You'll quickly learn why bringing this conversation with the legendary Willie D. Burton to you is such an incredible honor.

History-making, Willie's the first Black person to ever win an Academy Award for Best Sound. It was for 1988's Bird, a biopic about the life of jazz musician Charlie Parker. In 2006, he won a second Academy Award for Dreamgirls, joining an elite club of African Americans in Hollywood who are multiple Oscar Award winners.

We talk about how, at an early age, walking past a radio station ignited an interest in audio after he took a peek inside. Truly immersing himself in electronics through a school program, he graduated high school.

Leaving his hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama with $50 in his pocket, he relocated to Long Beach, California, later becoming a sonar technician in the Navy. About three years later, he began to pursue a career in audio.

After amassing some work experience in sound, Willie shares a truly remarkable story about the time Sydney Poitier took a big chance on him for what would become Willie's first time working on a feature without having any prior feature credits to his name.

Now, having worked on over 140 film and television projects, Willie's earned a total of 8 Academy Award nominations. They include The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and most recently, Oppenheimer.

Willie's stories about working on the epic Oppenheimer movie with director Christopher Nolan provide a unique insight into their collaboration and technological approach to sound.

Willie shares some great advice as well as his thoughts on the ever-evolving film industry and the power of following one's intuition in choosing projects.

His latest, Captain America: Brave New World, premieres in 2025.