On Set Audio / Kleven Creative

Experienced and Professional

Sound Mixer for Feature Films - Documentaries - Corporate Videos - Television

A great collaborator

Kleven prides himself on building strong working relationships on set. Even with production professionals he has only just met. He feels a great day is when we’ve gotten our shots and captured perfect audio.

Major Film and Television Projects

Feature films: Heartthrob – The Gender Card Flip – Father Africa – Hooked – Lane 1974 – The Beginning of Life – Love, Gilda

Television: Grey’s Anatomy ABC – The Scottish Play Amazon Prime – Taking Fire Discovery – Humans & Households – Tabitha: Witch of the Order – RuPaul’s Drag Race VH1

A Passion for Audio

Kleven’s audio career started at age 19 working as a sound engineer and DJ at KUGS in Bellingham while attending classes at Western Washington University. At WWU, a respected liberal arts college, he earned a BA degree with a theater major. He later entered the film and video program at Seattle Central College, graduating with honors.

Kleven has filmed in Amsterdam, Anchorage, Juneau, Mexico, Daytona Beach, Orlando, NYC, Washington DC, Baltimore and Portland OR. Although the majority of his projects have been filmed in the greater Seattle area and Washington State.

Kleven was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and has always felt drawn to the landscapes and culture of this region. He loves the outdoors, and enjoys photography, hiking, cycling and inline skating. Kleven is a bit of a cinephile. He enjoys keeping up on the best films and performances which come out each year.

Kleven feels that recording pristine audio is both a passion and a calling. Whether it be for narrative, corporate, commercial, or documentary film.

Attention to Details - Premium Equipment

Sound Devices 633 & MixPre10T recorders– Lectrosonics Wireless Systems – DPA 4017B Shotgun and Lav Microphones – Sennheiser MKH50 Microphone and Wireless Systems – Comtek 216 Series IFB – Zaxcom Wireless Camera Hop – Orca Bags – Digital Slate – Rycote Windjammer and Shock Mounts – VDB Carbon Fiber Boom Pole

Mike Kleven

About Michael Kleven

Michael Kleven is an experienced production sound mixer and is known for his exceptional work on feature films, corporate videos, television, award-winning documentaries, and online content. He was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest.

In addition to his passion for audio, he is also known for his work as a documentary film director. He has three films slated for completion in 2020. The first, The Train I Missed, is about a Jewish child hidden from the Nazis during WWII. The next one is Khu.éex’ the Magic of Noise, about a Tlingit Funk/Jazz band co-founded by Funk legend Bernie Worrell and then finally Visions in the Fire: the Life and Art of Preston Singletary. Producer Elke Hautala is his partner on these films.

Kleven grew up in the Bothell/Kenmore area and in Bellingham. He has been based in the Seattle area since 1996. His parents relocated to Alaska in 1984, settling for a time in Bethel, then Valdez, and now Anchorage. His mother Sandra Kleven is a noted author and expert on issues facing Alaska Natives. She is also the editor and publisher of the Cirque Literary Journal. He loves to visit Alaska often and considers it his home away from home.

As a sound mixer, Kleven loves contributing to projects involving dynamic subject matter, innovative technologies, and extraordinary individuals. Projects that have resonated with him include helping profile the inspirational qualities of Seahawk quarterback Russell Wilson or the comic genius of the late Gilda Radner. One project he found particularly meaningful profiled an Aphganistan medic who suffers from PTSD. The project not only captured his sacrifice but also the brotherhood he and his platoon mates had felt for one another. He’s also enjoyed recording audio for projects highlighting programs that provide assistive technology for the disabled and another providing shoes for migrant children in Mexico.

As 22 years old, traveling in Europe, Kleven was in Crete preparing to leave the island when a producer approached him and asked him to portray a Venetian Officer in Franco Zeffirelli’s film of Verde’s opera, “Otello”. Here he had the experience of working alongside opera greats Placido Domingo, Katia Ricciarelli and Justino Diaz. Although this experience left a lasting impression on him it turned out to be the highlight of Kleven’s time in front of the camera!

Some of Kleven’s favorite projects include The Scottish Play television series, on Amazon Prime Video, Taking Fire, a harrowing look at the life of a combat medic wounded in Afghanistan, mentioned above, on The Discovery Channel, and Love Gilda, a film about the immensely talented Gilda Radner, also mentioned above, which was the opening night film at the Tribeca Film Festival, on CNN Pictures.

Kleven enjoys working in challenging environments that involve close collaboration with teammates and sensitivity towards talent whether corporate CEO or Hollywood A-Lister. He prides himself on his professionalism and decorum and loves working with other artists and technicians who also take great pride in their work.