Sonic Union has added sound designer/mix engineer Rob DiFondi to its roster and promoted assistant engineers Kelly Oostman and Michelle Kerzner to sound designers/mix engineers.
DiFondi, a nearly 20-year industry vet, has had successful tenures at Audio Engine and Sound Lounge working with a variety of clients to deliver audio that enhances narratives and engages audiences. DiFondi’s credits include brands such as M&M’s, Calvin Klein, Chobani and Dunkin’ Donuts.
Oostman’s experience includes working in audio for the Olympic Broadcasting Service for the Rio Olympics, to time spent learning production and research for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and ultimately to Sonic Union where she has worked for the past four years. Among her audio career highlights, “Anomaly,” a podcast she sound designed and mixed which was featured in Tribeca Film Festival’s first-ever Podcast Selections, sound design for the indie feature film Give or Take, recording, sound design and mix for the musical feature A Trip to the Moon and the recently released cast album for a musical called Brothers Wright, which dropped on June 30. She’s also contributed her talent to commercial projects for IBM, Comcast and Smart Water, among others.
Prior to joining Sonic Union as an assistant engineer in 2018, Kerzner was at Beatstreet in New York and Apex Post in New Orleans. At Sonic Union, she has worked on a variety of projects including a recent Summersault campaign about female empowerment and A Song of Grace by Arielle Knight, a film that premiered at Tribeca 2021. In addition to her mixing and sound design work for advertising clients like Dove, Heinz and Catholic Health Services, she recently voiced a Chase campaign and is part of Sonic Union’s casting department.
DiFondi, Oostman and Kerzner are part of a tight-knit and diverse talent family at Sonic Union, including co-founder and sound designer/mix engineer Steve Rosen, that specializes in creative sound production for advertising and entertainment.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More