THE CLOAKED REALM

Award-winning sci-fi animated audio drama showcasing end-to-end audio post production and immersive Dolby Atmos mixing.

Dolby Atmos Mixer

Delivered the final Dolby Atmos mix, using objects and sound beds to create a cinematic spatial experience that enhanced immersion while keeping dialogue and storytelling at the forefront.

Lead Sound Designer

Directed a team of sound designers to deliver foley, spot effects, ambience, and environmental audio. Responsibilities were distributed across complex scenes to maximise efficiency, before being reviewed, refined, and integrated into the final mix.

 

Music Editor

Collaborated with composer John Baxter to review and prepare music stems before synchronising them to picture using timecode. Refined timing, structure, and balance to preserve the composer’s creative vision while ensuring the score worked seamlessly alongside dialogue and sound design.

Dialogue ADR

Recorded replacement dialogue for updated animation, script revisions, and recast performances, ensuring seamless integration with existing performances and the final mix.

 

Dialogue Editor

Edited and restored dialogue to deliver clean, natural performances, selecting the strongest takes while removing pops, clicks, and other unwanted artefacts. Shaped dialogue with EQ, compression, and ambience to create a convincing sense of space while maintaining clarity and intelligibility.

Voice Direction

Directed voice talent throughout recording sessions, providing creative context and performance guidance while fostering a relaxed, collaborative environment. Managed session pacing, retakes, punch-ins, and quality control to ensure every line was captured efficiently and delivered to the highest standard.

 

Final Deliverables

Managed the final delivery pipeline across the series, ensuring all Dolby Atmos masters met specification while producing stereo and surround mixdowns for distribution. Established and maintained a Perforce version control workflow, providing reliable asset management, backups, and full revision history throughout production.

 

The Process

The Cloaked Realm was my first opportunity to lead the complete audio post production pipeline for a Dolby Atmos production. I chose Nuendo as the primary DAW due to its integrated Dolby Atmos workflow, ADR tools, and post-production feature set, allowing the project to move efficiently from editorial through to final delivery.

The sound design covered everything from dialogue editing and foley to large-scale cinematic ambiences. I enjoyed finding creative ways to reinforce the on-screen action, whether designing expansive moving environments using particle-based techniques or integrating the music more naturally into the world. Moments such as spacecraft launches, landings, and diegetic speaker systems allowed the music to interact with the environment through automation, filtering, and spatial movement rather than simply sitting underneath the scene.

While Pete Issa Alexander and Marisa Cohen managed the majority of the original casting, later production changes required several recasts. I took ownership of this process by shortlisting actors, organising recording sessions, directing performances, and using Nuendo’s ADR workflow to streamline dialogue replacement and maintain consistency with the existing performances.

Working in Dolby Atmos also simplified the delivery process. Once the immersive mix was approved, the Dolby Atmos Renderer enabled efficient creation of stereo, 5.1, and 7.1 downmixes alongside ADM masters for Blu-ray and streaming distribution. A final mastering pass ensured every deliverable met broadcast specifications while preserving dialogue clarity, dynamic impact, and the cinematic feel of the mix.

As production intensified, I led a small team of sound designers including Matt Gibson, Giovanni, and Rob Crawford. Work was divided by scene and discipline, allowing dialogue editing, foley, and spot effects to progress in parallel before being merged into the master project. Perforce was used to manage version control throughout production, providing reliable collaboration, asset management, and the ability to track and restore previous revisions whenever required.

The Cloaked Realm has since received multiple award nominations and wins, including recognition for Sound Design and Audio Mixing, making it one of the most rewarding projects I’ve had the opportunity to contribute to.

 

Awards

The Cloaked Realm received 40+ international awards and nominations, including multiple honours for Sound Design, Sound Editing, Original Score, and Best Use of Music. My work on the series was recognised with multiple awards for Best Sound Design, Sound Editing, and Overall Sound Impact.

  • 🏆 IndieFEST Film Awards (2023) – Best Sound Design (Episode 1)

  • 🏆 IndieX Film Fest (2022) – Best Sound Design (Episode 1)

  • 🏆 Vegas Movie Awards (2022) – Best Sound Design (Episode 4)

  • 🏆 Prague International Indie Film Festival (2022) – Honourable Mention, Best Sound Design (Episode 4)

  • 🏆 Los Angeles Film Awards (2022) – Best Sound Design (Episode 4)

  • 🏆 Minefield Platinum Awards (2022) – Best Sound Design (Episode 4)

  • 🏆 Best Shorts Competition (2022) – Best Sound: Overall Impact (Episode 4)

  • 🏆 Indie Eye Film Awards (2022) – Best Sound Design (Episode 4)

  • 🏆 New Jersey Film Awards (2022) – Best Sound Design (Episode 4)

  • 🏆 IndieFEST Film Awards (2022) – Award of Merit Special Mention: Sound Editing / Sound Mixing (Episode 4)

 

Preview

This preview showcases my work across the complete audio post-production pipeline. Although the music was composed by John Baxter, I was responsible for editing, synchronising, processing, and mixing the score alongside the dialogue and sound design to create a cohesive and immersive final soundtrack.

John’s compositions were an absolute pleasure to work with, capturing the emotion and atmosphere of the series beautifully.