Mixers/ sound designers Tom Love and Rick Sweetser are launching audio postproduction house Earwhacks, Brookline, Mass. Also on staff are sound designer Jeff Largent and managing director Christine Sebastion. The facility will operate as a division of National/Boston Video Center and is set to open its doors in mid-June.
Prior to Earwhacks, Love worked with Soundtrack, Boston, for 13 years. Among his credits are "The Video" for Volkswagen of America via Arnold Communications, Boston; "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ’99" for VH1 via Smash Advertising, Boston; and "Omwich" for Dunkin’ Donuts via Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos, Boston.
Sweetser is also a Soundtrack veteran, with 19 years of industry experience in the Boston and Chicago markets. He had mixed "Great Escape" for Volkswagen of America via Arnold, as well as spots for Fidelity Investments via Hill, Holliday, and for Nextel Communications via Mullen, Wenham, Mass.
Largent comes from a features and primetime television background. Prior to Earwhacks, he had worked with Soundelux, Hollywood, for five years. He picked up two Academy Awards-one in ’92 in the short film category for Session Man, and in ’94 he was honored in sound editing on the feature Braveheart.
Sebastion, also a Soundtrack veteran, was a traffic/talent coordinator. She has re-teamed with Love and Sweetser at Earwhacks and is responsible for client service, scheduling, duplication traffic and talent payments.
Earwhacks is comprised of three main mix suites, each equipped with Fairlight MFX3+ digital audio editing systems with room-to-room capability. Other features are 5.1 Surround Sound in Audio 2 and 3, and complete automated mixing in all suites. A fourth room is planned for next year.
Earwhacks offers a sound effects and music library, ISDN direct-dial voiceover services, DGS audio spot distributions, and talent payment. It will also have access to National/Boston’s postproduction facility.
-Susan Lin
Oscar-Nominated Director Sean Wang Joins Park Pictures For Spots, Branded Content
Park Pictures has added director Sean Wang to its roster of talent for representation spanning commercials and branded content. His feature-length debut, Dìdi, premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it was acquired by Focus Features and released later that summer to critical acclaim.
Wang is a Taiwanese-American filmmaker hailing from Fremont, Calif., and currently based in Los Angeles. Prior to joining Park Pictures, he was repped by Even/Odd Studios. Often pulling from his lived experiences, Wang can turn hyper-specific story points into universally relatable, memorable moments.
Dìdi won the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award and the Special Jury Prize for Best Ensemble Cast at the Sundance Film Festival. His documentary short Nai Nai & Wài Pó premiered at SXSW 2023, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award, later earning an Oscar nomination. The film following Wang’s two grandmothers is currently streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. Other films from Wang include the lauded documentary shorts 3,000 Miles, H.A.G.S., and Still Here. As a Google Creative Lab 5 Alumnus, Wang has directed several commercial campaigns for Google that highlighted live captions and teased large news from the tech conglomerate, including an ad that aired during the 2017 Emmy Awards.
Wang said of Park Pictures, “I can’t think of a better artistic home for me as a director. The work that comes out of Park Pictures is incredible, and I admire the work they do in advertising and the documentary and narrative space. Everyone I’ve met there is just as obsessed with making great films as I am, and I look forward to growing my career with them as I move into the commercial space.”
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