Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1545125
48 C I N E M O N T A G E I N M E M O R I A M S T E V E M A S LOW O C TO B E R 13, 1944- A P R I L 27, 2026 T h e re's a m o m e n t i n n e a r l y e v e r y g re a t f i l m w h e re t h e m u s i c d o e s something to you before you under- stand it. A swell that tightens your chest. A silence that makes the next sound hit harder. For more than four decades, Os- car-winning re -recording mixer Steve Maslow, or "Maz," as he was known to his beloved colleagues, was the man making the creative decisions that helped those moments land — quietly, precisely, and in a dark room most audiences will never see. Maslow died on April 27 from cancer at the age of 81. "Steve's work will continue to rever- berate throughout the world for decades to come, said Guild President F. Hudson Miller. "His charm, humor, talent, and friendship will reverberate throughout the hearts and minds of his friends, colleagues, and clients for a lifetime." Maslow specialized in mixing dialogue and music, and his work can be heard on more than 200 films — including iconic blockbusters and critically-acclaimed features such as Robert Redford's "Or- dinary People" in 1980, "Speed" in 1994, and "The Great Gatsby" in 2013, among numerous others for esteemed directors including Steven Spielberg, John Carpen- ter, Baz Luhrmann, and Tim Burton, as well as hit music videos and concert films for Martin Scorsese, Prince, and Neil Young. For more than half of those, he worked alongside Oscar-winning sound effects re-recording mixer Gregg Landaker, with whom he won three Academy Awards and was nominated for three others (his sev- enth nomination for the 1984 film "Dune" was shared with Bill Varney, Kevin O'Con- nell, and Nelson Stoll). "O u r co l l a b o ra t i o n wa s m a r ke d b y effortless communication. Never once did we have a disagreement or raise our voices — we intuitively understood each other's thoughts and reactions to various scenes," Landaker said. "Steve's ability to make cli- ents feel welcome and at ease on our stage was impressive, and we worked together at numerous major studios and independents in Hollywood." But Maslow didn't start in a film studio. He started on a tour bus. Maslow was born in Los Angeles in 1944. His father worked for Mattel and his mother worked as a legal secretary. After attending Ulysses S. Grant High School in Van Nuys, he enrolled at California State University Northridge, but without a real plan. "I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do," he told CineMontage in 2018. "Every- body else had a goal but me. I was in college because I thought it was the thing to do, and it kept me out of the draft." It was 1969 when a chance meeting at a birthday party at the house of Mark Weitz, the keyboardist for the psychedelic rock group Strawberry Alarm Clock ("Incense and Peppermints"), changed the direction of his life. "Would you like to go on the road with us and manage our equipment? he asked, to which Maslow replied, "Sure, why not?" E v e n t u a l l y, t h a t w o r k o n t h e ro a d became a steady gig in music. "It opened a whole new world for me because I didn't know about recording and recording stu- dios," Maslow told CineMontage in 2018. "That's how I transitioned from the roadie to records." As a recording engineer, some of his credits include major hits, such as "Decem- ber 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" by Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, which became a gold record, and "Boogie Oogie Oogie" by A Taste of Honey, which became a platinum and Grammy-winning album. But in the late 1970s, Maslow said the work started to dry up, and that's when he first got his IATSE card and was put on the available roster. He joined the Samuel Goldwyn Studio in 1978 and stayed for nearly 15 years. It was at Goldwyn that he first met Lan- daker, who was overseeing sound transfer operations. "Don Rogers instructed me to mentor Steve in the transfer department and, as he departed, jokingly told me to ensure Steve went to lunch to avoid meal penalties," Landaker remembered. "Steve's puzzled reaction to this directive sparked an instant connection between us, and I appreciated his calm demeanor and distinc- tive hairstyle." Maslow and Landaker became one of Hollywood's most enduring and respected re-recording teams and helped to define the sound of modern blockbuster cinema. "Throughout our time working together on dub stages, we developed a seamless rapport, often spending more time together than with our spouses," Landaker added. Maslow 's stamina was tested early on: his second-ever film, Scorsese's band concert documentary, "The Last Waltz," became a six-month nonstop overnight marathon. "No film in my career took the length of time that this film took," he re- membered. "The other film that came close was 'The Great Gatsby' [in 2013], which was a three-month mix." But that hard work soon paid off. Within three years of walking onto his first film stage, Maslow (and Landaker) had won two Oscars back-to-back for best sound for "The Empire Strikes Back" in 1980 (shared with Varney and Peter Sutton) and "Raiders of the Los Ark" in 1981 (shared with Varney and Roy Charman). "Steve's mixing on 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' (along with his Local 700 brothers Bill Varney and Gregg Landaker) remains t h e 'G o l d S ta n d a rd ' b y w h i c h a l l f i l m soundtracks must be measured," Miller said. "It is as close to the perfect mix as possible." THE MAN BEHIND THE MIX Of course, what made Maslow excep- tional wasn't just the credits. It was the culture he carried onto every stage he worked on. Vickie Sampson, veteran sound editor a n d l o n g t i m e c o l l a b o ra to r, d e s c r i b e d Maslow as a foundational figure in film