Sonic Union has added sound designer/mix engineer Rob DiFondi to its roster and promoted assistant engineers Kelly Oostman and Michelle Kerzner to sound designers/mix engineers.
DiFondi, a nearly 20-year industry vet, has had successful tenures at Audio Engine and Sound Lounge working with a variety of clients to deliver audio that enhances narratives and engages audiences. DiFondi’s credits include brands such as M&M’s, Calvin Klein, Chobani and Dunkin’ Donuts.
Oostman’s experience includes working in audio for the Olympic Broadcasting Service for the Rio Olympics, to time spent learning production and research for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and ultimately to Sonic Union where she has worked for the past four years. Among her audio career highlights, “Anomaly,” a podcast she sound designed and mixed which was featured in Tribeca Film Festival’s first-ever Podcast Selections, sound design for the indie feature film Give or Take, recording, sound design and mix for the musical feature A Trip to the Moon and the recently released cast album for a musical called Brothers Wright, which dropped on June 30. She’s also contributed her talent to commercial projects for IBM, Comcast and Smart Water, among others.
Prior to joining Sonic Union as an assistant engineer in 2018, Kerzner was at Beatstreet in New York and Apex Post in New Orleans. At Sonic Union, she has worked on a variety of projects including a recent Summersault campaign about female empowerment and A Song of Grace by Arielle Knight, a film that premiered at Tribeca 2021. In addition to her mixing and sound design work for advertising clients like Dove, Heinz and Catholic Health Services, she recently voiced a Chase campaign and is part of Sonic Union’s casting department.
DiFondi, Oostman and Kerzner are part of a tight-knit and diverse talent family at Sonic Union, including co-founder and sound designer/mix engineer Steve Rosen, that specializes in creative sound production for advertising and entertainment.
Tilda Swinton Explores Assisted Suicide In Pedro Almodóvar’s 1st English-Language Feature
Although "The Room Next Door" is Pedro Almodóvar's first English-language feature, Tilda Swinton notes that he's never written in a language that anyone else truly speaks.
"He writes in Pedro language, and here he is making another film in another version of Pedro language, which just happens to sound a little bit like English," Swinton said.
Set in New York, Swinton stars as Martha, a terminally ill woman who chooses to end her life on her own terms. After reconnecting with her friend Ingrid, played by Julianne Moore, Martha persuades her to stay and keep her company before she goes through with her decision.
Beyond the film's narrative, Swinton said she believes individuals should have a say in their own living and dying. She acknowledges that she has personally witnessed a friend's compassionate departure.
"In my own life I had the great good fortune to be asked by someone in Martha's position to be his Ingrid (Julianne Moore)," Swinton said.
She said that experience shaped her attitude about life and death: "Not only my capacity to be witness to other people in that situation, but my own living and my own dying."
Swinton spoke about "The Room Next Door," Almodóvar and he idea of letting people die on their own terms. Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: Tackling that role, what was the challenge to get into the character?
SWINTON: I felt really blessed by the opportunity. So many of us have been in the situation Julianne Moore's character finds herself in, being asked to be the witness of someone who is dying. Whether that wanting to orchestrate their own dismount or not, to be in that position to be a witness is something that I've been... Read More