Israeli Sound Designer Roee Noy Wins Second Emmy for Nature Documentary

Israeli sound designer Roee Noy has won his second Emmy Award for his work on the David Attenborough nature documentary "Ocean". Despite the significant achievement, Noy's win reportedly went largely unnoticed in Israel. Noy, who has lived in Bristol, UK, for over two decades, explained that his behind-the-scenes role and distance from Israel likely contributed to the lack of attention. He noted that his win had no political context and that he is not an actor.

Noy, 49, moved to the UK after completing sound recording school in Israel. He has built a career specializing in sound design for nature films, working on projects like Steven Spielberg's "Prehistoric Planet" and National Geographic and James Cameron's "Secrets of the Octopus." He stated that his Israeli origin has never been an issue in his work with major platforms like Netflix and Apple, even in recent years.

Describing his meticulous process, Noy explained that he essentially builds the entire soundscape for nature films from scratch, as the raw footage is initially silent. He emphasized the importance of accuracy, citing the need to match specific animal sounds to the correct species to avoid complaints from ornithologists. A 40-50 minute nature film can take him about a month to complete.

Noy also expressed admiration for the 100-year-old David Attenborough, calling him a "natural phenomenon" who remains actively involved in his projects and refuses to use AI for voice cloning, stating, "When I die, I die."