Contract

Freelance Recording Engineer / Dialogue Editor

Updated on 6/24/2026

Absurd Ventures

Absurd Ventures

51-200 employees

Creates immersive narratives for distribution

No salary listed

Santa Monica, CA, USA

In Person

On-site role in Santa Monica, California; local candidates only.

Category
Audio & Sound Design
Requirements
  • Minimum 5 years of professional experience as an audio engineer
  • Extensive experience recording with clients and talent in the room
  • Proven expertise editing dialogue at a high narrative and technical level
  • Strong mixing experience for linear television and advertising
  • Deep familiarity with broadcast and streaming delivery specifications
  • Experience recording on motion capture stages
  • Proficiency with industry-standard wireless microphone systems
  • Advanced Pro Tools proficiency and session management discipline
  • Demonstrated ability to manage large asset libraries and complex session workflows
  • Strong communication skills and calm, client-facing professionalism
  • Dialogue cleanup, restoration, and precision editing
  • Loudness standards compliance (broadcast and streaming)
  • Stem printing and versioning workflows
  • Multi-mic wireless coordination and RF management
  • Sync workflows for performance capture environments
  • Asset naming, metadata tagging, and delivery packaging
  • Meticulous and detail-oriented
  • Composed under pressure
  • Efficient without sacrificing craft
  • Organized across multiple concurrent productions
  • Collaborative and production-minded
Responsibilities
  • Record voice talent to broadcast and AAA game standards
  • Engineer client-attended sessions with producers, directors, and executives present
  • Perform detailed dialogue editing, cleanup, conforming, and file prep to technical specifications
  • Ensure tonal consistency across large narrative projects
  • Mix linear television, advertising, and marketing content
  • Prepare stems and final deliverables to spec for broadcast, streaming, and digital distribution
  • Maintain technical QC standards and meet technical delivery standards
  • Edit and prepare dialogue assets for interactive implementation
  • Manage large asset counts with strict naming conventions and version control
  • Collaborate with sound design, implementation, and production teams
  • Deliver clean, organized, implementation-ready files
  • Record dialogue and production audio on motion capture stages
  • Manage multi-channel wireless microphone workflows
  • Manage RF signal chains in challenging environments
  • Manage gain stages to the highest standards
  • Provide live mixes to relevant stakeholders as needed
  • Coordinate with stage technicians, capture supervisors, and production teams
  • Ensure sync integrity at all times
  • Manage multiple projects simultaneously with shifting priorities
  • Maintain impeccable session organization and documentation
  • Hit delivery deadlines without compromising technical quality
  • Troubleshoot technical issues independently and efficiently

Absurd Ventures operates in the storytelling industry by creating and distributing original, immersive narratives for a wide range of audiences. It develops and provides storytelling content to clients through partnerships, licensing, and direct sales, generating revenue from these arrangements. The product work involves crafting engaging stories and delivering them as content experiences to clients, often via curated partnerships or licensing deals. Absurd Ventures differentiates itself by targeting a niche that seeks diverse and compelling storytelling, continuously evolving its services to stay relevant and appealing in a rapidly changing market. Its primary goal is to meet growing demand for fresh, high-quality narrative experiences and to grow its business through licensing, partnerships, and direct distribution.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

California

Founded

N/A

Your Connections

People at Absurd Ventures who can refer or advise you

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Smilegate's 2025 investment funds two open-world action-adventure games.
  • 'A Better Paradise' audio series topped charts, boosting IP value.
  • March 2026 book imprint diversifies revenue with external authors.

What critics are saying

  • Smilegate exits derail both game projects within 12-24 months.
  • Houser departure destroys creative vision and investor confidence.
  • No shipped games fail execution on scope and budget in 18-36 months.

What makes Absurd Ventures unique

  • Dan Houser leverages GTA and Red Dead expertise for original IPs.
  • Absurdaverse spans games, animation, comics, books, and podcasts.
  • Launches universes via audio first, scaling to high-cost media.

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Benefits

Paid Vacation

Paid Sick Leave

Company Holidays

Parental Leave

Medical/Dental/Vision Insurance

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

401(k) Company Match

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-12%

1 year growth

-12%

2 year growth

-1%
VentureBeat
Jan 31st, 2025
Dan Houser’S Absurd Ventures Teases Animation Project And Action-Comedy Adventure Game

Dan Houser’s Absurd Ventures is teasing some new projects including an animated series and an action-comedy adventure game.“Prepare to meet some new kinds of heroes (and watch them suffer),” the company said in a statement. The news comes shortly after South Korean game developer and publisher Smilegate made a strategic investment and became a partner in Absurd Ventures, a game studio founded by Rockstar Games cofounder Dan Houser.Houser spent more than 20 years at Rockstar games and drove the creative direction of the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption franchises, which have collectively sold more than 550 million units worldwide. (Theoretically, that’s about $33 billion worth of games). Houser left Rockstar Games in 2020.Absurd Ventures will be introducing this universe with animation projects later this year. There is also an original story-driven action-comedy adventure game set in the Absurdaverse currently in development at Absurd Ventures studios.And that’s all they’re saying at the moment. Absurd Ventures is an entertainment company creating new IP across all mediums including video games, live-action and animated TV, film, fiction podcasts, books, comic books and more

VentureBeat
Jan 16th, 2025
How Gta Pioneer Dan Houser’S Absurd Ventures Will Make Great Worlds With Strong Storytelling

South Korean game publisher Smilegate recently made a strategic investment and became a partner in Absurd Ventures, a game studio founded by Rockstar Games cofounder Dan Houser.Houser spent more than 20 years at Rockstar games and drove the creative direction of the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption franchises, which have collectively sold more than 550 million units worldwide. (Theoretically, that’s about $33 billion worth of games). Houser left Rockstar Games in 2020.Through this agreement, Smilegate will have the opportunity to partner on Absurd Ventures’ new intellectual property, which has been in the works since Houser started the studio in 2021. I am looking forward to seeing the creative output of this combination, as Houser was part of a talented team at Rockstar that rose to the pinnacle of the game industry. This is a test as to whether he can do more of the same, this time with a South Korean juggernaut behind him instead of Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive.It’s a big opportunity for Smilegate — the maker of games such as Crossfire and Lost Ark — to team up with Houser, who creatively oversaw globally successful IPs that are cultural cornerstones and rooted in immersive storytelling. I did an interview with Smilegate and Absurd Ventures to find out why they did this deal and to find some clues about what they’re working on

VentureBeat
Dec 3rd, 2024
Smilegate Invests in Absurd Ventures

South Korean game publisher Smilegate has invested in Absurd Ventures, a studio founded by Rockstar Games cofounder Dan Houser. Houser, known for his work on Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, left Rockstar in 2020 and started Absurd Ventures in 2021. This partnership allows Smilegate to collaborate on new intellectual property. Houser expressed mutual respect with Smilegate's founder, Hyuk-bin Kwon, and aims to create new player experiences.