Sinners made history by becoming the first film to receive 16 Academy Award nominations. Ryan Coogler’s critically and commercially acclaimed film, starring Michael B. Jordan, playing the powerful dual role of twin brothers, has broken records worldwide, surpassing the previous 14-nomination benchmark set by All About Eve.
The film earned nominations in both major and technical categories, including Best Picture, Best Director (Ryan Coogler) and Best Actor (Michael B. Jordan) for his dual performances. Delroy Lindo was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, while Wunmi Mosaku was nominated for Best Supporting Actress among several others.
Further cementing its dominance at this year’s Oscars, The Sinners also scored nominations for Best Production Design, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup and Hairstyling, demonstrating its strong presence in every major Academy Awards category.
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The film’s Best Sound nomination was credited to Chris Welker, Benjamin A. Awarded to the team of Burt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor and Steve Boedeker.
In an exclusive conversation with Zee News, doing his first interview with an Indian platform, Oscar-nominated sound designer Chris Welker reflected on the film’s historic Oscar performance, starring Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Talks about his experience working with Jordan and his memories of collaborating with Irrfan Khan on Jurassic World.
Q. This is your first interaction with an Indian audience. Can you tell us a bit about your journey into sound and what filmmaking through sound means to you?
I grew up as a musician. I’ve always been into music, jazz, electronic. I went to school thinking I wanted to be a musician or composer. I kind of got into this career where I work on films and record sound. But I think because of my background in music, it gave me the opportunity to be really more specific about the types of projects I could support in terms of sound.
Finding a way to work on music films has been a great opportunity for me, where I can use my experience of playing different instruments and understanding recording and things like that and bring it to the filmmaking side.
Because working on a film is a completely different thing compared to a live set or concert. So it’s good to have someone who can help both composers understand the filmmaking process and vice versa, because they don’t necessarily speak the same language.
Q. You began your career as a jazz saxophonist and could be the center of attention on stage. What was the turning point when you realized that being behind the scenes, mixing production sound, was the real calling of your gig?
I think part of the reason is that I’m interested in technology and devices. I was attracted to that because when I was in college, I dabbled with electronic music and DJing, and there was a lot that you had to engage with in terms of equipment. I always found myself a problem solver. I think it kind of found me.
Q. Of all the projects you have worked on so far, which has been the most meaningful or memorable for you and why?
it’s hard to say. Each one has a special place for me. I think a big series would be Daisy Jones and the Six, an Amazon series I worked on. In terms of the musical side of it, it was much bigger than anything I’d worked on before, so it gave me a lot of experience. Even for an upcoming project I’m working on, my work on Daisy Jones and the Six will be a huge asset to me.
Also, we won Best Sound at the Emmys that year, so that project opened a lot of doors for me and started conversations with Ryan Coogler for projects like Sinners. So that changed a lot for me. But I’m curious to see how Sinners does with an Oscar nomination. I am not even able to understand what effect this will have on my career. Hopefully, it will open more doors for me.
Q. Congratulations on your Oscar nomination for Sinners. What was it like working on such an intense film with big names like Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan? And are there any particular scenes in Sinners where sound played an important role in shaping the feeling of the story?
There were a few of them in this particular movie. I think one of the first things we see is a musical performance when we see the character Sammy (Miles Caton) sitting in the car with his uncle Stack. His uncle asks him to play guitar and sing. He knows he’s considered an up-and-coming blues musician, and I don’t think he’s ever heard him or hasn’t heard him recently.
So in that scene, he’s playing guitar and singing, but it’s happening under circumstances that aren’t very ideal for recording music. They’re driving a loud-engined car from the 1930s, so you’re dealing with road noise and wind. These are big challenges when you’re recording a musical performance. But we overcame it. It was a collaborative effort.
By doing this, the audience gets a chance to see and experience the truth of their performance. It’s great to see it on the big screen. Normally, we do this through music playback, we pre-record the song to play it further. And that was the first day of shooting. It set the direction for what we did for the rest of the film and helped us overcome many of the technical challenges that make the film special and different.
Q. Congratulations on your Oscar nomination for Sinners. What was it like working on such an intense film with big names like Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan? And are there any particular scenes in Sinners where sound played an important role in shaping the feeling of the story?
There were a few of them in this particular movie. I think one of the first things we see is a musical performance when we see the character Sammy (Miles Caton) sitting in the car with his uncle Stack. His uncle asks him to play guitar and sing. He knows he’s considered an up-and-coming blues musician, and I don’t think he’s ever heard him or hasn’t heard him recently.
So in that scene, he’s playing guitar and singing, but it’s happening under circumstances that aren’t very ideal for recording music. They’re driving a loud-engined car from the 1930s, so you’re dealing with road noise and wind. These are big challenges when you’re recording a musical performance. But we overcame it. It was a collaborative effort.
Oscar-nominated sound designer Chris Welker talks to Zee News about Sinners’ historic Oscar nomination, working with Ryan Coogler and Michael B Jordan and his special memories of collaborating with Irrfan Khan on Jurassic World.#ChrisWelker #sinner #OscarNomination… pic.twitter.com/wEBwtTb2g5– Zee News English (@ZeeNewsEnglish) 31 January 2026
By doing this, the audience gets a chance to see and experience the truth of their performance. It’s great to see it on the big screen. Normally, we do this through music playback – we’ll pre-record the song to play it through. And that was the first day of shooting. It set the direction for what we did for the rest of the film and helped us overcome many of the technical challenges that make the film special and different.
Q. Behind the scenes with Ryan Coogler or Michael B. What’s something about Jordan that people don’t see that has really impressed you professionally?
First of all, Ryan Coogler is the nicest person I’ve met. Unfortunately, it’s not very common to find a director who is not only friendly but also genuinely kind. When we were shooting for the film, he once invited my family to celebrate his daughter’s birthday. He is truly a family-oriented person.
He is also a great colleague. He wants to hear ideas to improve the project, and he will listen to anyone’s ideas. There have been people in the past who I thought were allies, but Ryan takes it to a whole different level. He and his wife even sent me flowers one day. He is a true gentleman. She’s very funny and smart and I really appreciate that about her.
As far as Michael B. As for Jordan, he is also a very kind person. Unless he is playing a character that requires him to be intense for the scene, he will keep joking with people on the sets. This makes it a lot easier, because he is someone who is very demanding and people always need things from him, yet he is always willing to give. I really appreciate it too.
Q. What advice would you give to young filmmakers and sound designers from countries like India who want to work in international cinema?
I think this is really hard to answer because I can’t think of one specific moment that got me to this point. Everything is cumulative, every choice you make and every relationship you build over the course of your career has the potential to become that thing. Every combination of interacting and networking with people opens up opportunities in the future.
For me, it’s about treating everyone with respect. You know, there’s no one that’s too small to be noticed. I’ve had situations where I was offered a job because someone recommended me, and when I found out who that person was, it was actually someone from craft services that provided breakfast. So you never know who can change your life and open doors for you.
I think it’s important to be polite, respectful and appreciative of the people and things around you. And also keep studying and learning new things and never stand still – this has helped me move forward.
Q. Have you met any Indian filmmakers or films, or would you like to work with anyone in the future?
I worked with an Indian filmmaker named Tarsem Singh, who made a film called The Fall. It was one of my favorite films and I had the opportunity to work with him many years ago.
I also worked with Irrfan Khan in Life of Pi. I worked with him on Jurassic World. He was nice to work with, he was a very nice guy.