Local resident and multi-talented sound designer, Zach Hahn, has been nominated for a Children’s & Family Emmy® Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing and Sound Editing for a Live Action Program. The recognition comes from his work on the 2024 documentary, “Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World,” which is currently streaming on Netflix.
The sound nomination is one of three that the acclaimed short film has received in this Emmy cycle. It has also been nominated in both the Outstanding Informational Program and Outstanding Editing for a Young Teen Live Action Program categories.
2026 marks the fourth year that awards will be given for the Children’s & Family Emmys, a stand-alone competition recognizing creativity and achievements in entertainment for children and teens. This year’s winners will be announced — and celebrated — on March 2 at a special Emmy ceremony in New York City.
About Zach
Throughout his busy 14+ year career, Hahn has led sound design and production for a number of projects. He’s known for his work in productions like “Fast 9,” “Masterminds,” “Shark Tank” and “Good Morning America,” as well as for being a mainstay in the video game industry — bringing sound design to Roblox and Fortnite experiences ranging from “Stranger Things” and “One Battle After Another” to “Wicked” and “Beetlejuice 2.”
And now he can add Emmy® Award nominee to his resume.
Hahn shared that he has had a life-long commitment to excellence in sound and audio across every aspect of production, “from being on-set for television and broadcast programming to being in the courtroom bringing historic trials to the nation to pushing boundaries in post-production and video games.”
He founded audio.expert, a company specializing in audio post-production, sound design and voiceovers for TV, film and digital content in 2020. And he’s also a recurring panelist and sponsor of Voiceover Atlanta, helping to “power the next generation of voice talent.”
Within the community he calls home, he is a strong advocate for the arts, passionate about blending creativity with impact to support the city’s continued “growth and charm.” To that end, he’s chair of the Johns Creek Arts, Culture & Entertainment Committee, a board member of Johns Creek Beautification (serving as secretary and Daffodils4Hope chair) and volunteers his time and energy to other worthwhile causes.
“Makayla’s Voice”
The 24-minute documentary follows Makayla Cain, an Atlanta teen with autism, who unlocks a new world of self-expression as she “shares her voice for the first time using a letter board.”
“[Makayla] is non-verbal and was unable to communicate most of her life until she began to use a letter board as a teenager,” said Hahn. “She had poems and short stories in her head that she was unable to share until the letter board.”
Hahn did all of the sound design and mixing for the film and also handled the talent scouting for the voice actor that became Makayla’s voice.
“At the beginning of the documentary, Makayla sits at the kitchen table and listens to voiceover samples of different young Black women that sound like they could be Makayla’s voice,” he said. “She lands on her favorite voice, Portia [Cue], who has a raspy voice that Makayla loves and imagines she would sound like if she wasn’t unable to speak.”
For the rest of the documentary, the voice actor, Portia, read’s Makayla’s poems, stories and journal entries from Makayla’s perspective giving Makayla the voice she always dreamed she had.
In addition to the Emmy® nod for sound, the film was shortlisted for the 2025 Academy Awards and received major recognition at the Atlanta Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, the Cleveland International Film Festival and Slamdance Film Festival, taking home multiple film awards and jury prizes.
To learn more about “Makayla’s Voice,” visit makaylasvoice.com.
For more about the Children’s & Family Emmy Awards, visit the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences website, theemmys.tv/childrens.
