Chicago-based Vagabond Audio (www.vagabondaudio.com) received two Bronze Tellys for Sound Design.
Founded in 1979, the Telly Awards (www.tellyawards.com) is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, the finest film and video productions, and groundbreaking web commercials, videos and films.
Vagabond Audio received Bronze for Commercial Sound Design for “Two Kinds of Cheese โ Factory,” a 30-second commercial for Sargento Cheese from advertising agency Jacobson Rost. Vagabond was also awarded Bronze for Film & Video Sound Design for the feature film “Actually, Adieu My Love” from director Minji Kang.
Vagabond Audio’s Head Engineer and Sound Designer Drew Weir says both projects gave him ample opportunity for creativity. For the Sargento commercial, Weir says the unique challenge was to create the audio environment of a cheese factory. “We went to the set, which is something we do a lot, and gathered sound from the mechanisms on set to create audio that contributed the realism of the spot,” says Weir. This approach to sound design is a Vagabond Audio hallmark.
With “Actually, Adieu My Love,” Weir says the stylized aesthetic of the feature gave him tremendous lee-way to create. “The film is an abstract piece with moments of intense sound design,” says Weir. “What really shines through Is how sound design can expand and enhandce a narrative, even for a smaller-budget feature. ‘Actually, Adieu My Love’ was really like candy for a sound designer, and the result is delicious.”
“The work we do here at Vagabond is reward enough in itself, but to be honored in this way is really the cherry on top,” says Vagabond Audio’s Executive Producer Risรฉ Sanders. “It’s so great to have the opportunity to work at different lengths; one really crystallizes sound design in a short burst, and the other allows a large canvas for experimentation.”
Vagabond is celebrating their win by digging in to more work. Recent projects include: voice-over recording of David Schwimmer for Hancock Tower with Antenna/Discovery; JC Penney web work with Gante Films for Saatchi; A.D.R. for the Sony Pictures feature “Zombie Strippers” starring Robert Englund and Jenna Jameson; Planters Nuts “Manstincts”; radio spots for BroMenn Medical Centers with SRK; sound design and mix for the independent short “Southern Cross” by director Kamieshia Wooten, which screened in the American Pavilion at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.
ABOUT VAGABOND AUDIO
Chicago-based sound design, music and mix company Vagabond Audio is co-owned by engineer/sound designer Drew Weir and producer Risรฉ Sanders. Weir has been recording, mixing, and creating world-class audio for more than 14 years โ first at Chiat/Day in New York, then at Nu World Editorial and Red Car Chicago. Weir is the recipient of a New York Art Director’s Club Award for a network-wide ABC branding campaign. Sanders has produced documentaries for A&E, The History Channel, WTTW, The Learning Channel, and MSNBC. She has been nominated for an Emmy Award and an NAACP Image Award. Recent Vagabond clients include McDonalds, State Farm, Bally Total Fitness, Disney and ESPN.