Director Cole Webley makes his directorial debut at Sundance 2025 with ‘Omaha’ – in U.S. Dramatic Competition. The film is garnering acclaim for its honest, compelling performances of characters experiencing family tragedy and devastating loss. Their cross-country road trip oscillates between beautiful and heartbreaking.

The story is mainly told through the eyes (and ears) of a kid named Ella. The audience’s perception of events is filtered through her perspective. Award-winning sound designer/re-recording mixer Peter Albrechtsen talks about achieving this subjective POV by only making bits and pieces of her dad’s conversations audible (at times panning his voice to feel like it’s coming from another room) and allowing the sounds of Ella’s experience – like when she leans out of the car window or dives underwater – to overtake the soundscape.

Here, Albrechtsen talks about creating soundscapes for their road trip that showcase the beauty of the changing landscapes and freeways through the surprisingly musical sounds of engines, tires, and winds, designing sound to fit with composer Christopher Bear’s score, working with re-recording mixer David Barber to find dynamic balances that let the music and sound design breathe and flow, and much more!

From L to R: Director Cole Webley, Actor John Magaro, and Sound Designer Peter Albrechtsen in the ADR studio in Copenhagen

How did director Cole Webley want to use sound to help tell this story? What did you want to bring to the sound of the film – what were some of your ideas on how to help tell Omaha through sound?

Peter Albrechtsen (PA): Omaha is written by Robert Machoian, who I’ve collaborated with for several years; we’ve done three feature films together plus several…