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Meet the Makers, episode three
Leff Lefferts

In film, sound doesn’t just support the story—it shapes how you experience it.

Sound works alongside the image to direct attention, shape movement, and establish a sense of space, often in ways the audience doesn’t consciously notice. But much of that detail only exists for the listener if the playback system can reproduce it.

This invisible layer of storytelling sits at the center of Meet the Makers, Denon’s video series profiling the creators behind the soundtracks of our lives, from music and film to television and games. It also reflects Denon’s Sound Made Better philosophy—the idea that sound crafted with care in the studio should translate with that same level of intent when it’s played back.

Meet Leff Lefferts

In our third Meet the Makers episode, we sit down with Leff Lefferts, an Academy Award-nominated supervising sound editor, sound designer, and re-recording mixer whose work spans more than 100 feature and documentary projects. With a background that began in music and expanded into film, he brings a perspective shaped by both recording and cinematic storytelling.

Lefferts has helped shape the sonic worlds of The Revenant, The Wild Robot, How to Train Your Dragon, Thriller 40, and Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith. His work has also earned four MPSE Golden Reel nominations, five CAS nominations, a Primetime Emmy nomination, and a CAFE Emmy nomination.

For Lefferts, sound is inseparable from storytelling, shaping how a scene is understood without calling attention to how it’s built. “I like to joke that when we do our job really well, nobody notices,” he says.

That’s the paradox of film sound: It shapes the experience without announcing itself. Dialogue, music, and effects exist in a dynamic relationship, with priorities shifting moment by moment depending on what the audience needs to feel.

In immersive formats, that control extends beyond the screen. Sound can move above, behind, and around the listener, so they feel like they’re inside the environment, rather than simply observing it.

But that level of detail doesn’t always survive the trip home.

Film sound is meant to surround you—to create space, depth, and movement around the listener. On a TV with tiny built-in speakers, that space collapses. Details disappear. What was immersive becomes flat.

That gap isn’t about volume; it’s about how much of the original detail comes through. And it’s why even modest system upgrades can transform the experience. “The more you can do to re-create the environment that we’ve created the sonic story for, the more fun you’re going to have at home listening,” Lefferts says.

Where it all comes together

Sound is built into the story. When it translates, the story lands. When it doesn’t, something essential is lost. That’s the throughline behind Meet the Makers—and behind Sound Made Better: preserving the nuance, detail, and intent built into what we hear.

Watch the full episode to hear Leff Lefferts break down how film sound is built, and what it takes to experience it as intended.

And if you’re just joining the series, start with episode one, featuring mastering engineer Michael Romanowski.