Brittany Ellis Creates Sci-fi Soundscapes With Nugen Audio

LOS ANGELES, MARCH 5, 2025 ― Emmy-nominated Re-recording and Effects Mixer Brittany Ellis brings over a decade of industry experience to her craft. With a career that began in the world of animated series, Ellis’ versatility and expertise can be seen in her seamless transition to mixing high-quality live-action television, sci-fi films and more. Among Ellis’ recent credits are the “Fairly OddParents: A New Wish” animated series; “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” based on Godzilla; and the Emmy-nominated television series “Star Trek: Prodigy.”

No matter the production, Ellis calls on a variety of plug-ins from NUGEN Audio to create a pristine mix. She was first introduced to the brand while working as a recordist for Warner Brothers. “My time there was extremely hands-on; the engineers taught me so much,” says Ellis. “At that time, NUGEN’s Halo Upmix was becoming the new industry standard and the VisLM loudness meter had also just been released. The visualization available on those tools was a game-changer for us.”

Since then, Ellis’ career has progressed, and the brand’s solutions have become a staple for her own workflow. “VisLM allows me to stay compliant with loudness standards but also enables me to go to a specific place in a mix and adjust, if needed,” says Ellis. “My mixing is very intentional, and I make choices in the moment. Having to adjust an entire mix can be a hinderance because it’s never going to be exactly the way that I intend. The great thing about VisLM is that you can see exactly where your loudest moments are and go back to adjust only that occurrence instead of having to modify the entire mix, which is very helpful.”

To compare her tracks, Ellis incorporates the brand’s AB Assist quick comparison tool. “It’s always important for me to ensure that the integrity of my mixes is not lost. I utilize AB Assist to make sure that nothing sounds compressed and ultimately that my mix still sounds like my mix.”

With “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” Ellis faced the challenge of working with a two-track version of the Atmos file. “What that means is that any changes that I make to my stereo master will also affect my Atmos master. My mix partner and I meticulously go back and forth to make sure we’re not over-compressing our material and that we aren’t over-working our limiters,” she explains. This requires the help of the NUGEN Audio ISL Limiter, which she says:“allows me to look ahead, maintain clarity and prevent unwanted clamping and crunching on my effects masters. This way, I’m setting myself up for success when mixing the two-track.”  

In addition to her current line-up of the brand’s solutions, Ellis looks forward to expanding her NUGEN Audio collection with Monofilter, which she plans to incorporate into her workflow for the next season of “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.”

“When you’re mixing stereo, the hardest part is getting that low end to translate on all the different devices. A good example of this is trying to mix a Godzilla sequence for an iPad. I’m currently using a variety of tools to beef up the low end, but I don’t have a sub. I think Monofilter could be the solution to that.”

Furthermore, when discussing the brand as a whole, Ellis adds: “NUGEN Audio has a reputation of having very reliable, top-of-the-line, high-quality plug-ins, which is why they continue to be passed down through generations of mixers.”