I Origins Film Still - H 2013
Jelena VukoticDirector Mike Cahill‘s I Origins has been selected as the first film to receive the Dolby Family Sound Fellowship, it was announced on Wednesday by Sundance Institute, The Dolby Institute, along with The Ray and Dagmar Dolby Family Fund.
Recipients will be awarded in the range of $35,000-$75,000 to provide sound postproduction services to their film.
The I Origins‘ team plans to use the grant to assist with the film’s sound design and mix, which is being supervised by sound designer Steve Boeddeker of Skywalker Sound, who recently completed All is Lost. Plans are to premiere I Origins on Jan. 18 during the Sundance Film Festival, with a Dolby Atmos mix.
The film follows a molecular biologist and his study of the human eye, and stars Michael Pitt, Brit Marling and Astrid Bergès-Frisbe. “I’m grateful to Sundance Institute and Dolby for this incredible opportunity,” said Cahill in a statement. “The film begins as an intimate, personal story and expands both visually and conceptually as it drives toward its climax. Dolby and the artists at Skywalker Sound will allow us to chart that expansion through sound in a way we never would have been able to otherwise.”
Said David Dolby in a statement: “We were looking to support the next generation of independent filmmakers by identifying new films with potential for a really inventive use of sound, but lacking in the resources to accomplish their creative vision. I Origins is exactly the kind of film that we were looking for—it needed to achieve an immersive and detailed sound environment to communicate the director’s vision, and we’re providing a boost to get it across the finish line. We hope that Ray Dolby’s love and appreciation for great film sound will inspire independent filmmakers to focus on sound design and mixing during the creative process.”
The film was selected by a committee made up of members from Sundance and Dolby, in consultation with Academy Award-nominated sound designer and re-recording mixer, Skip Lievsay (No Country for Old Men, Gravity).
At the Sundance Film Festival, the Dolby Institute will also host a session on the sound of I Origins, with Cahill, Boeddeker, re-recording mixer Brandon Proctor, and the film’s music composers, Phil Mossman and Will Bates.
Sundance partnered with Dolby on the launch of the Dolby Institute at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
E-mail: Carolyn.Giardina@THR.com
Twitter:@CGinLA
