The 2019 New York Festivals Radio Awards ceremony awarded exceptional radio content in all lengths and formats across all platforms.

Trophy-winning, producers, directors, presenters and content creators from around the globe took to the stage to accept their glittering trophies and celebrate their success.

NYF’s Open Mic features interviews with the brilliant women and men behind some of the world’s most compelling programs and provide insights and observations from these leaders within the industry.

In this interview, Open Mic spends a few moments with Diego Cannizzaro, owner and director of DMC STUDIO. A multi-award-winning script writer and sound designer, Diego scored double Golds (Human Relations and Best Editing) and double Bronze (Best Writing and Best Sound) trophies for his documentary “MADRE”

“MADRE” is a sound documentary dedicated to all women. Dedicated to the aunts, to the grandmothers … to all the mothers. But especially, to the mother that we have each of the human beings: Our Mother Earth.

For his award-winning piece, Diego and his team interviewed around 300 people from different social strata, countries of origin, different languages and ages in different geographic locations of the planet; all of them were recorded answering the 5 same questions after a brief personal presentation.

Based on each of the answers, of the more than 300 people, a great sound edition was made, combining all the answers, naturally expressed in their own native languages from different countries of the world, in conjunction with the main story.

In the interview below, Diego shares his inspiration for his award-winning documentary, pointers for someone just starting out in the industry, his biggest creative influence and much much more.

New York Festivals: What was the inspiration for your award-winning program “Madre” and what did you ultimately hope to accomplish?

Diego Cannizzaro: Inspiration is clearly focused on motherhood. The initial idea originated in the very NYF ceremony of 2017 when I accepted the Grand Award, standing in front of so many colleagues around the globe, pops into my mind “I want to write something that involves and commits us all together”. Our planet. We are all “Sons of the Earth” and we all have a or had a Mother. And our Mother common to all human beings, of different races, creeds and languages is Our Mother Earth.

In parallel, the idea was strengthened by the fact that throughout the pre-production process I was becoming a father. While we made recordings around the world, the project was completely defined.

In the second year in production, the sound design, the editing of the voices and the complex audio mix advance simultaneously with the pregnancy. By the way, a multiple pregnancy! Olivia and Rafaela, my daughters.

I think the inspiration and the triggers came from a deepest place of me. And life was in charge to give shape to this Sound Piece.

New York Festivals: Tell us about your creative process and how you overcame any obstacles?

Diego Cannizzaro: The creative process is a sequence and evolution of events that mold and improve the original idea. Having (of course) the main theme solved and the script, we can start with the pre-production. Keep in mind that many ideas are generated in the recording process since the script faces reality. And at that point, when you are recording voices or sounds, there is when my sensitivity is sharpened to take advantage about the factors that maybe confuses you or makes you to take shortcuts or alternative paths that contribute to the content. It is up to each person to take or leave these incentives and have a firm criterion about what you are doing so as not to modified the original idea too much.

New York Festivals: Who has been the biggest influence on you creatively?

Diego Cannizzaro: I think that as a sound documentaries producer and as the director of DMC STUDIO (where we face every time different projects and situations) I find the greatest inspiration in life itself. In day by day. In sitting in a bar in a big city and watching people. There I start to connect ideas and to inspire myself. Of course how technology affects us, communications on a global level. Music is a fundamental part. Listening to music it is so positive, paying attention to the new trends of the music producers, how do they handle the dynamic ranges of sound applied to music, it is inspiring and I try to learn everyday and then, adapt and apply all those influences to our productions.

New York Festivals: What are the top 3 pointers you’d give someone just starting out in world of audio?

Diego Cannizzaro: I believe, achieve goods results working with audio takes time and a lot of practice. It is always important to obtain and work with GOOD QUALITY of sound, even if the sound texture of a project contains an “specific colour” or a special mood. If it is a matter of recording voices, keep in mind the quality but in opposition to that, maintaining the FRESHNESS AND NATURALITY of them, that always will be a priority, within the limits that we have regarding quality. That is so valuable for us. And finally, a very good SOUND POST PRODUCTION job, that is, SOUND DESIGN is fundamental to obtain a very good sound work. In editing we can even improve our products and with the proper use of filters, virtual or real plugins, we can get and generate any necessary sound texture. The management and complete knowledge of the software that you use for this process, like Pro Tools, is indispensable to get awesome results.

New York Festivals: What project is next on the horizon for you and your team?

Diego Cannizzaro: We are currently working on the pre-production of a new Sound Piece / Podcast, focused on topics that also involve us all, but within a framework of fiction and with a very interesting time variable handling. For now, regarding to the subject, that’s all what I can advance. Although in our first sound documentary BLACKOUT, winner of a Grand Award in 2017 at the NYF, it was an intimate fiction, a character who was touring BsAs. Now, MADRE, is developing more globally, with many voices, languages and a strong feminist presence. Our third delivery will be a mixture of both worlds where real and the unreal…are one. We hope to finish it soon, but we are just in the pre-production and writing stage, maybe  for The NYF 2020? 2021? Who knows! Whenever it comes, will be awsome!

For a complete list of all the 2019 New York Festivals Radio Award winners, please visit: HERE