RISING TALENT 2024: SOUND

RISING TALENT 2024

The IF Rising Talent list for 2024 is made up of people we think will shift and lead our industry into the future. Some are newer faces, others have recently stepped into senior roles where they’re now making waves. We think you’ll want to work with all of them. We put this list together through a public call out and extensive insdustry outreach. This year, we had a staggering 692 names put forward. As always, this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of talent that’s out there in Australia.

SOUND

HAMISH KEEN

Hamish Keen is a South Australian sound designer and re-recording mixer.

After graduating from the VCA and the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music at The University of Melbourne, Keen trained at Arts Centre Melbourne with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Australian Ballet and the Melbourne Theatre Company while designing independent film and TV projects. Some 60+ short films later, he returned to Adelaide to work as a staff sound editor and mix tech with Artisan Post Group.

Now practising freelance across supervision/design, dialogue, and re-recording departments, Keen’s 2023 credits include The Moogai and Housekeeping for Beginners for Causeway Films, Limbo, Black Snow, and eight short films.

Keen has been nominated for four Australian Screen Sound Guild (ASSG) awards for his work on Home, Limbo, Monolith and You’ll Never Find Me. He is a member of the both the ASSG and Australian Guild of Screen Composers, and an advocate for the needs and growth of the local industry in SA.

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DANIEL HACKETT

Daniel Hackett is a Sydney-based audio engineer, specialising in post-production for film and TV. He started his career in the music industry, studying and working at The Grove Studios on the Central Coast, before going on to study at SAE, where he majored in post-production.

Hackett works across a broad range of specialties including sound design, sound effects, foley, ADR, dialogue and mix stage engineering. His credits include Elvis, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Heartbreak High, Wellmania, The Moogai, Sting, Wizards!, Boy Swallows Universe and The Fall Guy. He is currently working on a number of short films and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

Hackett has won a number of Australian Screen Sound Guild Awards, most recently for his work across Three Thousand Years of Longing (Best Sound Mixing) and Elvis (Best Sound for a Feature Film).

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GEORGIA COLLINS

Armed with a Bachelor’s of Audio Engineering and Sound Production from JMC Academy, Georgia Collins started her career as a recording engineer for Sydney bands like Body Type and Erthlings before turning her hand to post-production.

One of a handful of female commercial sound designers in Australia, she has made her mark on campaigns for companies like Nike, Adidas, VW, Google, RM Williams and Jeep.

Her film and television credits include sound effects editor for Spencer Frost and Guy Willimont’s documentary Corners of the Earth – Kamchatka, sound designer and mixer for Eliza Scanlan’s short film, How Can I Help You?, and music editor for Safe Home.

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JONATHAN MENDOLICCHIO

Jonathan Mendolicchio is an assistant sound editor at The Post Lounge in Sydney, where he has worked on projects such as the AACTA-nominated Savage River, Scarygirl, OneFour: Against All Odds and Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles.

Canberra-raised, he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music and Sound Design from UTS and a Masters of Arts Screen (Sound) from AFTRS.

Mendolicchio was the sound designer for The Big Dog, which was runner up in Sydney Film Festival’s Audience Awards, and received a nomination for the Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Award 2023 in the Verna Fields Student Film category for short film Enemy Alien.

In 2023, Mendolicchio was also nominated for an Australian Screen Sound Guild (ASSG) Award for his work on The Cape (Best Sound for a Documentary).

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PAUL DEVESCOVI

Paul Devescovi has more than seven years’ experience in audio postproduction, across sound design and editing, sound supervision, ADR recording and directing.

His recent credits include sound supervisor and sound effects editor for Erotic Stories, as well as sound effects editor for After the Party, Queen of Oz, The Messenger, and both seasons of Upright and The Secret She Keeps.

In 2019, Devescovi won both an AACTA and Australian Screen Sound Guild Award for his work on Foxtel miniseries Lambs of God. His other credits include Head Above Water, Home & Away, Orange is the New Brown and The EX-PM.