Writer, director, and producer Bradley Cooper joins us to discuss the sound of his latest film, “Is This Thing On?” Audio became a primary storytelling tool in shaping the film’s deeply subjective point of view. In conversation with the film’s sound team, the director breaks down how perspective, texture, and restraint were used to place audiences directly inside the emotional experience of a man discovering stand-up comedy as his marriage unravels. For Cooper, that approach ultimately comes back to how films are meant to be experienced in theaters.

“It’s really about the theatergoing experience — how you best tell the story in these rooms, in this theatrical space. And to me, I haven’t seen a better version than those two elements: Dolby Vision and Atmos. When Stefan [Sonnenfeld] and I colored the Dolby Vision, it was like, ‘Oh — there’s the movie.’ And when you do it in Atmos, in terms of mixing sound… the immersive experience — it’s just a whole different experience than a 5.1 mix. It’s not even in the same universe… And once you go there, you can never go back. I watched a movie the other night that wasn’t in Atmos, and I couldn’t stop imagining what it could be.”

—Bradley Cooper, Writer, Director, Producer, “Is This Thing On?”

Joining today’s conversation:

- Bradley Cooper, Director, Producer

- Dane A. Davis, Supervising Sound Editor

- Tom Ozanich, Re-recording Mixer

- Dean A. Zupancic, Re-recording Mixer

Be sure to check out “Is This Thing On?,” now in theaters.

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Audio Director Chris Fox and Composer Olivier Derivière sit down with guest host Alistair Hirst to explore the immersive sound of “South of Midnight,” the groundbreaking action-adventure game from Compulsion Games. Set in the American Deep South, the score skillfully weaves together traditional Southern-style music and folk songs with a dark, otherworldly essence as the player faces the eerie creatures of Southern legend. In this conversation, Fox and Derivière break down how sound design, music, and a fully realized Dolby Atmos® mix work together to pull players deep into the game’s mythic world.

“It really comes back to the idea that the entities — the magic entities — we wanted to make them a character. So the kids, the kid choir that Olivier put together and recorded down in Nashville, are the stars of the show, because they really are everywhere. A lot of what you hear — there are two different samples, actually. One is the agitated samples when you get close to an object or station, and the other is the vowels we were talking about… When you do your magic, they’re in tune with the backing, the non-diegetic music that’s playing at the time… We also played with that in combat. When things get agitated all around you, that’s not just in the front — it’s surrounding you. So there’s a lot of use of space to complement the score.”

—Chris Fox, Audio Director, “South of Midnight”

Be sure to check out "South of Midnight," available now in Dolby Atmos, on supported systems.

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What does it mean to create art during times of global conflict? Guest moderator Abiram “Abi” Brizuela leads a thoughtful and timely conversation on how filmmakers respond to war, displacement, and uncertainty through their work. Spanning both narrative and documentary filmmaking, the discussion explores the emotional challenges of telling these stories and the enduring role of cinema in helping audiences reflect, connect, and understand complex human experiences.

Joining the discussion:

- Cherien Dabis – Writer/Director (“All That’s Left of You”)

- Ramona S. Diaz – Director (“And So It Begins”)

- Gregory Nava – Writer/Director (“El Norte”)

- Bao Nguyen – Director (“The Greatest Night in Pop”)

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 Academy

CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment)

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Legendary filmmaker Darren Aronofsky and cinematographer Matthew Libatique, ASC, LPS, join us to reflect on their three decades of creative partnership: from “Pi,” “Requiem for a Dream,” “Black Swan,” and “The Whale,” to their newest collaboration, “Caught Stealing.” In this wide-ranging conversation, they discuss the evolution of their visual language, how technology continues to reshape the craft, and the inspirations behind the kinetic, East-Village-in-the-’90s aesthetic of “Caught Stealing.” And as the industry stands on the brink of profound transformation, Aronofsky shares why he believes the future is full of opportunities for new kinds of innovative storytelling.

“I think how we make films is about to change more than any other time in history. And there’s many ways that can go, many possibilities. So I think for storytellers, it’s really exciting because there’s a lot of discovery ahead of us. There’s the potential for lots of very specific, individual types of films. But I think there’s an absolute need for storytellers to be inventive and to be looking forward.”

—Darren Aronofsky, Director and Producer, “Caught Stealing”

Be sure to check out “Caught Stealing,” now streaming on Netflix, in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®.

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You can also check out the video for this episode on YouTube.

Learn more about Sundance Collab here.

