“I can go back to when I was sixteen, and I was at a movie theater and I was watching a really great scene in a movie where the violinist was, like, moving his bows, you know, the camera was like panning around him. And I got to the end of that scene, and, like, he lifts his bow up, and I started clapping in the theater. And I realized that that film had just totally taken me out of the movie theater and put me in, like, a concert hall. And I was like, ooh, I want to do that. I want to basically use sound to bring people to another world, and I pretty much at sixteen decided I wanted to be a film composer.” – Sherene Strausberg

This episode’s guest is an Emmy-nominated art director and a unique creative, combining her experience in film, music, and sound engineering with graphic design and illustration. She creates animated videos for her clients at the company she founded almost ten years ago, 87th Street Creative. She knew at the age of sixteen that she wanted to be a film composer, and, after ten years of pursuing that while also working as a broadcast engineer at National Public Radio, she changed careers, first to graphic design and then to motion design. Motion graphics returned her to her true passion of how sound and moving images together can immerse the viewer and listener. Combining this with her desire to work with clients who believe in sustainability and social justice, 87th Street Creative has worked with nonprofits and businesses that help make the world a better place.

Her name is Sherene Strausberg, and our conversation covers a range of topics, from how sound enhances visuals to the role sound plays in helping her clients promote their brands. Whether you’re an ad creative, have a company that’s looking for an innovative way to reach your clients, or you’re just interested in the power of sound, we could all learn a thing or two from her experiences.

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(0:00:00) - From Film Scoring to Animation

Our discussion starts off with a look back at a pivotal memory in Sherene’s life, the moment when, as a teenager, she realized she wanted to work in sound. “I was watching a really great scene in a movie,” she recalls, “where the violinist was, like, moving his bows. You know, the camera was panning around him. And I got to the end of that scene and like he lifts his bow up and I started clapping in the theater and I realized that that film had just totally taken me out of the movie theater.” She shares her journey from the Indiana School of Music, where she studied music and played piano, to working in Hollywood as a film composer. “What you learn in school,” she says, “is a very small piece of the puzzle, and learning how to manage client relationships, how to find work, how to manage projects and manage the funds and fees and all the financial sides of it, I mean, none of that I got out of school.”

(0:14:22) - The Influence of Animated Logos

We talk about her work on the award-winning documentary Small Voices, and how deeply the experience affected her. “It was about an orphanage in Cambodia,” she recalls, “and it particularly followed five or six kids and their journey.” She tells us about her work with clients on combining audio and animated brand logos, and how AI is changing the face of marketing and SEO, especially as Google searches give way to ChatGPT. “I am guilty of this,” Sherene adds. “I have gone to chat GPT and asked it a question that I would have normally asked Google and it’s been interesting the results that I’ve gotten. Sometimes they’re really way more helpful in ChatGPT.”

(0:20:17) - Artistic Inspiration and AI Filtering

As we wrap up the first half of our conversation, Sherene and I discuss the true value of a sonic logo, both tangible and otherwise. “You know, how do we monetize that ROI?” she asks. “It’s very hard. I mean, look at the ba-dum of Netflix. Can you monetize that sound and say, oh well, the KPI, you know, on that is X, Y, and Z?” We talk about her work with other artists and creatives, and the role that Pinterest still plays, even in the age of AI, when it comes to forging connections and finding the right person. “If there’s like, an artist who they’re inspired by,” she explains, “a whole bunch of people that they follow, I want to follow that person, whereas the filter is way wider on ChatGPT.”

Episode Summary

Sherene’s journey to becoming a film composer and the realities of working in Hollywood.
Sonic branding’s impact on animated logos and AI’s role in reshaping the market.
The value of sonic branding and how ChatGPT has made networking simpler than ever.

Tune in for part two of our discussion as we talk about Sherene’s strategy for combining visuals and audio into a powerful marketing tool, how modern technology has turned sound from a communal into a solitary experience, and what Beetlejuice Beetlejuice tells us about the power of sound.

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The Journey from Film Scoring to AI and Music: A Conversation with Sherene Strausberg - Part 1