LAKE PLACID – He’s worked alongside Woody Allen, Kate Winslet and Samuel L. Jackson, and now he has an Emmy award.

Lake Placid native Tom Varga was nominated for an Oscar in 2015 as production sound mixer on the 2014 film “Birdman” starring Michael Keaton, and he just earned an Emmy for his work on the quirky and Golden Globe-winning series “Mozart in the Jungle.”

He said the award is validation for work over his 30-year career.

“It doesn’t get me more work or more money, but for me, it shows I am actually good at what I do. It’s a tough business, there’s a lot of competition, and you’re always interviewing and selling yourself,” he said.

Varga currently resides in Westchester County and has a home and recording studio in Jay. His parents still live in Lake Placid. His father is Dr. C. Francis Varga, a retired pathologist at Adirondack Medical Center.

His job is to record the actors’ performances and sound effects and record music. “Mozart” was a particular challenge because of the sheer amount of music and dialogue, he said, as opposed to just people talking in a room. The show centers around an anti-establishment conductor who wants to shake things up in the New York Symphony.

“That meant recording 20 guys walking down New York City streets with tubas, and recording a drum circle on set and then playing it back as the musicians played along to it. I know it sounds like really boring stuff, but it’s really cutting edge and challenging.”

Varga began his Hollywood career shoveling horse manure on the set of a Miller beer commercial. Since then, he has worked on more than 100 films, worked as a composer and has scored a full-length feature film.

His latest job is producing sound on Woody Allen’s most recent film, a period piece featuring Kate Winslet, Justin Timberlake and Juno Temple. He is not allowed to divulge any more details about the project at this time.

Interested in film at a young age, his father bought him a 35mm camera when he was 11. Simultaneously, he acted on his interest in music and began playing the guitar and writing songs. When the time came, he knew he wanted to work in film but was anxious that he would not have his family’s support. But his father made it clear to him he did not care what he did as long as he does it well.

When not in Tarrytown or New York or Los Angeles, Varga can be found in his Jay studio, which he recently refurbished to allow for more post-production work.

“I try to be in the Adirondacks as much as possible,” he said.