Patrick Hogan interview: ‘Cobra Kai’ supervising sound editor

“It’s a good question because most people, I would say even my parents probably have no idea what I really do,” jokes Emmy-nominated supervising sound editor Patrick Hogan about the primary responsibilities of a sound editor and the differences between his team and the sound editing team on a show like “Cobra Kai.”

For our recent webchat Hogan declares, “It takes a lot of people to make a movie or show and even on a TV show like this,” he explains, adding that “you’re talking probably 150 people between production and post-production who work on the show. So, while the sound department is one small group of those people, it’s still many people working towards a common goal. There’s different positions and different responsibilities that different people have and in order to get the final product and reinforce the vision and the story that the producers want to tell.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

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Netflix blockbuster “Cobra Kai” revisits old rivals Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) 30 years after the original 1984 Oscar-nominated classic “The Karate Kid.” While the series’ first two seasons flew under the radar on YouTube’s premium service, it developed a loyal fan-base who relished reliving the decades-long feud between Johnny and Daniel as they fostered a new generation competing for All Valley karate supremacy. The series catapulted into a bona fide pop culture phenomenon when Netflix picked up the series in 2020, becoming the most-watched series on the platform. “Cobra Kai” also became a critical darling, with its third season scoring four Emmy nominations last year (including for Best Comedy Series).

Season 4 kicked off where the third season ended, as Johnny and Daniel finally come together to take down the nefarious Kreese (Martin Kove, also reprising his role from the original film), Lawrence’s old sensei, who has taken over Johnny’s Cobra Kai dojo. Johnny’s former karate prodigy Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) has recovered from his season 3 back injury, while Robby (Tanner Buchanan), Johnny’s estranged son, has turned his back on Daniel, joining forces with the Kreese. The plot thickens as the regular cast expands, with new kid Kenny (Dallas Dupree Young), fan-fave duo Hawk (Jacob Bertrand) and Demetri (Gianni DeCenzo), LaRusso teenagers Samantha (Mary Mouser) and Anthony (Griffin Santopietro) and Sam’s arch-rival Tory (Peyton List) joining the fray as series regulars. Old grudges, blood, sweat, tears and an enthralling All-Valley Karate Tournament that dominates the last two episodes of the season build towards a thrilling conclusion as Kreese is shockingly usurped by an even greater threat, Kreese’s former right-hand man, the diabolical Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith, also a new series regular this season, who reprises his role from the 1989 second sequel “The Karate Kid, Part III”).

“I’m the common thread that that goes from the producers who will talk about general sound,” he explains, adding “then I communicate that to the editors so then my first job is to take all this information and go to the editors and say this is what we need to do on this episode of the show,” he says. “I’m handling the dialogue, which would be typically the sound that was recorded on set, ADR which is additional dialogue that’s recorded afterwards … and then sound effects would be the nuts and bolts, if you see a door close you hear a door close … and then foley, which is the sound that’s created by a team done in real time where they watch the show and they have a stage with different services and different props.”