SOUNDTRACKER

People

Who made it, and who it’s about.

Gordon Hempton making a field recording with his human-head microphone, affectionately named “Fritz”.
Gordon Hempton recording with “Fritz,” his human-head microphone. Photo: Kari Wilton.
Gordon Hempton listening to the rustle of leaves in Montana.
Listening to the rustle of leaves in Montana. Photo: Martin DiCicco.

Subject · Acoustic ecologist

Gordon Hempton

An Emmy Award-winning nature sound recordist who has produced more than sixty albums of natural soundscapes.

His work has been recognized by the American Museum of Natural History, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rolex Awards for Enterprise and the Charles A. Lindbergh Fund. He lives at the edge of Olympic National Park, where he founded One Square Inch, an effort to establish the world’s first sanctuary for silence.

Producer · Writer · Director

Nicholas J. Sherman

A documentary filmmaker and writer, and a recipient of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting.

Nick holds a BA in Philosophy from Colorado State University and an MFA in Film from Chapman University. In addition to producing and directing Soundtracker, he served as director of photography on Frederick Marx’s documentary Journey from Zanskar, and his cinematography appears in Maya Lin’s “What Is Missing?” project.

The crew filming Gordon among ferns and tall trees.
The crew sets up beside Gordon's Volkswagen van in the woods.

Director of Photography

Martin DiCicco

Martin’s work has appeared on ESPN and TV-ONE and at the Sundance Film Festival (Husk, Short Films Showcase 2005). He was a 2005 student nominee of the American Society of Cinematographers and was honored for outstanding cinematography at the Big Bear Lake Festival for the Turkish-language film What’s Love Doing in the Mountains? His documentary work has taken him to India, Japan, England, the Yukon and the Olympic Peninsula.