Connecting Georgia talent to the world’s largest film industry

Connecting Georgia talent to the world’s largest film industry

Providing new career opportunities for Georgia’s creative industries

Photo: USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program
Mariam Diser, Postred Academy graduate

Mariam Dieser, 25, is one of the talented employees of Georgia-based sound production studio POSTRED. At the age of 20, she was hired as an assistant composer and has since held several positions at the company. Today, Mariam is a dialogue editor and sound designer, responsible for organizing, cleaning and improving the overall quality of recorded dialogue and other sounds in a variety of creative ways, and mixing them together to improve the sound and make it fit as naturally into the scene as possible.

In addition, Maryam also conducts sound design workshops at POSTRED Academy, an academy established with support from USAID’s Industry-Led Skill Development Program. Maryam says this work has been one of the most enriching experiences of her life. “In this role, I cherish the opportunity to seamlessly blend technical skills with creative techniques to teach my students to bring different characters, environments, and historical contexts to life through the power of sound,” Maryam said.

During her tenure at POSTRED, Mariam has provided her expertise on a range of films, TV series and commercial videos. Some of these projects have not only achieved significant financial success, but have also received widespread critical acclaim. Most notable of these are Netflix’s US drama miniseries Painkiller and Netflix’s biographical crime drama miniseries Grizzelda, co-produced by Sofía Vergara. Another credit to her is the critically acclaimed thriller Extraction 2, among other notable contributions.

In 2022, USAID, under its industry-led skills development program, partnered with POSTRED, which provides post-production for audiovisual and immersive media and works with film industry giants such as Paramount Pictures, HBO, Netflix, BBC, Hulu, Apple TV+, etc. In response to a 70% increase in demand for the studio’s services over the past two years, Postred joined forces with the program to create a training model that culminated in the establishment of the POSTRED Academy, which provides training courses in film sound design and music to young people across Georgia.

In 2023, the program expands the partnership to support the opening of new facilities for the POSTRED Academy, focusing on creating a state-of-the-art space to meet the unique needs of the sound design training program. With co-investment from USAID, the academy will be renovated and equipped with specialized computer equipment required for training in a variety of innovative sound professions. These facilities will include modern classrooms, recording studios, and post-production labs equipped with industry-standard tools and software, and will be used to offer two new long-term modular courses, Sound Design for Visual Media and Music for Film, as well as short-term courses in areas such as Sound Engineering, Professional Tools, Sound Editing, Foley, Dialogue Editing, Mixing, Music Theory, Arranging, and more. These comprehensive courses will provide theoretical knowledge and practical experience in newly upgraded, well-equipped facilities, thereby expanding Georgia’s talent capacity in the creative industries.