Miguel Sotto Mayor is a highly experienced sound professional, specialising in audio for film, television, advertising and broadcast. With a career spanning over three decades, he combines a solid technical background with extensive hands-on experience, working with his own professional equipment in both production and post-production environments, as well as in education.
He received most of his training in the United Kingdom. In 1999, he completed a Sound Engineering certification at the School of Audio Engineering in London. He later attended the BBC Training Centre in Wood Norton, where he undertook specialised courses in Surround Sound and Digital Audio in 2000 and 2002. In 2006, he became certified as a Post-Production Operator for Avid Pro Tools HD at Alchemea College, also in London. Upon returning to Portugal, he further developed his skills by completing a course in Digital Video and High Definition at the Lisbon School of Social Communication in 2008.
Driven by a strong interest in technology and digital production systems, Miguel also became an Apple-certified hardware technician between 2009 and 2015, through AMSYS in London. Since 2012, he has been an Avid Certified Instructor for the Pro Tools editing system—an essential tool in the post-production audio industry.
Professionally, Miguel has taken on a wide range of roles across the audiovisual field. Since 2019, he has worked as a Sound Director for a variety of production companies such as Shine Ibéria, Fremantle Portugal, Coral Europa, Warner Portugal, EBH, TVI, SIC, Garage Films, Fast Forward, David & Golias, 24/7, and CLS, contributing to both commercial and independent projects. In parallel, he has been working as a freelance sound designer since 1996, developing post-production sound projects for television, cinema, advertising, and digital content.
Between 2007 and 2019, Miguel served as the Sound Operations Manager at national television channel TVI, where he oversaw technical teams and managed production and broadcast sound workflows. From 2001 to 2007, he worked as a Technical Audio Supervisor and Sound Designer at Cinemate, a television and film production company. His professional journey began in 1989 in the Sound Department of the Portuguese Army and continued as a sound operator in fiction and entertainment productions for various companies including Plural, D&D, Iniziomedia, Fábrica de Imagens, and Rosa Filmes.
Alongside his production career, Miguel has maintained a strong presence in the field of education since 2001, delivering courses, workshops and seminars on sound production and post-production for film and television. He has provided bespoke technical training for organisations such as ESMAE (Porto), Algarve Film Commission, EuroSport, Sporting TV, Jogos Santa Casa, and Teatro D. Maria II, among others. He has taught at Restart and Val do Rio professional school, and is currently a faculty member at ETIC and World Academy.
His work reflects a deep technical expertise in sound, combined with a commitment to teaching, continuous learning, and innovation in the audiovisual field.
