Composer Rob Simonsen joins guest host Jon Burlingame to discuss his sweeping and emotionally rich score for Pixar’s “Elio.” The composer shares how he approached scoring the story of a young boy making first contact with aliens, weaving together emotional warmth, cosmic wonder, and a sense of fun. He also discusses how Dolby Atmos® helped shape the immersive quality of the soundtrack, after being a bit of a skeptic of the technology at first.

“Scott Michael Smith, who recorded and mixed the score, said early on that we were going to record in Atmos, and that's really the way to do it… I have to admit, I was a little like, ‘eh, do we need to do Atmos? I don't know.’ And then Scott played me some Atmos files… and again, I am not being paid to say this. I was literally blown away… It gave me chills. I mean, I'm not sure what witchcraft is going on to make it as kind of amazing as it is, but I was really sold.”

—Rob Simonsen, Composer, “Elio”

Be sure to check out “Elio,” 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.

Mix engineer Alex Gamble joins guest host Ben Givarz to discuss the creative and technical process behind mixing FKA twigs' new album Eusexua in Dolby Atmos®. He shares how his immersive mixes in Dolby Atmos enhance the record’s intimacy, rhythm, and vocal playfulness — pushing boundaries while staying true to FKA twigs’s artistic vision.

“At that [early] stage, where I’m assessing the stems versus the master, I’m not trying to go overboard to do an exact match — because things are going to change once I start panning things around. Timbre and transients, and things like that — they change depending on where you choose to pan things in an Atmos environment. Things came in sounding so great. The productions were great: very intimate, very cerebral. Really big scene changes in a lot of these songs… and a lot of glitchy, cool elements too. That’s one of the things I latched onto during my first listen… thinking, this is stuff that’ll really be interesting to pull into three dimensions and see if I can build upon the production.”

—Alex Gamble, Dolby Atmos Mix Engineer, Eusexua by FKA twigs

Stay connected!

- You can listen to FKA twigs - Eusexua as well as many other classic and contemporary artists in Dolby Atmos, on enabled streaming services.

- Follow FKA twigs on Instagram and YouTube

- Learn more about Alex Gamble and his studio

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/creator-lab/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 YouTube.

Learn more about the Dolby Creator Lab and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

NOTE: This interview contains spoilers from both Black Mirror: “USS Callister” episodes.

Join us as we boldly go behind the scenes of Black Mirror: “USS Callister: Into Infinity,” with the creative team behind the episode. In this panel, the director, composer, supervising sound editor, and VFX supervisor share how they brought the nightmarish galaxy of Robert Daly back to life with bold visuals, cinematic music, and immersive sound, as well as the reasons why this became the very first Black Mirror sequel ever.

“It's really tricky when you come back and do a sequel of something. None of us wanted to work on something that was going to be any lesser than the original. And the original is… speaking for myself… the closest thing to a perfect episode. It has such a great beginning, middle and end. And it has such a great conclusion, it feels so wrapped up. Yet it's still a great launching point into a whole new recognizable world. But it's its own IP. And so I always knew that it had the potential to be a series or a sequel. I knew that I wanted to explore these characters in that world even further.”

—Toby Haynes, Director, Black Mirror: “USS Callister: Into Infinity”

Joining today’s conversation:

- Toby Haynes - Director

- Tom Jenkins - Supervising Sound Editor

- James MacLachlan - VFX Supervisor

- Daniel Pemberton - Composer

Be sure to check out Black Mirror: “USS Callister: Into Infinity,” 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.

Recorded live at Netflix HQ in Hollywood, this special FYSEE panel brings together the visionary sound teams behind four standout Netflix titles. This conversation explores how these sound artists crafted the unique sonic identities of each project and reveal how they worked with their directors, showrunners, and creators to craft the perfect balance of emotion, tension, and, of course, storytelling.

