Ryan Coogler’s Sinners won top honors at the 73rd annual Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Awards held on Sunday at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. The film’s sound teams received awards for outstanding achievement in sound editing for feature dialogue and ADR, as well as music editing for feature motion picture. Other notable winners included Frankenstein in feature effects and foley, and Zootopia 2 in animated features.
The Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Awards, which recognize achievements in sound editing, sound design, music editing, and foley artistry across film, television, and gaming, took place on Sunday at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners from Warner Bros. secured two major awards: Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Dialogue / ADR, with supervising sound editor Benjamin A. Burtt, supervising dialogue/ADR editor David V. Butler MPSE, and dialogue/ADR editor Jason W. Freeman MPSE; and Outstanding Achievement in Music Editing – Feature Motion Picture, with music editor Felipe Pacheco.
In the feature effects and foley category, Frankenstein from Netflix won, led by supervising sound editor Nathan Robitaille MPSE and a team including sound designers, effects editors, and foley artists such as Goro Koyama and Sandra Fox MPSE. For animated features, Zootopia 2 from Walt Disney Animation Studios took the top spot, with supervising sound editor Jeremy Bowker and others contributing to sound design and editing.
Television categories highlighted several series. Adolescence: Episode 2 won in broadcast long form dialogue and ADR, supervised by James Drake. Alien: Earth: “Neverland” from FX on Hulu earned the broadcast long form effects and foley award, with supervising sound editors Lee Gilmore MPSE and Bradley North MPSE. Murderbot: “All Systems Red” from Apple TV won in broadcast short form sound editing.
Two honorary awards were presented: the Filmmaker Award to Kathleen Kennedy, and the Career Achievement Award to supervising sound editor Mark Mangini. Kennedy remarked, “Sound helps root the story. It helps represent where characters are, not only geographically, but emotionally. It helps foreshadow the intent of a character or define what they’re going through. In short, it takes the audience on the journey of the film.” She also discussed the upcoming May release of The Mandalorian & Grogu, noting Grogu as “another perfect example of a character that has to emote and you have to feel connected to, and he never speaks a word.”
Patton Oswalt hosted the event for the fourth time, with MPSE president David Barber presiding. The results position Sinners and Sirât as contenders in the Oscar sound categories, alongside mentions of Cinema Audio Society awards to F1 and KPop Demon Hunters, and Bafta honors for F1.
