273 - Art During War

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 AcademyCAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment)For more inspiring Satellite Sessions just like this one, be sure you are subscribed 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 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®. 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 Sundance Collab here. Learn more about the Dolby Creator Lab and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

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!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 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.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. 

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.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 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 MixerBe 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. ChuCapturing 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. 

Director Jon M. Chu and Director of Photography Alice Brooks join us to discuss the dazzling cinematography of “Wicked” and its newly released sequel, “Wicked: For Good.” Though the two films together tell a single story — adapted from the beloved Broadway musical — each was crafted with a distinct visual style to reflect the evolving tone and emotion of its chapter in the tale of the Wicked Witch of the West. “When Jon and I first started talking about the movies, we talked about emotional intentions. And some of those emotional intentions for the first movie were ‘dreams’ and ‘yearning’ and ‘friendship’ and ‘choice.’ And the second movie, they were ‘separation’ and ‘sacrifice’ and ‘surrender’ and ‘consequence.’ And so quickly in our conversations it became clear that the first movie would glow in daylight, and the second movie would be steeped in density and maturity and shadow. And so we have these two worlds. We've got the whole visual arc of both movies, but each lived in their own distinct worlds.”—Alice Brooks, Director of Photography, “Wicked” and “Wicked: For Good” 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: Director Jon M. Chu and the Sound and Editing Wizards of Wicked The Music of Wicked, with Stephen Oremus, John Powell, and Stephen Schwartz Capturing Wicked's Live Singing, with Simon Hayes 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. 

Two-time Academy Award®-winning composer Ludwig Göransson and Executive Music Producer Serena Göransson join us to discuss the powerful use of music in Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” recently nominated for six 2026 GRAMMY® Awards. In this conversation with music journalist Jon Burlingame, the Göranssons share how integral music was to the film’s storytelling — and how their close collaboration with Coogler shaped the creative process from start to finish.“Serena and I were there, on the dub stage, almost every day… [Director] Ryan [Coogler] is an incredible collaborator. He wants to hear ideas… take it in, and make difficult decisions. He really wanted this to be such an immersive experience... That's why he really spent time on the mix, like panning things around, making it create an experience… Sometimes I had to pinch myself and think to myself, Ryan and I, we've been doing this since USC, and our first studio film. We were young and we had a great experience. But at the same time, when you get started, people always think, oh, these guys don’t know what they're doing. And there's a lot of things that you have to prove. And now we're at this stage in our professional careers where we are experienced and also have more responsibilities and can really create in a different way… and try to push the envelope as much as we can.”—Ludwig Göransson, Composer, “Sinners”Be sure to check out “Sinners,” now streaming on HBO Max, 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. 

Two-time Academy Award®-winning composer Alexandre Desplat joins guest host Jon Burlingame to discuss his latest score for “Frankenstein,” directed by Guillermo del Toro. This long-awaited project — their third collaboration — had been a topic of conversation between the two for years, and Desplat was eager to finally help del Toro bring it to life.“Knowing his passion for this character, and his sensitivity, I knew it would be epic, romantic, lyrical, emotional, and that it would be beautiful, visually… There’s this epic, fearless, operatic way of telling a story that Guillermo del Toro can handle so well. His talent as a director is so strong, his craft is so great, and his knowledge about art is so wide. I knew that it would be beautiful and strong.”—Alexandre Desplat, Composer, “Frankenstein”Be sure to check out “Frankenstein,” now streaming on Netflix — in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos® — and in select theaters.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. 

Should “Materialists” be considered a rom-com? What even counts as a rom-com these days? Academy Award®-nominated writer, director, and producer Celine Song joins us to discuss the state of the modern romantic comedy, as part of Dolby Creator Lab’s ongoing partnership with Sundance Collab. Joining the conversation are supervising sound editor & re-recording mixer Daniel Timmons, re-recording mixer Josh Berger, and composer Daniel Pemberton to discuss how they utilized sound and music to flesh out the world of “Materialists,” to turn the modestly budgeted film from A24 into an unexpected smash hit at the box office.“Stories about love and movies about love are often thought of as lighter fare, or not ‘serious cinema.’ My question in response to that is always, ‘why would matters of the heart — a universal theme and a great mystery, like love — be something that isn’t worthy of great cinema?’”—Celine Song, Writer, Director, and Producer, “Materialists”Be sure to check out “Materialists,” now streaming on HBO Max 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 Sundance Collab here. Learn more about the Dolby Creator Lab and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.