Erik Aadahl’s most recent work, “Project Hail Mary,” is one he has called one of the most gratifying film experiences of his career — and one of the most demanding. Serving as both sound designer and supervising sound editor on the 2026 Amazon MGM blockbuster, Aadahl and longtime partner Ethan Van der Ryn spent months engineering a fully realized alien language for Rocky the Eridian, drawing on contra-alto clarinet, humpback whale, birdsong, and even sounds resonated through a block of granite. He is currently in production on “Shrek 5” as supervising sound editor and sound designer.

Co-founder of E² Sound, Aadahl has collaborated with Van der Ryn across more than 20 films. His sci-fi credits alone represent some of the most sonically ambitious work in contemporary Hollywood: all seven “Transformers” films; the iconic Godzilla roar of 2014; and “Godzilla vs. Kong” and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.”

His work on “A Quiet Place” and “A Quiet Place Part II” used subtle environmental cues and creature sounds to drive tension throughout, while “The Creator” saw Aadahl and Van der Ryn build a “vintage-futuristic” soundscape blending real location recordings from Southeast Asia with fully designed future technology. Additional credits include “Pacific Rim: Uprising.”

His work on “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound Editing, and he has received four Academy Award nominations in total. He is a member of the Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) and the Editors Guild.

A San Francisco Bay Area native, Aadahl graduated Summa Cum Laude from USC’s Cinema-Television School in 1998, where he was inspired by the sound design legacy of Ben Burtt and Gary Rydstrom. His lifelong love of science fiction — from Arthur C. Clarke to Frank Herbert — has shaped a career spent pushing the boundaries of what audiences can hear.