
Ryan Coogler and Ludwig G ransson have worked together on several films, including Fruitvale Station.
By Vanessa Zimmer
Why do people say they watched a movie? Why don't they say they listened to a movie? Because they really did.
And it's not just the dialogue, or even the musical score, but they also hear the whisper of the wind, the messy, fleshy sound of fist meeting jaw, the stomp and echo of a crowd in an arena, the sparkly flow of water transforming to a thunderous roar as it cascades over a cliff.
The soundscape of a film can be as important as the landscape. So said director Ryan Coogler, composer Ludwig G ransson, and sound designer Steve Boeddeker in a Conversations From the Labs session last year as part of Sundance Collab.
The three men lent their talents to the Marvel movie Black Panther (2018) and the Rocky follow-up Creed (2015), in which Rocky Balboa trains the son of his foe and friend Apollo Creed. As Boeddeker frames it in action-movie terms: Collaboration ends up being our secret weapon. Done well, the sound effects, the music, the direction co-exist seamlessly, he says, making it a fun and gratifying process.
Coogler emerged at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival with Fruitvale Station, based on the true-life story of Oscar Grant, a young Black man who lost his life in a police encounter in the Bay Area in 2009. The film won both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the U.S. drama competition at the Festival. G ransson worked on that project as well.
During their long collaboration, G ransson and Coogler have developed an obvious rapport. Coogler, says G ransson, talks to him as if he is an actor - a full-fledged member of the crew.
Coogler advocates bringing in the composer as early as possible, even during the writing of the screenplay, to sync on the tone and message. The director admits he kind of knows what he wants, but not how to get there. What he does know for certain is how he wants the music and effects to make him feel. I am very sensitive to sound and music, Coogler says. I think most people are.
When possible, G ransson strives to be on the set during shooting. It's inspirational to see Ryan in his directorial element, the composer says. Experiencing the tempo of the scenes is helpful - even if he finds it sometimes works best to write the music without a scene directly in front of him, reflecting on the overall feeling instead.
In a key scene in Creed, as Adonis Creed seeks to make a name for himself in a critical boxing match, the arena fills with the thrums and boos of the crowd, shouts of encouragement from Rocky, the rhythm of slapping punches and bone-crunching punches, a blow to the gut, and then a gutteral, animal-like sound. ( Ryan said he wanted a polar bear growl, Boeddeker says. We're guessing that's what that was.)
It's looking bad for Creed, but the recognizable trumpets of the original Rocky score rise as the young boxer struggles from the floor and begins pounding his opponent. In movie theaters, audiences were so stirred up that they stood up and applauded, says Boeddeker.
All of that emotion, managed through the language of drama, sound, and music. With untold give-and-take, and collaboration from all sides.
We have respect for each other's lives, Coogler says simply. We all want the same thing.
To view the entire Collab video with Ryan Coogler, Ludwig G ransson, and Steve Boeddeker, click here. For information on a self-paced course on Directing Actors with Tessa Blake, click here.
North America Stories
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/09/2026
Manifold Technologies, developer of software-defined, FPGA-accelerated infrastructure for live production, has named Ryhaan Williams as Chief Commercial Officer...
21/09/2026
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has won Best Journal Article at the 2026 IAMT Impact Awards for What Video Editors Need When Everything Is Changing Around Them,...
21/09/2026
Major League Wrestling (MLW) has announced a streaming distribution agreement with Tubi for its weekly series MLW FUSION. Beginning September 17, new episodes w...
21/09/2026
Disney Entertainment has announced that Adam Smith has been named Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer, with responsibility for Disney and Hulu including product, engi...
21/09/2026
United Airlines and DISH have announced an agreement to bring live professional ...
21/09/2026
SES and JioStar have announced a multi-year agreement under which SES will provide satellite distribution services for JioStar's television channel portfoli...
21/09/2026
The Detroit Red Wings have announced details for their inaugural season on Detro...
21/09/2026
Manifold Technologies has appointed Ryhaan Williams as Chief Commercial Officer for North America, effective October 1, 2026. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Wi...
21/09/2026
Angels Broadcast Television (ABTV), the local television home of the Los Angeles...
