SoundWorks Collection

Bonnie Wild, the sound effects editor and re-recording mixer of Disney+’s hit show The Mandalorian, takes us behind the scenes for a conversation about achieving cinematic scale and production value on a television budget, balancing the palette of new sound creation with classic Star Wars sounds we all know and love, why mixing in a home theater environment was important for the show, and how to do a Jawa loop group session. It is the first live action series in the Star Wars franchise. Set five years after the events of Return of the Jedi and 25 years prior to the events of The Force Awakens, it follows the title character, a Mandalorian bounty hunter named Din Djarin, and his exploits beyond the reaches of the New Republic. ⁣June 18: THE MANDALORIAN⁣ ⁣June 25: WESTWORLD⁣ ⁣July 2: MINDHUNTER⁣ ⁣July 9: OZARK⁣ ⁣July 16: LOCKE & KEY⁣ ⁣July 23: UNORTHODOX⁣ ⁣July 30: DEVS⁣ ⁣August 6: Dolby Vision Roundtable⁣ Full video discussions will be on Dolby Youtube page and audio podcasts will be featured on our website or the SoundWorks Collection channels on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher and Spotify!

This week we chat with Composer Kris Bowers about his recent work on the Hulu show, Mrs. America and the challenges of completing his score during the COVID-19 pandemic. ABOUT KRIS BOWERS Emmy Award-winning composer and pianist, Kris Bowers, creates genre-defying music that pays homage to his jazz roots with inflections of alternative and R&B influences. The result is a sound rife with contradictions, a work of nuanced alchemy situated at the summit of his influences. A confluence of jazz greats, classical standards, and the alternative and experimental music of his youth, along with the cinematic storytelling of his most studied film scores. Bowers’ earliest musical inspirations were varied, transcending generation and genre to include work by artists such as Steve Reich, Radiohead, Stevie Wonder, Brian Eno, Herbie Hancock, and Jimi Hendrix. As a young musician, Bowers brought the language of jazz to his covers of artists like Death Cab For Cutie, Tune-Yards, Radiohead, and Kendrick Lamar. Since 2013, the Juilliard-educated pianist has established himself at the forefront of Hollywood’s emerging generation of genre-defying composers. What sets Bowers apart is his unique ability to compose music that resonates across such a diverse continuum of artists, storytellers, and audiences. From scoring documentaries like Kobe Bryant’s Muse (SHOWTIME, 2015) and Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You (2016), to scripted series including Shonda Rhimes and Paul William Davies’ For The People (ABC), Netflix’s Dear White People, and SHOWTIME’S Black Monday (Exec. Produced by Seth Rogen & Evan Golberg), Bowers’ work as a film and television composer is a testament to his versatility as an artist. Bowers first made a name for himself in 2011, when he won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where Aretha Franklin chose him as a favorite to win during the semi-finals concert. The win earned him a record deal with Concord Jazz, who later released his debut album, Heroes+Misfits, which opened at number one on the iTunes jazz chart in 2014. https://www.krisbowers.com ABOUT MRS. AMERICA Mrs. America tells the story of the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and the unexpected backlash led by a conservative woman named Phyllis Schlafly, aka “the sweetheart of the silent majority.” Through the eyes of the women of the era – both Schlafly and second wave feminists Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm, Bella Abzug and Jill Ruckelshaus – the series explores how one of the toughest battlegrounds in the culture wars of the 70s helped give rise to the Moral Majority and forever shifted the political landscape. Mrs. America features an all-star team in front of and behind the cameras. Two-time Academy Award and Golden Globe Award winner Cate Blanchett headlines as Phyllis Schlafly, leading a stellar cast portraying some of the most iconic women of the era, including Emmy Award nominated Rose Byrne as Gloria Steinem, Emmy Award winner Margo Martindale as Bella Abzug, Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Uzo Aduba as Shirley Chisholm, Emmy Award nominated Elizabeth Banks as Jill Ruckelshaus, and Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Tracey Ullman as Betty Friedan. The cast also boasts Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Sarah Paulson, Emmy Award nominated John Slattery, Emmy Award nominated Jeanne Tripplehorn, Ari Graynor, Melanie Lynskey and Kayli Carter. Executive Producers are Emmy Award winner Dahvi Waller (Mad Men), who serves as creator and showrunner, Academy Award nominated Stacey Sher (Django Unchained, Erin Brockovich), Coco Francini, Cate Blanchett and Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck (Captain Marvel, Billions), who directed four of the nine episodes, including the first two.

