Dolby Creator Talks

*NOTE: This episode contains spoilers.
“Disclosure Day” is at once a conspiracy thriller, a first-contact story, and a wildly inventive showcase for cinematic sound. In this conversation, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, and Andy Nelson join us to discuss crafting the film’s immersive soundtrack, from its disorienting opening wrestling sequence, to Emily Blunt’s alien-clicking language, to John Williams’s score, and its many spectacular action sequences. But underneath the film’s mystery and spectacle, the sound team was guided by something much simpler and more human.
“We came to the one word direction, which was: ‘Empathy.’ So the movie, any time that we can have a sense of empathy… you can connect with people or disconnect, but feel internalized with other people's feelings. That's what [director Steven Spielberg] said early on.”
—Gary Rydstrom - Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Designer, Re-recording Mixer, “Disclosure Day”
Joining today’s conversation:
- Gary Rydstrom - Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Designer, Re-recording Mixer
- Brian Chumney - Supervising Sound Editor
- Andy Nelson - Re-recording Mixer
Be sure to check out “Disclosure Day,” now in theaters and Dolby Cinemas® in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®.
Please subscribe to Dolby Creator Talks wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also check out the video for this episode on YouTube.
Learn more about the Dolby Creator Lab and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

The team behind Pottermore Publishing and Audible’s “Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions” joins guest host Richard Addis to discuss one of the most ambitious audiobook productions ever attempted. Featuring more than 200 actors, original music, detailed sound design, and fully immersive Dolby Atmos® mixes, the series brings all seven books to life in a new way — while staying true to the text, the characters, and the world fans know so well. *NOTE: This interview may contain spoilers from the Harry Potter series.
Joining today’s conversation:
- Ann Scantlebury - Head of Audio Development, Pottermore Publishing
- Chris Jones - Senior Director of Production, Audible
- Lawrence Kendrick - Co-creative Director, Sound Designer and Composer, String and Tins
- Rob Baker - Head of Engineering, Forever Audio
“We can take people on the Hogwarts Express. They can go through the doors into the Great Hall. They can hear the footsteps echoing. They can be there and they can have it all playing out around them. To us, that was incredibly appealing. It was always about creating something that felt very real to the listener, really putting them in the heart of the action.”
—Ann Scantlebury, Head of Audio Development, Pottermore Publishing
Be sure to check out all seven of “Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions,” now available on Audible in Dolby Atmos.
Please subscribe to Dolby Creator Talks wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also check out the video for this episode on YouTube.
Learn more about the Dolby Creator Lab and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

Sam Witwer — the voice of Maul himself! — joins us alongside supervising director and executive producer Brad Rau and supervising sound editor, sound designer, and re-recording mixer David W. Collins to discuss the voice, sound, and cinematic scale of “Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord.” Together, they explore how the series deepens one of Star Wars’ most iconic villains, from Witwer’s layered vocal performance and Maul’s emotional complexity to the show’s bold sound design and Dolby Atmos® mix. Collins also reflects on carrying forward the sonic legacy of Skywalker Sound, while staying open to the strange, unexpected discoveries that have always helped make Star Wars sound like Star Wars.
“Sounds can come to you at the most random times. It really is that random encounter with something that sounds funny that ends up being the gold. When I was doing recording for the next season, there's stuff that I recorded and whether I use it or not, I'm still not sure, but I'm building a library constantly by finding stuff that sounds really interesting around the house. I told this story once where I was at my daughter's game and I thought the smack of an aluminum bat would be a great element inside a laser blast, because it has that wonderful tink and echo that you could put a real low end thud in the front of that and it would be this weird thing you could process. I've done that... I just try and keep my ears open and try and learn from Ben Burtt or anyone at Skywalker that has told similar stories, because it's usually the happy accidents that cause something unexpected, which Star Wars is all about.”
—David W. Collins, Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Designer, and Re-Recording Mixer, “Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord”
Please subscribe to Dolby Creator Talks wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also check out the video for this episode on YouTube.
Learn more about the Dolby Creator Lab and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

The sound of “Stranger Things” has always been huge, cinematic, and unmistakably its own — and the series finale takes that signature style to its most epic scale yet. In this conversation, supervising sound editor Craig Henighan, re-recording mixer Mark Paterson, and dialogue and ADR supervisor Ryan Cole join us to discuss bringing the final chapter to life, from the sonic DNA first established in season one, to the massive battles and emotional moments that define the end of the series. They also break down how the team balanced all of that scale and intensity without losing clarity, dynamics, or the emotional release that makes all “that chaos" work.
“The tricky bit is to kind of embrace a lot of that chaos. It’s usually like some Demogorgon screaming and just everything’s all going on at once. But the key to it is that that chaos ends and you feel that release. That’s kind of what makes the audience feel safe. So it’s a tricky balance to work out, ‘how clean do we go in, in terms of mixing here, to hear everything else?’ We always work through that with the [Duffer Brothers], as well.”
—Mark Paterson, Re-recording Mixer, “Stranger Things” season 5
Be sure to check out “Stranger Things,” now streaming on Netflix, in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®.
Please subscribe to Dolby Creator Talks wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also check out the video for this episode on YouTube.
Learn more about the Dolby Creator Lab and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

“Tuner” is a rare film where sound is not only essential to the cinematic experience — it is central to the story itself. Today we welcome back Academy Award®-winning sound designer, supervising sound editor, and re-recording mixer Johnnie Burn, joined by the film’s star Leo Woodall, to discuss how they brought audiences inside the world of Niki, a piano tuner with hyperacusis whose acute hearing makes him an expert safe cracker. Together, they explore how sound shapes the film’s tension, romance, and point of view, from delicate safe-cracking rhythms and subjective hearing shifts to put the audience directly inside Niki’s head.
“You should see it in a movie theater because it really is a film where the experience of a movie theater can take you so much closer to the feeling of what the main character actually has. So it's quite a one-off opportunity in that.”
—Johnnie Burn, Sound Designer, Supervising Sound Editor, and Re-Recording Mixer, “Tuner”
Be sure to check out “Tuner,” now playing in theaters, in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos® where available.
Please subscribe to Dolby Creator Talks wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also check out the video for this episode on YouTube.
Learn more about the Dolby Creator Lab and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.