The Best Sound Creatives in Post-Production

Randy Thom started his career in radio and music recording before making the transition to film in 1978, when he was hired on Apocalypse Now (1979) as a sound effects recordist. Since then, Thom has worked in a wide variety of creative capacities within the sound department in over 175 films. For example, in addition to being the music mixer on Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), Thom was also the production sound mixer for all the footage shot in the US. Since 1983, Thom has been on staff as a sound designer and mixer at Lucasfilm's Skywalker Sound facility. He is part of a small group of sound designers that are following in Walter Murch and Ben Burtt's footsteps in the continuing work of turning motion picture sound into an art form and not simply a series of technical processes. His work on a film often begins before the film has started shooting, and becomes an integral part of the storytelling and emotional impact of the film. Randy Thom has been part of Robert Zemeckis' core creative team ever since Forrest Gump (1994). Through his career Thom has worked with such top Hollywood talents as Walter Murch, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Brad Bird, Tim Burton, Chris Columbus, Mel Brooks and the Farrelly Brothers. Thom has received two Academy Awards for sound, The Right Stuff (1983), and for sound editing, The Incredibles (2004). He has fifteen Oscar nominations.

Ben Burtt was born in New York, USA. Though he is a writer, an editor and a director, he is best known for his work as a sound designer. Ben has worked on many Pixar and Star Trek movies and all of the Star Wars movies. He is credited for creating Chewbacca's voice and sounds as well as the voice of Yoda and several others.

Jeff Hutchins is a multi-award-winning Sound Designer, Sound Supervisor and Field Recordist. Jeff is a hands on Sound Supervisor with twenty nine years of experience creating soundscapes for video games, motion pictures and television. Field recording and sound design are passions of Jeffs. He has scanned the globe on a quest to record the world's most interesting sounds. Jeff always provides a palette of unique sounds for every project. His original sound design and recordings helped create the world of "SpongeBob SquarePants (1999)", one of the highest grossing franchises in the last decade. Jeff's owns his own studio "Channel Islands Foley", which includes a sound design suite and a high definition Foley stage. He has won five Emmys and seven Golden Reel awards, for excellence in the sound industry. Jeff is based out of Oxnard, California.

Gary Rydstrom, Director of Creative Operations/Sound Designer and Mixer, joined Skywalker Sound in 1983 as an operator in the machine room. Since then, he has contributed his talents to many projects as a sound designer, re-recording mixer, effects mixer and foley mixer. In 1998, Rydstrom was appointed Director of Creative Operations for Skywalker Sound, overseeing the creative and technological direction for the facility. Apart from his feature film and commercials work, Rydstrom has completed several television projects, rides and attraction films. Rydstrom holds a graduate degree from the USC School of Cinema and Television. He is the recipient of 7 Academy Awards for Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing for his work on Saving Private Ryan (1998), Titanic (1997), Jurassic Park (1993), and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).

Michael Geisler is known for Dante's Peak (1997), Demolition Man (1993) and Small Soldiers (1998).

Robert Hargreaves is known for X-Men: Evolution (2000), Superman: The Animated Series (1996) and Batman: The Animated Series (1992).

Joel Valentine is known for Blood Diamond (2006), Point Break (1991) and RoboCop 2 (1990).

Roy Braverman is a multi-award-winning Sound Supervisor, Sound Editor and Composer. Roy Braverman's life revolves around the world of music and sound. He has attained creative and technical excellence in a number of diverse disciplines. Besides having expertise in the latest sound technologies, Roy is also a brilliantly talented musician. He has played keyboards for a number of bands, supervised sound for hit television shows, and has a wide range of interactive audio experience. He has created audio for world renown theme parks, and been part of cutting edge projects developed for Oculus Rift. Combining his many talents, Mr. Braverman has also written, performed and produced a number of his own songs, receiving outstanding critical acclaim.

Glenn Oyabe is known for The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (2010), Static Shock (2000) and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2003).

Tom Myers received a degree in film from Northwestern University and went on to do graduate film studies at San Francisco State. From there he worked in a variety of capacities in the San Francisco film industry including a long stint working with picture at Monaco Film Labs. In 1987 he took a job in the sound division of LucasFilm, then named Sprocket Systems. Here he fell in love with the intricasies and powers of sound. Working with and learning from some of the preeminate designers and mixers in the business, (including, Ben Burtt and Gary Rydstrom) Tom started sound designing and mixing commercials for the newly named Skywalker Sound. He soon expanded his scope to include feature films, Japanese animation, documentaries, television and theme park rides. His recent projects have included work on feature films Mimic, Speed2 and Quest for Camelot, he has also just completed sound design and mix for 70mm 3D film for Disney's newly opened Animal Kingdom in Florida.

Eric Freeman is an multi-award-winning Sound Editor, Sound Designer and Mixer. With over eighteen years of professional experience Eric knows the problems, pitfalls and pressure that it comes with getting today's productions done right. Having worked with studios such as Cartoon Network, Fox, Starz, Disney, Warner Bros., and Nickelodeon, he knows the high quality they demand. Eric has mixed, sound designed, and edited on many top rated television shows such as Adventure Time (2010), The Batman (2004) and "SpongeBob SquarePants (1999) to name a few. He has also worked on many movies for the Ratchet and Clank, and Resistance franchises for Insomniac Games. Eric prides himself on investing all of his creativity and technical prowess into each project he is involved with. From television to film to interactive, nothing is out of his skill range. No matter the budget, he will bring the same amount of enthusiasm to every project he takes on. Eric is based out of Burbank, CA.