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Academy Award®-winning composer Volker Bertelmann joins guest host Jon Burlingame to explore his gripping and sonically inventive score for “A House of Dynamite.” Their conversation delves into his use of unconventional textures, low-frequency resonance, and layered instrumental techniques to create a sense of mounting dread throughout the film. And as Bertelmann explains, embracing irregular and unexpected sounds became central to building the score’s tension and character.

“I learned that when I was working a lot with prepared piano sounds, there were a lot of random sounds that just somehow did what they want. The material was just jumping somewhere and was landing somewhere and just created a noise. Which you normally would say, ‘oh sorry, that is a mistake.’ But when you leave that in there, suddenly this mistake becomes a part of the texture that is a part of the music. I recognize that this is very helpful with tension. Because once you drop something that is irregular, somehow the brain wants to have an answer to that. And also you get thrown out of your normal listening habits. And then suddenly, you are back into the film and you just say, ‘oh, what was that?’”

—Volker Bertelmann, Composer, “A House of Dynamite”

Be sure to check out “A House of Dynamite,” now streaming on Netflix in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®.

And check out our other episode with Director Kathryn Bigelow and the creative team behind “A House of Dynamite” on YouTube!

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Legendary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and cinematographer Dan Laustsen, ASC, DFF, join us to break down the striking visual language of “Frankenstein,” their latest feature collaboration after decades of working together. In this conversation, they explore everything from their use of large-format cameras and “painterly” light to the symbolic color design that shapes the emotional arc of the film. Theirs is a visual process that begins with ideas, not rigid storyboards, so the filmmaking can stay alive and collaborative.

“Obviously, we storyboard. But storyboards should only be useful in to breaking down the elements. I never say, ‘it has to be this shot, it has to be this element… medium shot, blah, blah, blah.’ Storyboards are taxidermy. And I want it to be alive. I want the animal to be alive… From that on, it's a collaboration. If I can put the fundamental touchstones of the film in place, then everybody can play. Then we can be flexible.”

—Guillermo del Toro, Director, Writer, and Producer, “Frankenstein”

Be sure to check out “Frankenstein,” now streaming on Netflix — in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos® — and in select theaters.

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Composer Max Richter joins guest host Jon Burlingame to discuss his luminous, emotionally rich score for “Hamnet,” the new film from director Chloé Zhao. In their conversation, Richter shares how early musical sketches shaped the production, how he blended period instruments with processed textures, and how the film’s psychological and natural landscapes guided his approach. And as Richter explains, Elizabethan-era music became a key creative touchstone for capturing the film’s folkloric sensibility.

“Elizabethan music is one of my great passions, really. It’s an amazing moment in English music history where you have this community of composers writing just extraordinary things, both instrumental and chorally. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to go back and connect to that material… Which evoked what [director] Chloé [Zhao] called the witchy sensibility of the sort of folkloristic… maybe dark fairytale quality of the relationship with nature and the connection between human beings and nature.”

—Max Richter, Composer, “Hamnet”

Be sure to check out “Hamnet,” now playing in theaters in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®, where available.

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The all-star sound team behind “Wicked: For Good” returns to the show to discuss the bold sonic world of the film, and how it compared to the first. In this conversation, they break down everything from capturing on-set vocals to crafting the visceral aerial sequences — all while following Jon M. Chu’s vision for a darker, more mature final chapter of the “Wicked” story.

“In the first film — ‘world building,’ ‘set pieces,’ ‘youthful exuberance’ — those were all our keywords. And what we were leaning towards with the sound and music. On movie two, we’d already laid that foundation. So ‘emotion’ really became our superpower on this one. The characters’ emotion always guides the sonic world of each scene. And when you know you’re leading towards the song ‘For Good,’ which is as deeply emotional and compelling and heartbreaking as any song can get — and it represents the culmination of their relationship — you just have to follow the characters and follow what Jon Chu’s vision is for each of these scenes leading up to it.”

—Jack Dolman, Supervising Music Editor, “Wicked” and “Wicked: For Good”

Joining today’s conversation:

- John Marquis, Supervising Sound Editor / Sound Designer / Re-Recording Mixer

- Andy Nelson, Re-Recording Mixer

- Jack Dolman, Supervising Music Editor

- Nancy Nugent Title, Supervising Sound Editor

- Simon Hayes, Production Sound Mixer

Be sure to check out “Wicked: For Good,” now playing in theaters and Dolby Cinemas®,

in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®.

- Our previous episodes of Dolby Creator Lab with the artists behind Wicked:

The Cinematography of Wicked: For Good, with Alice Brooks and Jon M. Chu

Capturing Wicked's Live Singing, with Simon Hayes

The Music of Wicked, with Stephen Oremus, John Powell, and Stephen Schwartz

Director Jon M. Chu and the Sound and Editing Wizards of Wicked

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.