Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1543712
CINEMA AUDIO SOCIETY 62ND CAS AWARDS | 10 HISTORY OF THE CAS AWARDS | 2026 Tonight, we are celebrating the 62nd anniversary of the Cinema Audio Society. I wonder if our founder, Robert Hoyt, is looking down from Heaven saying, "Great job everyone!!!" It was in 1964 that Mr. Hoyt, along with a group of mixers he called the "Gang of Nine," came up with the idea for the "Cinema Sound Society." They wanted to create an organization where you could meet and get to know other re- recording mixers. They also wanted to share technical information, as well as achieve better recognition for sound. The "gang" consisted of James "Jimmy" Stewart, Murray Spivack, Clem Portman, James "Chip" Gaither, David Dockendorf, Howard Wilson, brothers Carroll and John Pratt, and of course, Bob Hoyt. The name was changed to the "Cinema Audio Society" in 1966 and by 1967, the CAS had grown to 60 members. In 1968, the first Dinner-Dance was held at the Hotel Bel-Air. In 1971, they gave their first award, called the "Man of the Year Award," to Gordon Sawyer. In 1973, founding member Murray Spivack was the second recipient. In 1984, production mixers, as well as scoring, ADR, Foley mixers, and associates were added to the CAS membership. In 1986, during my second term as president, the CAS started the tradition of giving yearly awards to the mixers of Oscar-nominated films and the Emmy- winning shows. It had, however, been a long-standing dream of the CAS to have its own awards. In 1993, during the tenure of President Ed Somers, an awards committee was formed. Co-chairs Melissa Hofmann and Mark Rozett, and their Board, undertook the task to devise an award that would be unique, and offering recognition of the craft of sound mixing. They also redesigned the logo in preparation for the award, which was developed in conjunction with graphic designer Christine Jaszkowiak and glass artist Stephen Schlanser. In 1994, the Cinema Audio Society unveiled the award. After all those years, the establishment of an award given to sound mixers by their peers had become a reality. The first CAS Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing were presented to mixers in two categories, one for Motion Pictures and one for Television. AT 62 YEARS ... WE'VE COME A LONG WAY BABY! BY HISTORIAN JAMES A. CORBETT CAS MPSE CONTRIBUTIONS BY MELISSA S. HOFMANN CAS