Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1197255
56 W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y "Who's Bob Hoyt?" you ask? His first credit in the business was in 1954 for The Atomic Kid. In 1971, he mixed Play Misty for Me for Clint Eastwood, his feature directorial debut. In 1975, Bob won an Oscar for Jaws and in 1976, he mixed the last film Alfred Hitchcock directed, Family Plot. Over the course of 40 years, Bob had an opportunity to work with directors such as Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, John Hughes, Walter Hill, Arthur Hiller, Nick Castle, Jeremy Kagan, Joel Schumacher, John Badham, and Stephen Cannell to name a few. Back to the formation of CAS… The "Gang of Nine," headed by Hoyt, included James G. Stewart (a freelance dubbing mixer, originally with RKO), James "Chip" Gaither (a M-G-M dubbing mixer), David Dockendorf (a 20th-Fox mixer), Clem Portman (a Goldwyn Studios mixer), Murray Spivack (a freelance dubbing and music mixer), Howard Wilson (a mixer at Republic Studios), and Carroll and John Pratt (brothers who were the best-known laugh machine operators). Thom Piper and John Stransky were also early contributors to the organization's formation. Five months later, on April 14, 1965, a second meeting was held at the Tail o' the Cock and it was here that the "Cinema Audio Society" came into existence. While Bob had initially imagined the organization might be called the Cinema Sound Society, the name became Cinema Audio Society at the suggestion of dubbing mixer Jimmy Stewart. It was at this meeting that the Declaration of Principles was created, as well as the logo. What was also crucial about this gathering was that the idea of a social group was expanded to include the sharing of technical information and to create better recognition for sound. Tex Rudloff recalled the first official meeting of the society, "I remember we had 37 people there, and ... Bob Hoyt made a very good presentation speech where he talked about how the society would better educate the public and the producers that we worked with as to what good sound was all about." On April 13, 1966, the first CAS Executive Board was elected. President: Robert Hoyt. Vice-President: James G. Stewart. Secretary: Jay Harding. Treasurer: David Dockendorf. Board of Directors: Howard Wilson, Ron Pierce, John "Skee" Stransky, BOB ENVISIONED ... A NETWORKING ORGANIZATION WHERE MIXERS HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET AND NURTURE SOCIAL CONNECTIONS. As explained by Tex Rudloff, one of the charter members and CAS President in 1973-74 and 1982, "You see, there were so many daily calls on mixers that you would get a mixer sitting next to you that you did not know. So, we felt that [in] having this society, everybody would get to know everybody and then when someone came in and sat next to you, you would know them and they would be a friend, and you would be at ease with them." Clint Eastwood Play Misty for Me Alfred Hitchcock Family Plot