Nomadland production sound mixer dies at 35

Michael Wolf Snyder, who worked as production sound mixer on the acclaimed feature “Nomadland”, has died by suicide, according his father, David Snyder. He was 35.
Michael Wolf Snyder’s body was found in his apartment in Queens, New York by his father on March 1 after friends and family had not heard from him for several days, reported Variety.
David Snyder, a psychiatrist, shared a post on Facebook on March 4, in which he detailed that his son suffered from “major depression for many years”.
“Michael took his own life sometime in the last week and wasn’t discovered until I went to check on him Monday after he had dropped out of contact for several days. He has suffered from Major Depression for many years.
“For most people, this is an illness that waxes and wanes over the years. I’m sure it was difficult for Michael that he spent most of the last year alone in his small, Queens apartment, being responsible about dealing with the coronavirus,” David Snyder wrote.
Michael Wolf Snyder, who began his career in 2011 as a boom operator on the thriller “Occupant”, appeared “especially joyful and invigorated” in the last few months as he was able to get back to work on several different film projects after COVID-19 regulations were eased, his father further wrote.
“He was certainly thrilled about all of the accolades for ‘Nomadland’ and told us many happy stories about his work on the film and the amazing people he got to spend time with,” David Snyder said of the critics favourite film that last week won the top honours at Golden Globes for best drama motion picture and best director for Chloe Zhao. Zhao, who also worked with Michael Wolf Snyder on her 2017 film “The Rider”, said she didn’t wear headphones on set and “heavily relied on Wolf to be my ears”. (PTI)