Conversations with Nick Ainsworth

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Ainsworth.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up in a small town in the Napa Valley called St. Helena, where I developed an early interest in playing music and recording. I could hear the distance between my recordings and my favorite records and became obsessed with closing that gap. I felt fortunate to discover that UC Santa Cruz had an electronic music program where I could study recording while earning a film degree at the same time. It was around this time that I became aware of sound designers, the people who craft the sonic worlds behind our favorite movies, and realized they were using the same tools I already loved from music production. I was immediately hooked, and that became my new goal.

After a summer studying British cinema abroad at the University of Cambridge, I landed an internship at Radiant Productions with Wolfgang Petersen, who had directed one of my favorite childhood films, The NeverEnding Story. The internship brought me to Los Angeles, where I learned about scripts, coverage, and, more importantly, how to make excellent coffee. It was a great opportunity in film development, but my heart was still pulling me toward the opposite end of the process: post-production sound.

I spent a few years at a post-production facility while working nights and weekends sound designing and mixing everything I could get my hands on, including commercials, documentaries, and animated films. My goal was to eventually go full-time, and then one morning I woke up to an out-of-the-blue email from JibJab, an animation and tech company, asking me to come on board as their in-house sound designer. There we created Ask the StoryBots for Netflix, which earned several Emmys and brought me three Emmy nominations in sound editing. When Netflix acquired the StoryBots brand in 2019, it gave me the push I needed to go freelance and start my company, Edendale Sound. I named it after Silver Lake’s original name; a neighborhood once known for silent films, which felt like the perfect fit for a sound company.

Since then, I’ve had the privilege of working across a pretty wide range of projects, including TV series like Law & Order, films like Sister, app sound design for Duolingo, Dolby Atmos mixing for Warner Records artists like Teddy Swims and Cardi B and large-scale live experiences for Netflix. I also produce educational content about immersive audio for Dolby and Pro Sound Effects. What still excites me most, after nearly 20 years, is that the core curiosity hasn’t changed. I’m still chasing the same gap between what I hear in my head and what comes out of the speakers.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t always been a smooth road. One of the biggest challenges was finding mentorship. By the time I was coming up, the traditional apprenticeship structure had already started disappearing, and a lot of knowledge in post-production sound still felt guarded or inaccessible.

I was fortunate to eventually find several mentors throughout my career, and I still lean on them today. That experience is a big part of why I create educational content now. I want to leave a breadcrumb trail for the next generation, because I think open knowledge-sharing is essential to keeping the art form alive and evolving. The door is more open now than it has ever been, and I think that’s a very good thing.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
At my company Edendale Sound, I specialize in sound designing and mixing for film, TV, commercials, music, technology, and live events. I have my own 5.1 studio, and often work out of Electric Ear Studio (pictured) for Dolby Atmos mixing. I’ve found the key to longevity and stability has been staying curious; never limiting myself to one corner of the industry, and pivoting to new opportunities and technologies when they become available.

The project I am probably most proud of is the film Sister by Siqi Song. There is something that felt really bold about using stop motion puppetry, a medium so often associated with children’s entertainment, to tell a serious story about China’s one-child policy. It was one of the most creatively challenging projects I have worked on. Among other things, I was faced with the question: what might it sound like to be a baby inside the womb in a puppet world made of felt? The reality is that the womb is actually a very loud place, but dramatically it called for something warm and safe. I was reminded of a cat I had as a child whose purring radiated such a sense of warmth and comfort that it became the source material for that sound. I am deeply happy with how the soundtrack came together, and it was incredibly rewarding to see the film recognized with an Academy Award nomination.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Most people might not know that winemaking was a backup plan for me. Growing up in St. Helena, food and wine were woven into everyday life, bringing with it more culture and art than you’d expect from a small town. The Cameo Theater, a classic single-screen theater, was my window into the film world and the winery where my dad worked held concerts every summer featuring artists like Dave Brubeck and Buena Vista Social Club. Looking back, wine, food, and film all share the same spirit: they’re best experienced together, with other people. Being surrounded by winemakers, architects, chefs, and artists taught me early on that you could make a living creating something beautiful to share with the world. Sound design won out in the end, but just barely.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.edendalesound.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edendalesound/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578992961953
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nainsworth/
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4041980/

Image Credits
01 Bailey Robb – Nick Ainsworth at Electric Ear Studio
02 Bailey Robb – Nick Ainsworth at Electric Ear Studio
03 Mekael Dawson – Nick Ainsworth at DTLA Recording
04 Mekael Dawson – Nick Ainsworth at Electric Ear Studio
05 Siqi Song Sister at the Academy Awards