# Simon Hayes (sound engineer)

Simon Hayes is a British production sound mixer. Hayes won an Academy Award for Best Sound at the 85th Academy Awards for his work on Les Misérables. He won a BAFTA for Best Sound for the same film. In 2022, the 94th Academy Awards included Hayes as a nominee for Best Sound for his work on No Time to Die. In 2025, the 97th Academy Awards included Hayes as a nominee for Best Sound for his work on Wicked Part One,

## Career

After starting work as a runner for a Commercials production company when he was 16 years old, Simon Hayes moved into the sound department as an assistant and then boom operator, before mixing his first feature film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels at the age of 27. Hayes was the production sound mixer for the 2012 epic period musical film Les Misérables, for which the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded him the Oscar for Best Sound Mixing at the 85th Academy Awards, alongside Andy Nelson and Mark Paterson. The director Tom Hooper required all singing in the film to be recorded live, which was widely deemed to be impracticable. Hayes and his team undertook complex recording, editing and mixing processes to achieve Hooper's aim. They captured recordings of the actors amidst loud film sets, edited the vocals, then overdubbed the orchestration.

## Awards

* Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing, Les Misérables, 85th Academy Awards, 2013.
* BAFTA for Best Sound, Les Misérables, 2012
* Nikola Tesla Satellite Award for For Visionary Achievement in Filmmaking Technology, 2024
* CAS Award for Les Misérables, Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Motion Picture – Live Action, 2012
* Satellite Award for Wicked Part One, Best Sound (Editing and Mixing), 2024
* Satellite Award for Les Misérables, Best Sound (Editing and Mixing), 2012
* Conch Award for Production Sound Mixer of the year, 2008

## Nominations

* Academy Award for Best Sound, Wicked Part One, 2025
* Academy Award for Best Sound, No Time to Die, 2022
* BAFTA for Best Sound, No Time to Die, 2022
* BAFTA for Best Sound, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, 2017

## Filmography

BFI Filmography :
| Year | Title | Role |
| 1998 | Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels | Sound Recordist |
| 1999 | Fanny & Elvis | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2000 | Snatch | Sound Mixer |
| 2002 | Birthday Girl | Additional Shooting Crew UK |
| 2002 | Mean Machine | Sound Mixer |
| 2003 | Swept Away | Production sound mixer |
| 2004 | Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2004 | Layer Cake | Sound Mixer |
| 2004 | Shaun of the Dead | Sound Recordist |
| 2004 | The Calcium Kid | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2005 | Nanny McPhee | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2005 | Revolver | Sound Recordist |
| 2006 | Sixty Six “A True…Ish Story” | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2007 | 28 Weeks Later | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2007 | Copying Beethoven | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2007 | Stardust | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2008 | Incendiary | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2008 | Mamma Mia! | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2008 | The Bank Job | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2009 | Franklyn | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2009 | Harry Brown | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2009 | Lesbian Vampire Killers | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2010 | Green Zone | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2010 | Kick-Ass | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2010 | Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2011 | X-Men: First Class | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2012 | Bel Ami | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2012 | Prometheus | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2012 | Les Misérables | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2013 | The Counselor | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2013 | Trance | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2014 | Before I Go to Sleep | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2014 | Guardians of the Galaxy | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2015 | Kingsman: The Secret Service | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2016 | Allied | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2016 | Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2017 | The Legend of Tarzan | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2017 | Eat Locals | Sound Consultant |
| 2017 | King Arthur: Legend of the Sword | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2017 | Life | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2018 | Cats | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2019 | Aladdin | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2019 | Yesterday | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2021 | No Time to Die | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2023 | The Little Mermaid | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2024 | Argylle | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2024 | Wicked Part One | Production Sound Mixer |
| 2025 | Snow White | Production Sound Mixer |

## Personal life

Hayes is a 4th degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt and coaches at Carlson Gracie London. He also holds a 2nd dan blackbelt in Judo. Hayes raced BMX in the 1980s winning the 1985 European BMX Championships in Barcelona.