David Acord is known for Licorice Pizza (2021), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) and Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

Otis Van Osten started at Sony Pictures Sound teaching the "new" Waveframe digital workstation to the editorial staff and shortly there after became an editor on "Reasonable Doubts." He then moved to Warner Bros. Studios and join the newly formed digital sound department where he spent the next ten years.

In 2003 Otis started Audio Circus, an animation sound company specifically designed to do high quality sound for animation. After seven years of operation, Audio Circus became one of the premier animation sound companies and was acquired by Warner Bros. Since becoming a division of Warner Bros. Sound, Audio Circus has grown its reputation in the animation sound world. "We are solely focused on animations" says Otis, "I am fortunate to work with a staff of the most talented and fun people that I've come across and it shows in our work and the overall experience of being here. Our understanding of the process that the production is going through allows us to be more helpful in planning a path for a show that derives the best results. It's our caring that sets us apart and as the managing supervisor I have to set that tone. I hope you'll come and see what we do here and enjoy the company we have created to specifically handle all of your animation sound needs."

Michael Gollom was born on 16 August 1964 in Los Angeles, California, United States. He is an actor, known for Jak II (2003), Demolition Man (1993) and Aladdin (1994).

Legendary editor whose wizardry in creating innumerable sound effects from everyday objects helped elevate Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies to rank among the most popular cartoons ever made. Tregoweth Edmond Brown was born in Gilbert, Minnesota, in November 1899. Pursuing a musical career early on, he made his first foray as a performer in vaudeville. Later, he worked as a sideman for several notable jazz bands (he played banjo in Benny Meroff's orchestra and was on guitar for Red Nichols and his 'Five Pennies'). He moved to California during the Depression era, and, from 1932 to 1934, served as music editor on Cecil B. DeMille features at Paramount, gaining valuable experience.

By the time he joined Carl W. Stalling at Leon Schlesinger's 'Termite Terrace', Brown was an accomplished multi-instrumentalist in his own right, backed by his own orchestra. He went on to excel at integrating his sound effects with Stalling's orchestrations. It was, first and foremost, Brown's inventiveness and boundless imagination which brought a motion picture quality to Warner Brothers cartoons. Not content with simply using musical instruments to create sound effects, he would instead raid the studio library for sounds from action films. Incorporating these added a touch of aural realism to the visual fantasy on the screen and thereby heightened the desired dramatic effect. Brown also ventured 'into the field' with a tape recorder to capture a multitude of noises which eventually became part of a great sound effects library created on film to be used over and over again (for example, he recorded the audience and animal sounds during a bullfight in Barcelona for Bully for Bugs (1953)). Brown presided over an entire garage full of noise-making devices.

Treg Brown is credited with introducing the hitherto unknown radio actor Mel Blanc to Schlesinger's illustrious line-up of animators (who included Tex Avery, Robert Clampett and Friz Freleng) and effectively got him hired. History was made that day. Brown himself received a Best Sound Effects Oscar late in his career for The Great Race (1965).

James MacDonald was born on 19 May 1906 in Crewe, Cheshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951) and The Black Hole (1979). He was married to Sarah Roberta Cullen. He died on 1 February 1991 in Glendale, California, USA.

Jim Faris was born on 8 January 1919 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. He was an editor and production manager, known for Family (1976), Lawman (1958) and Taps (1981). He was married to Paula Forbes. He died on 14 October 2016 in Santa Cruz, California, USA.

Steve Boeddeker is a 3 time Oscar Nominee and Emmy Award winning Sound Designer and Re-recording Mixer based in San Francisco. He has worked all over the world including London, NYC, Vancouver, LA and the Bay Area.

Boeddeker started in movie sound design and music with his first feature film project, David Fincher's thriller SE7EN. Boeddeker studied computer engineering and electronic/computer music at University of California San Diego and University of California Santa Barbara, graduating in 1988. He has since worked with many directors including Ryan Coogler, Tim Burton, JC Chandor, Steven Spielberg, Chris Columbus, William Friedkin, Robert Redford and many more.

Past film projects include All Day and a Night, Triple Frontier, Black Panther, Creed, Bridge of Spies, Pixels, Chappie, A Most Violent Year, All is Lost, Lincoln, Beasts of the Southern Wild, TRON: Legacy, Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fight Club, Se7en and many more.

Tim Nielsen was born on 18 March 1971. He is an actor, known for Avatar (2009), War Horse (2011) and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).

Christopher Boyes is known for Avatar (2009), King Kong (2005) and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).

With a formal education in music from Fredonia College, Rob brings a unique organicness and musicality to his sound design. Combined with his experience in every facet on audio post - feature, animation, reality, video games and commercial/promo, our [Atlas Oceanic] clients have come to rely on his foresight and knowledge to avoid potential pitfalls. Creatively Rob is able to connect with a client's needs and understand the unique references that are used: from video games, to horror films and classic animation Rob's vocabulary of the film industry is deep. Outside of the studio Rob's creative interest include writing and composing music.

Christopher Scarabosio is known for Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Phantom Thread (2017) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016).

Thomas Chan was born on 9 June 1958 in Whittier, California, USA. He is an editor, known for LarryBoy: The Cartoon Adventures (2002), Prayer of the Rollerboys (1990) and Breaking Up (1997).

Al Nelson is known for Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Jurassic World (2015) and 20 Feet from Stardom (2013).

Matthew Wood is an American sound editor and voice actor who works at Lucasfilm. He did sound editing for the 2011 re-releases of the original Star Wars trilogy, the prequel trilogy, the sequel trilogy and many more Lucasfilm projects. He voiced General Grievous in Revenge of the Sith after replacing Richard McGonagle who voiced in the Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars cartoon. He also voiced the Battle Droids in various Star Wars media set during the Clone Wars.