Oscar-winning Sound Designer Johnnie Burn on why being a runner is still the best route to success and how he creates the unsettling unorthodox worlds for Yorgos Lanthimos, Jordan Peele and Jonathan Glazer.
Oscar-winning Sound Designer Johnnie Burn believes there’s no shortage of people wanting to come into the industry but that postgraduates often have a preconceived notion of what to expect that may not align with commercial pressures.
“Having a degree is a great way to get in but anyone who wants to succeed still has to maintain the attitude that there’s a lot to learn,” he says. “The learning you have from college will take you through the later part of your career much more quickly but unless you go and make tea, no one else in the company going to have that respect for you because they’ve all done it.”
Burn, who created the sonic world for films including Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things, and Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone Of Interest, runs Academy Award and Bafta-nominated audio postproduction house Wave Studios, having grown it with...
You are not signed in
Only registered users can read the rest of this article.

Machine burning: Is it high time for a global AI energy regulator?
AI is the new secret sauce that every CTO is being pressed to bring on board, helping to supercharge every part of the business, from automating admin to amplifying creativity. But what is the underlying cost to the environment? Neal Romanek reports.

Resistance may be futile: Animators unite to fight and work with AI
What happens when the tortoise of animation meets the hare of artificial intelligence? Speed is AI’s superpower but it threatens to wipe away jobs and craft. IBC365 is on the ground at the Animation Film Festival in Annecy.
SXSW London: Engagement, futurism and AI collide in East London
The inaugural South by Southwest London 2025 saw Shoreditch taken over by the US-founded creative festival brand, serving up a blend of business, tech and culture to an international audience, with delegates attending from 56 countries.

Hollywood is over: Time for creators to take charge
Film and TV professionals, studio executives and kit manufacturers are urged to open up to the creator economy or face ruin.

IBC Accelerators: AI Assistance Agents in Live Production
The IBC Accelerator project envisions AI-driven production assistants that seamlessly integrate into control room workflows, enhancing live production with intelligent automation.