Dolby Creator Talks

“Sing Sing” — an independent feature film now in theaters — made a big splash at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Greg Kwedar, the film is notable for its unique casting approach, blending actors such as Colman Domingo with real-life, formally incarcerated individuals. It’s set in the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York, focusing on the prison’s theater troupe. But one of the most interesting aspects of the production was how it was financed. And in particular how it used a profit-sharing model where all crew members, including those non-professional actors, received a share of the film's profits. Today’s discussion details how exactly that financing strategy worked, as well as the inspiring journey to getting the film made.Joining today’s discussion:- Carlos López Estrada - Moderator- Valerie Bush - Moderator- Greg Kwedar - Producer, Director, and Writer, Sing Sing- Clint Bentley - Producer and Writer, Sing Sing- Monique Walton - Producer, Sing SingBe sure to check out Sing Sing, now playing in theaters.This is another installment of our ongoing “Satellite Sessions” series, which we’re bringing to you in partnership with Antigravity Academy and the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment. Follow @antigravityacademy and @capeusa for more information on even more upcoming panels.Antigravity AcademyCAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment)For more inspiring Satellite Sessions just like this one, be sure you are subscribed to Dolby Creator Talks wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

Multi-platinum mixer and engineer Richard Chycki joins us to dive deep into his work with legendary rock bands such as Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Dream Theater, Mick Jagger, and, of course, the iconic Rush. Richard has been at the forefront of immersive audio with his Dolby Atmos® mixes of Rush classics like “Moving Pictures” and “Signals,” building upon his original surround mixes.In this conversation with guest host Ben Givarz, Richard shares his process for respecting the creative intent of these timeless tracks while adapting them to Dolby Atmos, ensuring an immersive experience that translates seamlessly across various playback systems. He delves into how Dolby Atmos allows him to emphasize the sonic nuances of Geddy Lee's voice and bass, Alex Lifeson's intricate guitar work, and Neil Peart's legendary drumming, all while maintaining the integrity of the original recordings. Plus, he offers his insights into the future of music mixing, and his excitement for new, original compositions being created in Dolby Atmos from the ground up.This interview is part of our new series, "Reimagining the Classics."“One of the things about a technology like Dolby Atmos is it gives producers, mixers, engineers and artists a new way to express, creatively. A lot of the work I do is in mixing. And for me, rather than trying to reinvent ways to cram bigger and bigger sessions into two speakers, I now have a lot more real estate to work with. And that's gratifying. And it gives me a lot of new creative energy.”—Richard Chycki, Audio Engineer and MixerYou can listen to these and many other classic and contemporary albums in Dolby Atmos, on enabled streaming services.You can learn more about Richard Chycki and his incredible mixing career here. Interested in creating content in Dolby Atmos? Check out our free resources to give you a jump start!- Dolby Atmos Music Accelerator: https://www.dolby.com/institute/music-accelerator/- Dolby Atmos Essentials Course: https://learning.dolby.com/- Dolby Atmos Music Support: https://professional.dolby.com/music/Professional-resources/Please subscribe to Dolby Creator Talks wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode on our YouTube channel.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

Mix engineer Ryan Ulyate joins us to dive deep into his work with the late, great Tom Petty, including his Dolby Atmos® mixes of Petty's “Highway Companion” solo album, “Wildflowers & All The Rest” Deluxe Edition, “Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Greatest Hits,” and the iconic “Live at the Fillmore 1997.”Ryan has been a recording engineer and producer for over 40 years, with credits on over 120 albums, and has been at the forefront of immersive audio for over 20. In this conversation with guest host Ben Givarz, Ryan shares his journey of sifting through hours of multi-track tapes to create those incredible new immersive mixes, as well as his theories, best practices, and the creative process behind bringing a fully immersive experience to life in Dolby Atmos.This interview is part of our new series, "Reimagining the Classics."“What I realized about Dolby Atmos was that it's not something you do to overwhelm people. It's just something that allows you to put [the listener] in the space of where the music was being made… You can create more drama and get people really inside the music and create these little moments. I think that I've always looked at music visually. I just always see a picture when I'm mixing. And this just broadens the scope so much more. And it gives you such an emotional connection when it works. And that's all that the musicians that I've respected, and I've worked with, ever wanted. Just to find a great way - the best way - for people to connect with their music.”—Ryan Ulyate, Record Producer and Mix EngineerYou can listen to these and many other classic and contemporary albums in Dolby Atmos, on enabled streaming services.Be sure to also check out Ryan Ulyate’s Grammy Award®-nominated album “Act 3,” in Dolby Atmos:- Apple Music- Amazon Music- TIDAL- Immersive Audio AlbumYou can learn more about Ryan and his incredible mix studio here. Interested in creating content in Dolby Atmos? Check out our free resources to give you a jump start!- Dolby Atmos Music Accelerator: https://www.dolby.com/institute/music-accelerator/- Dolby Atmos Essentials Course: https://learning.dolby.com/- Dolby Atmos Music Support: https://professional.dolby.com/music/Professional-resources/Please subscribe to Dolby Creator Talks wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode on our YouTube channel.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

