NEW YORK CITY — Audio post facility Sonic Union (http://sonicunion.com) has expanded with the launch of a new studio and creative lab that overlooks Bryant Park in Manhattan. The new location will focus on growth in the emerging spatial and interactive audio spaces, as well as continue work with the company’s broadcast clients.
The expansion is led by principal mix engineer/sound designer Joe O’Connell, who is now partnered with original Sonic Union founders/mix engineers Michael Marinelli and Steve Rosen and their staff. The team will work out of both the new location and its existing studio at 19 Union Square West. O’Connell previously headed the sound company Blast, where he was a co-founder.
Sonic Union partners (L-R) Joe O’Connell, Adam Barone, Michael Marinelli and Steve Rosen
The new space is home to four rooms, three of which are built for Dolby Atmos work. The first room slated to be approved by Dolby for November 13th bookings. Mix engineer Owen Shearer advances his role to also serve as technical director, with an emphasis on VR and immersive audio. Former Blast EP Carolyn Mandlavitz joins as Sonic Union Bryant Park’s studio director. And executive creative producer Halle Petro, formerly senior producer at Nylon Studios, will support both studios.
“We feel really fortunate to encounter good people like Joe, who invest in themselves in so many ways,” says Sonic Union managing director and co-founder Adam Barone. “He has a real affinity for becoming nuanced in these new formats and our all-encompassing approach to audio post, which fits in solidly here.”
“Adam, Mike and Steve have built something very special,” adds Joe O’Connell. “I’ve had a great time working with the crew out of the Union Square location and can see the tight-knit staff and top-notch work are very much a result of what these guys are about. From the beginning, the focus of our collaboration was to build a dynamic, more diverse toolbox for future projects. With the new immersive capabilities and such a talented team on board, I am really excited about what we’re creating together.”
Sonic Union’s emerging creative audio production arm will also include a roster of talent outside of the core staff engineering roles. The team will now be integrated to handle non-traditional immersive VR, AR and experiential audio planning and coding, in addition to casting, production music supervision, extended sound design and production assignments.
The new studio offers sweeping views of Bryant Park and was created and developed by Ilan Ohayon of IOAD, with architectural design by Raya Ani of Raw-NYC. Renowned for her visionary and unconventional design, Ani, who also designed Sonic’s Union Square studio, brought forth a feeling of dimensional interconnectivity through a bold, origami-inspired functional finish.