R.I.P.

‘Nomadland’ Production Sound Mixer Dies by Suicide at 35

Snyder’s father said his son had been doing well despite depression: “He was certainly thrilled about all of the accolades for ‘Nomadland’ and told us many happy stories.”

The production sound mixer for one of the most lauded films of the year took his own life this week. Nomadland’s Michael Wolf Snyder was 35. His family believes he died before being able to see the Golden Globes ceremony, where the film took home top honors. David Snyder said via Facebook that he discovered his son’s body several days after an extended lapse in communication. He wrote, “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.” David Snyder attributed possible difficulties his son faced to the coronavirus quarantine, which caused his son to spend “most of the last year alone.” Nevertheless, he thought his son had been doing well.

“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... We believe he was gone before getting to see the Golden Globe awards... I am a psychiatrist who was not able to save his own son.” Snyder had already won awards for his work on the film, according to his IMDB page. Nomadland director Chloe Zhao said of her previous work with the sound mixer, “On The Rider and Nomadland, I always looked at Wolf after each take. I didn’t wear headphones on set and so I heavily relied on Wolf to be my ears… See you down the road, my friend.”