21/09/2026
The 2026 US Open Tennis Championships marked a year of change with respect to TV...
21/09/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
21/09/2026
From Graphic Novel to 30-Minute Animated Film: What I Learned Building an AI-Ass...
21/09/2026
Liam Hopkins Builds Recording Studio with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton September 20, 2026
0 Comments
Video complements audio production with music v...
21/09/2026
Physical AI is moving rapidly from research to large-scale deployment. By 2035, ABI Research projects an installed base of 49 million level 3-5 autonomous vehic...
21/09/2026
Today, Egypt's AI builders gathered in the Grand Egyptian Museum for a reception that highlighted the nation's rapidly growing AI ecosystem - spanning A...
21/09/2026
Every AI factory needs power and cooling that fit its computing architecture. As AI infrastructure expands, power, cooling, water, site and grid constraints are...
21/09/2026
AI security is an engineering problem. That means defined security requirements,...
21/09/2026
Clean energy isn't hard to come by, but the pace of large-scale adoption has historically been slow due to bottlenecks - including out-of-date infrastructur...
20/09/2026
COW Jobs: Video Editor, Motion Designer - Remote, PT, 6 Months
Brie Clayton September 20, 2026
0 Comments
Video Editor + Motion Designer (Remote | PT ...
19/09/2026
Two High-Profile Professional Sports Franchises Renew creative.space Contracts with DigitalGlue
NFL team and Major League Soccer Club cite ease of use, secure ...
19/09/2026
Limited Edition Audio releases VoxSplit Pro for overlapping dialogue separation ...
18/09/2026
IBC 2026 Tech Moves Beyond the Gloss and Into the Rack If you spent any time in the halls of the RAI this year, you noticed a clear shift in conversation. The c...
18/09/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
18/09/2026
Qvest has appointed Jens Miedek as Senior Vice President Sales, Media and Entertainment. Before joining Qvest, Miedek spent 16 years at Riedel Communications an...
18/09/2026
Fonn Group has acquired full ownership of everviz, a cloud-native platform for interactive charts, maps, and data-driven graphics, and will rebrand it as Teikna...
18/09/2026
Other World Computing (OWC) has announced the acquisition of OpenDrives, a provider of software-defined video and rich media storage management solutions. The a...
18/09/2026
Kaltura and Verimatrix have announced a partnership integrating Verimatrix's Digital Rights Management and security capabilities into Kaltura's Cloud TV...
18/09/2026
The sixth edition of the World Nomad Games combined traditional sports, large-scale cultural performances, and some decidedly modern broadcast technology. Held ...
18/09/2026
DAZN and Super League Basketball (SLB) have extended their partnership for the 2026-27 season. Every Championship, Cup, and Play-Off fixture will be available l...
18/09/2026
Nielsen has announced that its Streaming Content Ratings (SCR) product will move from weekly to daily data delivery, with clients now receiving viewership data ...
18/09/2026
ESPN will present LALIGA's ElCl sico on ABC for the first time, with FC Barcelona vs. Real Madrid airing Sunday, October 25 at 4 p.m. ET. A one-hour pre-mat...
18/09/2026
The University of Pennsylvania's Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate ...
18/09/2026
The Charlotte Hornets have announced DAZN as their exclusive direct-to-consumer streaming partner for the 2026-27 NBA season. The service launches immediately, ...
18/09/2026
Broadcast sports' original medium will let drivers keep on hearing the plays thanks to a new bill set to pass the Senate....
18/09/2026
Fourteen iPhone 18 Pro devices - eight connected over a T-Mobile Private 5G Netw...
18/09/2026
The Minnesota Lynx have announced that their final local broadcast of the 2026 regular season will air free on FOX 9 following the shutdown of Victory . The Ly...
18/09/2026
Monumental Sports Network (MNMT) has announced that its Monumental+ streaming service is now available as a subscription through Prime Video, giving Capitals an...
18/09/2026
WTGL, the women's team golf league created by TMRW Sports in partnership with the LPGA, has announced its inaugural season schedule. The season premieres Su...
18/09/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
18/09/2026
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has won Best Journal Article at the 2026 IAMT Impact Awards for What Video Editors Need When Everything Is Changing Around Them, ...