In this exclusive roundtable conversation we talk with documentary Director Brandon Vedder and re-recording mixer Tony Villaflor about their work on the biographical music documentary, Strange Negotiations. After abandoning his long-held Christian beliefs and walking away from his critically-acclaimed band, Pedro the Lion, musician David Bazan retreated into a solitary life as a solo musician — modest house shows, weeks away from family, and lingering questions about his faith, music, and America. STRANGE NEGOTIATIONS, which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival, follows Bazan a decade into his journey as a reluctant prophet for a generation wrestling with America’s own crisis of faith, highlighted by the 2016 presidential election. Watch the film: www.strangenegotiationsfilm.com

In this episode we chat with re-recording mixer Eric Fischer from Autumn Audio who worked on the new music documentary, Coachella: 20 Years in The Desert‎. A documentary feature two decades in the making, “Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert” opens up the vault for the very first time to present the legendary performances and behind-the-scenes stories that shaped the seminal music festival. The film provides a rare look at Coachella’s colorful beginning, presents exclusive, never-before-seen footage, interviews, and key performances from some of the biggest names in music. Produced and directed by Chris Perkel Executive Produced by Raymond Leon Roker and Paul Tollett A Goldenvoice Production in association with Hamsterdam Productions Watch the film: https://youtu.be/jjwilAja7Lc

James Mockoski, head of production and archives at American Zoetrope joins us this week to discuss his work supervising the restoration department for Director Francis Ford Coppola’s production company. We discuss his recent work on the 4K Dolby Atmos release of Apocalypse Now: Final Cut and other titles including The Conversation, The Godfather and Lost in Translation. ABOUT AMERICAN ZOETROPE: American Zoetrope (also known as Zoetrope Studios from 1979 until 1990) is a privately run American film production company, centered in San Francisco, California and founded by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas. Opened on December 12, 1969, the studio has produced not only the films of Coppola (including Apocalypse Now, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Tetro), but also George Lucas's pre-Star Wars films (THX 1138, American Graffiti), as well as many others by avant-garde directors such as Jean-Luc Godard, Akira Kurosawa, Wim Wenders and Godfrey Reggio. American Zoetrope was an early adopter of digital filmmaking, including some of the earliest uses of HDTV. Four films produced by American Zoetrope are included in the American Film Institute's Top 100 Films. American Zoetrope-produced films have received 15 Academy Awards and 68 nominations. Initially located in a warehouse on Folsom Street, the company's headquarters have since 1972 been in the historic Sentinel Building, at 916 Kearny Street in San Francisco's North Beach neighbourhood. Coppola named the studio after a zoetrope he was given in the late 1960s by the filmmaker and collector of early film devices, Mogens Skot-Hansen. "Zoetrope" is also the name by which Coppola's quarterly fiction magazine, Zoetrope: All-Story, is often known. American Zoetrope is now owned entirely by Coppola's son and daughter, directors Roman Coppola and Sofia Coppola, while a majority of the film library is now owned by Lionsgate. www..zoetrope.com/american-zoetrope

