape mapping examined how sound designers' expectations compare with listeners' experiences.

With over 30 years of experience, he has worked across film, video games, theatre, radio, television, mixed reality, robotics, and auditory displays, exploring soundscapes, sonification, and human interaction. His patent Evaluation of Auditory Capabilities (WO2024041821A1) informs accessibility, user experience design, and auditory technologies. His research extends to human-robot interaction, and he currently consults for companies in mixed reality and robotics, shaping advanced auditory interfaces.

About the presenters:

You can find more about Iain McGregor's work here

Details about Neil Hillman and Jason Nicholas's work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here
Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at:
https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com

Technical notes:

Written, produced and presented by Jason Nicholas and Dr Neil Hillman – IMDb
Recorded using the CleanFeed remote recording system
Programme edited by Jason Nicholas

YouTube fair use disclaimer:
Where copyrighted material appears in episodes of The Apple and Biscuit Show, it is used under the 'fair use' guidelines of the Copyright Act: i.e. "Use of these clips follows Fair Use laws regarding commenting and criticizing", where Fair Use allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes such as Commentary, Criticism, Parody, News reporting, Teaching, Scholarship, and Research.
In instances where copyright or credit is questioned, please contact us directly to discuss receiving credit, or removing the featured content.

In the last of his mini-series of three documentaries recorded on a recent trip to the UK, Neil visits the home of the National Film and Television School at the historic Beaconsfield Film Studios in Buckinghamshire. On his visit, he is given unprecedented access to the workspaces, students, lecturers and visiting professionals that make NFTS such a unique establishment.

Neil talks to Stephen Holdsworth, NFTS Chief Engineer about the history of the site; Guy Hake, Senior Lecturer on the Sound Design Masters course and Sound Design Masters student Tom Bosher; and BAFTA and Academy Award-winning Supervising Sound Editor Nina Hartstone about her work delivering master classes and how, through her work, she aims to help prepare the next generation of sound professionals to be industry-ready.

About the presenters:

You can find more about the National Film and Television School here

Nina Hartstone at IMDb

Details about Neil Hillman and Jason Nicholas's work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here
Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at:
https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com

Technical notes:

Written, produced and presented by Dr. Neil Hillman – IMDb
Programme edited and mixed by Dr. Neil Hillman on DaVinci Resolve v20. Recorded on location by Neil using a Sound Devices 664 recorder, with Sennheiser 416 and Sanken COS-11 microphones.

YouTube fair use disclaimer:
Where copyrighted material appears in episodes of The Apple and Biscuit Show, it is used under the 'fair use' guidelines of the Copyright Act: i.e. "Use of these clips follows Fair Use laws regarding commenting and criticising", where Fair Use allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes such as Commentary, Criticism, Parody, News reporting, Teaching, Scholarship, and Research.
In instances where copyright or credit is questioned, please contact us directly to discuss receiving credit, or removing the featured content.

Excerpts from 'The Dinner After' and 'BABA' used with kind permission of NFTS.

In this documentary, Neil looks at the emergence of location sound recording for cinema and one of the significant technological developments that enabled this.

Starting with the Italian neorealism movement of the late 1940's, the desire for dialogue authenticity gained hold in 1950's Hollywood films. This and the artistic truth of French New Wave filmmaking in the 1960's led to the indispensability of the location sound recordist by the 1970's and one of their important needs was met by the invention and refinement of the now-familiar microphone basket windshield.

To help tell the story, Neil plays real-world examples of Outside Broadcast sport; excerpts from classic movies and amateur YouTube filmmakers and also talks with Radius Windshields Managing Director Simon Davies as well as the owner and MD of plastic injection moulding company Elbmar Limited, Keven Rich and the Oscar-winning feature film Production Sound Mixer - and enthusiastic Radius Windshields user - Simon Hayes.

About the presenters:

You can find more about Simon Hayes' work here
The Radius Windshield site is here

Details about Neil Hillman and Jason Nicholas's work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here
Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at:
https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com

Technical notes:

Written, produced and presented by Dr. Neil Hillman – IMDb
Programme edited and mixed by Dr. Neil Hillman on DaVinci Resolve v20. Recorded on location by Neil using a Sound Devices 664 recorder, with Sennheiser 416 and Sanken COS-11 microphones.

YouTube fair use disclaimer:
Where copyrighted material appears in episodes of The Apple and Biscuit Show, it is used under the 'fair use' guidelines of the Copyright Act. In instances where copyright or credit is questioned, please contact us directly to discuss receiving credit, or removing the featured content.

Content:
02:39 – 03:25 The Bicycle Thieves, (1948), Dir. Vittorio De Sica

04:25 – 06:24 On the Waterfront, (1954), Dir. Elia Kazan

06:57 – 07:42 Breathless, (1960), Dir. Jean Luc Goddard

09:55 – 11:58 The Conversation, (1970), Dir. Francis Ford-Coppola

19:48 – 21:28 Les Misérables, (2012), Dir. Tom Hooper

27:52 – 28:50 @MakingParadiseinVA, YouTube channel (2023)

51:57 – 52:25 Wimbledon, Men's Singles Final 2024, Alcaraz v Djokovic

52:30 – 52:38 FIFA World Cup, South Africa 2010

53:41 – 54:21 Sydney 2000 Olympics, Men's-8 Rowing Final

In this episode Neil and Jason speak with Dr Jesse Budel, a composer-performer, sound artist, academic and arts entrepreneur based in South Australia. As a composer, his works are for diverse media and spaces, ranging from concert works and installations to community and interdisciplinary collaborations. Jesse's PhD research at the Elder Conservatorium of Music focussed on adapting soundscape ecology to creative process, resulting in a body of works responding to South Australian ecosystems and soundscapes. As an emerging member of the Acoustic Ecology and Ecoacoustic communities, Jesse currently serves as the Secretary for both the Australian Forum for Acoustic Ecology and World Forum for Acoustic Ecology.

This is a wide ranging interview discussing the history of Soundscape Ecology, as defined by the work of R Murray Schafer and the World Soundscape Project, starting in the 1970's, through to the present day scientific use of sound for bioacoustic research of natural environments.

About the presenters:
You can find more about Jesse and his work here: https://www.jesse-budel.com/about
Details about Neil and Jason's work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here: https://www.audiosuite.co.uk/
Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at:
https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com

Further reading and links:

• The World Soundscape Project: https://www.sfu.ca/~truax/wsp.html
• Principles of Soundscape Ecology: Discovering Our Sonic World by Bryan C. Pijanowski: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo187218508.html
• The Australian Acoustic Observatory: https://acousticobservatory.org/
• SPAT Revolution: https://www.flux.audio/project/spat-revolution/

Technical notes:
Written, produced and presented by Jason Nicholas and Dr Neil Hillman
Recorded using the CleanFeed remote recording system
Programme edited by Jason Nicholas

See Dr Budel's Bandcamp page for a selection of his compositions here: https://jessebudel.bandcamp.com/

The final piece that ends the podcast is a clip from "Early Afternoon on the Mountain" from the Cathedrals album.

YouTube fair use disclaimer:
Where copyrighted material appears in episodes of The Apple and Biscuit Show, it is used under the 'fair use' guidelines of the Copyright Act: i.e. "Use of these clips follows Fair Use laws regarding commenting and criticizing", where Fair Use allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes such as Commentary, Criticism, Parody, News reporting, Teaching, Scholarship, and Research. In instances where copyright or credit is questioned, please contact us directly to discuss receiving credit, or removing the featured content.