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to be there for the film mix and release. Ironically, the first film he did was Nashville. It was tough convincing the movie industry's old guard that he could help them create sound that could surpass anything that had been achieved before. The film program limped along until Steve persuaded Barbra Streisand to use Dolby on her film A Star is Born. In the course of that pursuit, he devised and built a new film technology and techniques that are still in use today. This technology is what allows those of us in the audience to experience greater realism and excitement. Steve is credited as the .1 in Dolby 5.1. For those of you who appreciate the immersive experience created by sound in movies such as Star Wars, the .1 channel is the Low Frequency Effects channel which delivers deep, powerful bass effects that can be felt as well as heard. The Dolby system took off and Steve now has over 30 feature film credits, including the original Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Altered States, and The Deer Hunter. In 1977 Steve won an Academy Award for co-developing Dolby Stereo in film. If you get a chance to talk to Steve, ask him to tell you the story of how he created the special sound for the voice of C3PO. Steve stayed involved with the film industry as a Panavision equipment agent, providing cameras and lighting for films including Steel Magnolias, Beetlejuice, and Dances with Wolves. In 1999 he formed The Center for Entertainment Industry Data and Research (CEIDR). His data prompted states to bring back thousands of jobs that had run away to other countries. While working as a Panavision agent, Steve met his wife Aundrea. Steve was working for Aundrea's brother-in-law, and her sister set them up on a blind date. Apparently they didn't hit it off at all; nevertheless, they were married six months later. Steve adopted her son, Jonathan. Jonathan went on to achieve five masters' degrees and a Ph.D. He is a cancer researcher at the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine of USC. Aundrea had a passion for acting and was in many productions with classmates Sally Fields, Steve Allen, Jr., and Cindy Williams. Today Aundrea is a cancer survivor, thanks to her son's brilliant medical eye, and to a stem cell transplant at the City of Hope. She has a passion for creating jewelry and pottery, as well as for cooking, baking, gardening, decorating their home, and line dancing. Together they raised Murry, the champion Bichon Frise show dog. His memory lives on with lots of photos and a framed display of his many ribbons and awards. Recently, Steve has used his knowledge of sound for health and safety purposes. He has been consulting with law enforcement and the military by doing acoustic analysis to develop solutions for high-level noise environments such as shooting ranges. His clients include Army Special Forces and Navy Seal Team 6. You could say Steve went from making loud noises to reducing them! Steve and Aundrea have lived in Four Seasons for nearly two years and they love it here. Most of all, they love the community, their neighbors, and the wonderful friends they've made. The Communications Board would like to thank our readers for the positive response to the Fascinating Friends of Four Seasons feature, and please keep those ideas for articles about our interesting neighbors coming! Send your ideas to: Fascinating Friends of Four Seasons at printnpixel55@ gmail.com. Aundrea and Steve taking a dish out of her pottery kiln Steve and Aundrea Katz in front of their memory wall holding Steve's Academy Award Steve with the sound analyzer that was used on all the mixes, previews, and opening theaters, to tune the speakers for the sound of Star Wars Aundrea glazing a bowl in her garage ceramics studio FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | SEPTEMBER 2019 11

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