In this episode we chat with Crip Camp Directors James Lebrecht & Nicole Newnham about how the project developed, structuring their complex storyline and the deeper issues the film addresses. Crip Camp won the Audience Award for U.S. Documentary at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and is now streaming on Netflix worldwide. About Crip Camp Just down the road from Woodstock, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a parallel revolution blossomed in a ramshackle summer camp for disabled teenagers. Steeped in the humor and music of the era, Crip Camp explores the universal experience of summer camp awakenings that would transform lives and shape the future of the disability rights movement. Told from the point of view of former camper Jim LeBrecht, the film traces the journeys of campers up to the present day, in this compelling and untold story of a powerful journey towards inclusion. Jim LeBrecht has over 35 years of experience as a film and theater sound designer and mixer, author and disability rights activist. Jim began his career in theater, working as the resident sound designer at the Berkeley Repertory Theater for 10 years. His fim credits include The Island President, The Waiting Room, The Kill Team and Audry and Daisy. A complete list of his film credits (over 145) can be viewed at IMDB. Jim co-authored Sound and Music for the Theater: the art and technique of design. Now in its 4th edition, the book is used as a textbook all over the world. Jim’s work as an activist began in high school and continued at UC, San Diego, where he helped found the Disabled Students Union. Jim is currently a board member of the Disability Education and Defense Fund, which works for the rights of the disabled through education, legislation, and litigation. Nicole Newnham is an Emmy-winning documentary producer and director, Sundance Film Festival alumnus and five-time Emmy-nominee. She has recently produced two virtual reality films with the Australian artist / director Lynette Wallworth: the breakthrough VR work Collisions, which won the 2017 Emmy for Outstanding New Approaches to Documentary, and Awavena, featured this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos and at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Previously she co-directed The Revolutionary Optimists, winner of the Sundance Hilton Sustainability Award, Nicole also instigated, co-produced and directed the acclaimed documentary The Rape of Europa, about the Nazi war on European culture, which was nominated for a WGA award and shortlisted for the Academy Award. With Pulitzer-prize winning photographer Brian Lanker, she produced They Drew Fire, about the Combat Artists of WWII, and co-wrote the companion book, distributed by Harper Collins. A 1997 graduate of the Stanford Documentary Film Program, Nicole lives in Oakland with her husband Tom, and two sons, Finn and Blaine. About Higher Ground Productions Barack and Michelle Obama signed a deal on May 22, 2018 to produce docu-series, documentaries and features for Netflix under the Obamas' newly formed production company, Higher Ground Productions. On the deal, Michelle said "I have always believed in the power of storytelling to inspire us, to make us think differently about the world around us, and to help us open our minds and hearts to others." Higher Ground's first film, American Factory, won the Best Documentary Oscar in 2020.

From the creators of Ori and the Blind Forest - the acclaimed adventure game with more than 50 awards and nominations - comes the highly-anticipated sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Embark on an all-new adventure in a vast and exotic world where you’ll encounter towering enemies and challenging puzzles on your quest to unravel Ori’s true destiny. Gareth Coker is a British composer for film, games, and commercials. Since moving from Japan to Los Angeles in 2009, Gareth has developed a compositional style focusing on memorable, melodically-driven themes and motifs, combined with unique, and unconventional soundscapes. This approach, and his ability to apply it in a way that always serves to enhance the story earned him the attention of Moon Studios, which led to a highly successful collaboration on the acclaimed game Ori and the Blind Forest, released in March 2015 and reviewed as one of the highest rated games on Xbox One. The universally critically acclaimed soundtrack has won several prestigious awards, including an Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences award for Outstanding Music Composition, a SXSW Gaming Award for Excellence in Musical Score, and the Game Audio Network Guild’s Audio of the Year. www.gareth-coker.net www.garethcoker.bandcamp.com www.soundcloud.com/garethcoker

We chat with Miles Rogers from Meyer Sound about a wide range of cinema focused speakers including the Bluehorn System, Amie Precision Studio Monitor, HMS Cinema Surround Loudspeakers and the VLFC (Very Low Frequency Control Element) recently used by Director Francis Ford Coppola for Apocalypse Now: Final Cut. Find out more information: Amie - http://www.meyersound.com/product/amie/ Amie Sub - http://www.meyersound.com/product/amie-sub/ VLFC - http://www.meyersound.com/product/vlfc/ Bluehorn System - http://www.meyersound.com/product/bluehorn-system

Ford v Ferrari is so much more than a race car movie. At its core, it’s a movie about a friendship, and about two men fighting for what they believe. In this episode the sound team talks about the carving out moments for internal character sounds to come through, the process of tracking down the original cars to keep the film sounding real, and the challenges of building a 45-minute racing sequence and keeping it acoustically interesting. Paul Massey - Re-recording Mixer Don Sylvester - Supervising Sound Editor David Giammarco - Re-recording Mixer & Sound Designer Moderated by Glenn Kiser, Dolby Institute Recorded at the Mix Magazine Sound for Film & TV event at Sony Studios on Saturday, September 28, 2019.

As a large-scale historical film, 1917 creates an intense and realistic soundscape of World War I. In this episode, we talk with the sound team, nominated for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing, about the challenges and fun experiences that arose from this film. In part 1, we talk with ADR and dialogue supervisor Rachael Tate about blending the unique amount of sound coverage into the film, trying to work with minimum ADR, and making sure that even background chatter is historically realistic. In part 2, production sound mixer Stuart Wilson shares challenges with mic placements, the importance of on-set sound for creating realistic tension, and the trust and communication among the production.