From Hollywood Boom Operator to Indianapolis Production Sound Mixer: Starting Over After the 2023 Strikes

Production sound mixer and boom operator Whitney Worthen, now working in Indianapolis after years in Los Angeles.

I thought moving from my home in Indiana to Hollywood to become a boom operator would be the hardest part of my career, but it wasn’t. In Los Angeles, there was always a way to hustle and make ends meet. From dog walking between call times to remote SEO writing after wrap, the early days of my production sound career still held a sense of financial stability. When the strikes began in 2023 and I made the decision to return to Indiana, I assumed I would find that same rhythm here. I didn’t.

Years spent building a reputation in the Los Angeles film industry seemed to disappear overnight. The calls stopped. The referrals stopped. The credits that once carried weight—mixing a splinter unit for CBS’s S.W.A.T., booming the NFL’s Flag 50 Super Bowl commercial, working on Cirkul’s Super Bowl spot with Adam DeVine—suddenly felt like they belonged to another lifetime. In Hollywood, my name once passed around as a trusted sound utility and boom operator faded into the past. Back home in the Midwest, that version of me archived.

Indianapolis still brought meaningful opportunities. I had the chance to work with Caitlin Clark—my first time collaborating with someone I had genuinely been a fan of—and with Dude Perfect on Level 1–50 EXTREME Basketball Shots with Caitlin Clark. Those are the kinds of projects Los Angeles never gave me access to, simply because those moments live here, not on the West Coast. The Midwest film scene holds its own stories to tell, and I’m proud to help capture them through production sound.

But consistent work in location sound, sound mixing, and boom operating has been far more limited than I expected. The frequency just isn’t there —yet— to sustain a full-time career the way Los Angeles once did. The skills that were once booked weeks—sometimes months—in advance now sit packed in their cases, waiting for the next call sheet.

However, I’m still here. Still a boom operator. Still a production sound mixer. Still someone who knows how to move fast, stay invisible in a frame line, and capture clean dialogue in impossible locations. If you’re crewing up for a commercial, documentary, branded content shoot, or your next feature film in Indianapolis or beyond, I’m available—and I’d love to help bring your story to life with the kind of sound that makes the image unforgettable.