Bob Clearmountain and Rhett Davies, legends in the world of music recording, production, and engineering, join guest host Ben Givarz to delve into the process of transforming Roxy Music's iconic album "Avalon" and Bryan Ferry's platinum record "Boys and Girls" into Dolby Atmos®. They dive deep into the background of the recording and engineering processes they used on these and other legendary Roxy Music records in the 70s and 80s, as well as how they used the original multi-tracks to go from 5.1 mixes in the early 2000s, onto these incredible new Dolby Atmos mixes.This interview is part of our new series, "Reimagining the Classics."“It was a lot more complicated than what either of us had remembered from the original mixes. But still, it's always an adventure and I love a challenge. Especially when the music is great. This music, I still listen to it all the time. It's such a pleasure to listen to and to work with. I mean, we were in heaven.”—Bob Clearmountain, Record Producer and Mix EngineerYou can listen to these and many other classic and contemporary albums in Dolby Atmos, on enabled streaming services.Interested in creating content in Dolby Atmos? Check out our free resources to give you a jump start!Dolby Atmos Music Accelerator: https://www.dolby.com/institute/music-accelerator/Dolby Atmos Essentials Course: https://learning.dolby.com/Dolby Atmos Music Support: https://professional.dolby.com/music/Professional-resources/You can learn more about Bob Clearmountain and his incredible mix studio here. And be on the lookout for his next collaboration with Bryan Ferry, the recently announced: Bryan Ferry "Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023."Please subscribe to Dolby Creator Talks wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode on our YouTube channel.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

Nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards®, “Ripley,” the new Netflix limited series from creator Steven Zaillian, is a masterclass in filmmaking and the art of sound. So it’s no wonder that two of those nominations are for Outstanding Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. And it’s clear why the sound team was given so much creative freedom to explore the sonic possibilities of the show, as many of those details and nuances were written directly into the scripts, and overseen by a showrunner with a sharp attention to detail.“Without a doubt, Steve Zaillian pays attention to every footstep and every breath and every movement.”—Michael Barry, Re-recording Mixer, “Ripley”Today we are joined by members of the sound team behind the show, including:- Larry Zipf, Co-supervising Sound Editor/Sound Designer and Re-recording Mixer- Michael Feuser, Co-supervising Sound Editor- Michael Barry, Re-recording Mixer- Maurizio Argentieri, Sound MixerNOTE: This interview contains spoilers! So be sure to check out “Ripley,” now streaming on Netflix in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®, before listening.Please subscribe to Dolby Creator Talks wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode on our YouTube channel.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

How Hollywood studios work and operate can be mystifying, especially for emerging filmmakers. Luckily, Dolby Institute Fellowship winner Carlos Lopez Estrada returns for another of his excellent Satellite Sessions (this one from December), featuring executives from some of the biggest studios in the entertainment industry, all to help de-mystify how they, and the studios, find, develop, and produce their projects. Joining the discussion are:- Vanessa Morrison, President of Streaming, Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production- Mika Pryce, Senior Vice President of Production, Paramount Pictures- Sheila Walcott, Senior Vice President of Creative Development, Warner Bros. Entertainment- Ryan Jones, Senior Vice President, Production Development, Universal Pictures- Tara Duncan, President, Onyx CollectiveThis is another installment of our ongoing “Satellite Sessions” series, which we’re bringing to you in partnership with Antigravity Academy and the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment. Follow @antigravityacademy and @capeusa for more information on even more upcoming panels.Antigravity AcademyCAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment)For more inspiring Satellite Sessions just like this one, be sure you are subscribed to Dolby Creator Talks wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

Pulitzer Prize-winning and Emmy- and Grammy-nominated composer Michael Abels joins our guest host, music journalist Jon Burlingame, to discuss the music of “Star Wars: The Acolyte.” The music for the series was a massive undertaking, made even more formidable by the knowledge that every cue would be compared to the work of legendary composer John Williams. But as a longtime fan of “Star Wars,” Abels jumped into the project eagerly.“I'm one of those people who saw the original trilogy in the theater, so I've grown up with ‘Star Wars’ and with the music of John Williams… I think every fan actually has an assessment of what makes ‘Star Wars’ ‘Star Wars.’ So Leslye [Headland, creator and showrunner] and I talked about that… And we quickly aligned on that the music of ‘Star Wars,’ while it's not necessary that it be old-school or traditional or orchestral, that's something that we both valued. And so it was our intention to have the score be very traditional in places where it called for that and where that would work. And at the same time, there are definite ways in which this series explores new ground. It's all new characters. There's a method to the storytelling that's distinctly Leslye’s own. And so in those places, the score does what it needs to do to bring this new element to the story.” —Michael Abels, Composer, “Star Wars: The Acolyte”Be sure to check out “Star Wars: The Acolyte,” now streaming on Disney+.Please subscribe to Dolby Creator Talks wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

