A 2024 AACTA Short Film Awards contender. An exposé of Australia’s offshore detention centres. The pursuit of an Olympic dream. These are just three of the landmark projects delivered by Heckler Sound over the past 12 months.
Heckler Sound, the sister agency of internationally awarded VFX and post-production house, Heckler, is celebrating its second birthday. The specialist in music composition, sound design and sonic branding for film, TV and digital media is marking another successful year of partnering with leading agencies, brands, composers, sound artists, directors and production companies with the release of a new showreel that shows its work to raise the bar in sound production.
Heckler Sound’s leadership team – partner and creative director, Johnny Green; head of sound, Dave Robertson; and executive producer, Bonnie Law – work collaboratively and independently of Heckler to deliver creative exceptional audio across a diverse portfolio of projects.
Green stated, “Heckler Sound was born from the idea of bringing together production, post, music and sound services under one roof. While we are a small, but perfectly formed team, we draw on the expertise and specialisms of some of the world’s leading talent in music and sound. That capability has seen brands, agencies and production houses turn to us in ever greater numbers, which is a strong endorsement of what we produce, whatever the brief.
“Unlike creating that difficult second album, year two has been a transformative one for Heckler Sound. We continue to push the boundaries of innovation in sound and deliver a broad scope of work across film, TV and sonic branding that speaks for itself.”
Some of the key Heckler Sound highlights over the past 12 months include working on Black Wing, the short, animated film by Tim Main rendered entirely in Unreal Engine and nominated in the 2024 AACTA Short Film Awards category. The story of a cormorant bird is set in rich Australian bushland, following its journey through an ever-changing landscape, giving a deeper understanding of how adaptable and abstruse the creature is. Heckler Sound crafted the sound and music combining a haunting narration with music and sound design that are interwoven between the realistic and the magical.
Heckler Sound also worked with Howatson+Company to highlight the inhumane conditions of Australia’s offshore detention centres for Maurice Blackburn’s ‘Exhibit Ai’. All the voices were scripted, cast and recorded from hundreds of actual transcripts of witness accounts. Futuristic in sound, juxtaposed with emotional chordal modulation, the score complimented both the intensity of the Ai imagery, and the confronting nature of the narrated dialogue.
The Right To Race follows the journey of a South Sudanese runner, Dominic Lobalu, and his pursuit of his Olympic dream. The film, directed by Richard Bullock from Hungry Man UK and Revolver AU aired on TV in Europe, is sponsored by On Running and launched in Cannes 2023 on World Refugee Day. The original score, written by Heckler Sound’s California-based composer, Dustin Lau, encapsulates the narrative while echoing the complexities, challenges, excitement and life-moments faced by Dominic in the world of elite running.
In the past 12 months, Heckler Sound has also grown its sonic branding portfolio. Working directly with KPMG, it completed a sonic brand overhaul of multiple assets across KPMG’s respective applications. In addition, it has worked with Allianz Insurance, MYOB, Quilton, Minderoo Pictures and Australian Retirement Trust to build their own audio brand identities.
Law added, “Across music composition, sound post production, sonic branding, broadcast mixing and voice over, Heckler Sound works with a roster of over 30 unique musicians and artists to ensure every project we create is delivered by the best talent from around the world.
“As we enter our third year of operation, we plan to further build on our successes to date, collaborating closely with partners and continually developing outstanding production in sound.”
For project inquiries contact bonnie@hecklersound.tv
