Guadalajara, Mexico (October 24, 2025)—The large, improvisational cast and “wild” RF environment of La Oficina, the Mexican adaptation of TV series The Office, presented production sound mixer Sealtiel Alatriste with significant challenges.
“Early on, the showrunner told me that the show was following the same mockumentary format as the original BBC series and U.S. spin-off, and all 16 cast members would need to be continuously miked due to extensive improvisation,” Alatriste shares. “When you work in Mexico, the RF environment is wild and having that many live transmitters operating simultaneously could be a recipe for interference.”
Alatriste, whose credits include over 30 films, along with Netflix shows such as Welcome to the Family and three seasons of El Niñero, used his entire Lectrosonics arsenal, he reports. “To capture the cast members, I used eight SMWB and six SMV miniature transmitters. My mic team worked closely with the wardrobe department to find optimal lavalier placements for each actor, a task they had to accomplish in a half-hour. To make sure we had redundancy, I used two booms with HMa and HM plug-on UHF transmitters. I also used my two trusty UM400A transmitters daily. My receiver kit included SRc and SRA models, along with several UCR411A receivers. I love the UCR411A and still use them every chance I get. Those are solid.”
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He continues, “Extensive preparation was critical for La Oficina. In Mexican TV, it’s uncommon to have much time for sound pre-production. Fortunately, I was able to work closely with the art department while they were developing the set. We hid six antennas in plain sight, using many office materials to conceal them—ensuring they were always close to the transmitters so we would always get a strong signal.
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“Once the antennas were in place, Lectrosonics Wireless Designer was the key to our success. We used the software to analyze the frequency spectrum and coordinate frequencies for each transmitter. We were able to quickly dial everything in and once set, we needed no changes during recording. It’s an incredibly nice tool for pre-production.”
La Oficina is set to premiere on Prime Video in January 2026 with additional seasons planned.