Academy Award®-nominated director (“Raya and the Last Dragon”) — and Dolby Institute Fellowship winner — Carlos López Estrada brings together another exciting panel of film professionals. As one of the producers, Carlos joins fellow Academy Award®-nominated director (“Nai Nai & Wài Pó”) Sean Wang, along with members of the cast and crew, to discuss the herculean task of bringing their independent film “Dìdi (弟弟)” to life.“It’s such a difficult thing to make your first personal film. It’s so impossibly difficult. And I think you really need to know that’s what you want to do. And if, in the depths of the night, you ask yourself, ‘is this what I must do?’ And if the answer comes out to be yes… then I think you adjust everything in your life in accordance with that goal. It’s just something you must do. If you get enough money, you make it bigger. If you don’t get enough money, you still make it. You make it a little more intimate. I think it’s just that necessity… to tell this story… We make narratives, essentially, to save ourselves.”—Joan Chen, Actor, “Dìdi (弟弟)”Today’s panel also includes:- Sean Wang - Director, Writer, Producer- Izaac Wang - Actor (“Chris Wang”)- Joan Chen - Actor (“Chungsing Wang”)- Valerie Bush - Producer- Sam Davis - Director of Photographyand Moderator- Carlos López Estrada - Producer“Dìdi (弟弟)” was a recipient of the Dolby Institute Fellowship Award, our grant program for exceptional independent films to finish in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®. And we couldn’t be more proud of this film, even before it went on to win the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.Be sure to check out “Dìdi (弟弟)” in theaters this Friday, July 26!Wide release on August 16th.This discussion was another edition of Antigravity Academy’s Satellite Sessions — free monthly conversations with high-level individuals in film and tv, whose objective is to decentralize resources/information and make them available to as many up-and-coming filmmakers as possible — co-presented by CAPE USA (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment). Learn more about Antigravity Academy:https://antigravityacademy.co/Learn more about CAPE — The Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment:https://www.capeusa.org/Be sure to follow @antigravityacademy and @capeusa for more information on even more upcoming panels.For more inspiring Satellite Sessions just like this one, be sure you are subscribed to Dolby Creator Talks, wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this and all our episodes on YouTube.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

Perhaps the top colorist in his field, Stefan Sonnefeld joins us for our 200th episode! If you aren’t aware of Stefan, you’ve almost certainly seen his work. Some of his recent projects include “Top Gun: Maverick,” “The White Lotus,” and “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3.” His credit list includes some of the biggest franchises in our business, including “Star Wars,” “Star Trek,” “Jurassic Park,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Transformers,” and many more. Just a few of the A-List directors and producers he has worked with are: Tony Scott, Ridley Scott, Michael Mann, Martin Scorsese, Zack Snyder, Tom Cruise, Michael Bay, Bradley Cooper, Steven Zaillian, Spike Jonze, Gore Verbinski, Tim Burton, Matt Reeves, JJ Abrams, George Clooney, Tony Gilroy, and Judd Apatow.So what does it take to be a top colorist in Hollywood, working for some of the biggest personalities in the business?“Well, it's not just the director, it's a lot of people now… So it's a team sport. Everybody plays a part in it. And it's why it's so enjoyable for me. You have to involve a lot of people, but in general, the director, let's say that's the main person. You have to have a good relationship with that person and you have to be able to interpret what they're saying and get that onto the screen. And to do it quite quickly too, because it's a lot of effort and work and money that goes into these projects. And some people talk in technical terms. And some people, like a Michael Mann for instance, talk through emotions. Like, ‘Hey, [the character is] very this [way] in the scene. And he's feeling this. And this is what's going to happen. And this is what just happened. And therefore this is what I want.’ And I'm sort of interpreting that, in a color way, and [I’ll] put it on the screen and he'll be like, ‘great, that's it!’ Or, ‘no, that's not what I meant. It should be this.’”—Stefan Sonnenfeld, Senior Colorist, Founder and CEO, Company 3Please subscribe to Dolby Creator Talks wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

Documentary filmmaker Lance Oppenheim, as well as sound supervisor and re-recording mixer Paul Hsu, join us to discuss their new HBO documentary limited-series, “Ren Faire.” The show details the Succession-like power struggle atop the Texas Renaissance Festival, amid its founder’s impending retirement. It was filmed in an appropriately over-the-top theatrical style, and features some incredible sonic world-building, which — in true Lance Oppenheim style — very cleverly mixes real and fantastical elements... often leaving the line between the two quite grey.“I've always been obsessed with Abbas Kiarostami's movies and ‘Close-Up,’ which is very formally different than this, but the idea with that film was embracing reenactments, embracing performance, as a form of truth. And to me, with this project, everything you're seeing on the screen is real. But I wanted to also acknowledge that the moment you drop a camera anywhere, you violate the reality. So it's absurd. All of it's absurd. Documentary filmmaking is absurd. Nonfiction storytelling is absurd. So if we can acknowledge that, can we push past it and find something new?”—Lance Oppenheim, Director, Writer, and Executive Producer, “Ren Faire”This conversation was recorded in-person, in front of a live audience at Dolby’s screening room in mid-town Manhattan, as part of our ongoing collaboration with the Artist Academy and Film at Lincoln Center.Be sure to check out “Ren Faire,” with all three episodes now streaming on Max.Please subscribe to Dolby Creator Talks wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.