Panelists include:

- James Drake — Supervising Sound Editor, “Adolescence”

- Wylie Stateman — Sound Designer, “American Primeval”

- Anne Jimkes-Root — Co-Supervising Sound Editor and Music Editor, “American Primeval”

- Brad North — Supervising Sound Editor, “Love, Death + Robots,” Volume 4

- Drew Webster — Re-recording Mixer, “Rebel Ridge”

Be sure to check out each of these titles now streaming on Netflix, in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos® —

Adolescence

American Primeval

Love, Death + Robots, Volume 4

Rebel Ridge

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.

Director of Photography Adam Newport-Berra joins us to discuss his incredible work on “The Studio,” the hilarious behind-the-scenes satire now streaming on Apple TV+. The cinematographer shares how he helped co-creators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg pull off the show’s bold cinematic concept: shooting nearly every scene as a continuous long take. Join us as we go behind the camera on episode two, “The Oner,” a technical and comedic marvel executed as one uninterrupted 25-minute shot. Newport-Berra details the challenges of capturing ensemble performances, navigating comedic timing, and using cinematography to enhance the absurdity of Hollywood.

“I think one thing I really learned on this show is to just never say no... Seth and Evan really supported me and believed in me... and it created an environment where it was almost impossible to say no, because we were so creative that we were always able to come up with a solution.”

—Adam Newport-Berra, Director of Photography, “The Studio”

Be sure to check out “The Studio,” now streaming on AppleTV+, 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.

This week we return to the stunning visual world of “Severance,” the critically acclaimed Apple TV+ series from creator Dan Erickson and director Ben Stiller. Cinematographer and fellow director Jessica Lee Gagné joins us to discuss her work on the show’s second season, including how she crafted the eerie, sterile look of Lumon Industries and expanded the visual palette in new, unexpected ways. Jessica discusses her collaborative relationship with the creative team, the emotional and psychological subtext behind the framing, and how film was used to deepen the surreal, dreamlike atmosphere of the important flashbacks in episode 7, which she directed.

“Life never looks more real and emotional than it does on film. Like it just has that texture... and I’m like, well, I feel that that makes so much sense with this world.”

—Jessica Lee Gagné, Director of Photographer and Director, “Severance”

Be sure to check out “Severance,” now streaming on AppleTV+, 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.

NOTE: This episode contains SPOILERS from the second season and season finale of Severance.

Today we let Kier guide us into the extraordinary sound work of season two of "Severance," the hit Apple TV+ series from creator Dan Erickson and director Ben Stiller. Focusing on the groundbreaking storytelling of episodes 207 and 210, Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Designer, and Re-recording Mixer Jacob Ribicoff, Re-recording Mixer Bob Chefalas, and David Schwartz (the Production Sound Mixer on those two episodes), break down how they crafted the show’s eerie, minimalist sonic landscape. They explore everything from the show’s surreal dreamlike ambiences and rhythmic sound/music interplay, to that unforgettable marching band sequence in the season finale.

“One of the primary objectives, according to Ben [Stiller], was that Lumon should be a quiet place, a place with the air sucked out of it… I thought, wouldn't that be really interesting to create room tones out of breathing, out of breath, and actually just fold those in and mix those in with normal room tones? So there's kind of some animal breath and some human breath in there — like, very long… just a breath that just goes on for an entire scene.”

—Jacob Ribicoff, Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Designer, and Re-recording Mixer, “Severance”

Be sure to check out “Severance,” now streaming on AppleTV+, 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.

Legendary sound mixer JC Aguila joins us at Telemundo’s state-of-the-art headquarters in Miami. With nearly 30 years at the network, JC has played a key role in Telemundo’s rise as one of the leading Spanish-language broadcasters in the United States. In this wide-ranging discussion, he reflects on his journey from mixing his first live show at age 14 in Cuba to becoming Network Audio Technical Manager at Telemundo—working across everything from award-winning news coverage to live telenovelas, entertainment programming, and global sporting events.

To experience some of JC’s work, tune into virtually any live broadcast on Telemundo.

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.