Making movies

Lawrence of Arabia, the King of Siam and the creator of THX Sound unite for birthday celebration at ArcLight Hollywood.

Tomlinson Holman, well-known within the audio community of the film and recording industries, celebrated his 60th birthday party in style. What better way to honor the man best known as the creator of the THX Sound System than to gather up friends and colleagues and order up new prints of the classics "The King And I" and "Lawrence Of Arabia," and invite the public too!

On June 7th, "The King And I" (1956) and "Lawrence Of Arabia" (1962), two of Holman's all-time favorite films, were screened at the ArcLight Hollywood Cinemas. Those turning up for the bash included Dolby's Ioan Allen and filmmaker Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive"), as well as numerous friends, former students and industry colleagues. Prior to the screening, a roast was held to honor Holman on his 60th birthday and for his life's accomplishments, which include authoring several books and magazine articles, developing the Lucasfilm THX Sound System, and proposing to the industry the 10.2-channel digital sound system. Holman is currently a professor of film sound at the University of Southern California and president of TMH Corporation, an entertainment technology company.

From Script To DVD's Michael Coate was present to enjoy the films and festivities. What follows is a gallery of images taken during the event.

The guest of honor hamming it up for the camera

ADR Recordist Shawn I. Kerkhoff & Tomlinson Holman showing off birthday gifts

D-Cinema consultant David Reisner, DVD Producer Van Ling & Boston University student Melissa Russell

Clarity Image's Bill Hogan & Chicago Audio Works' Scott D. Smith, CAS

Holman enjoying his toast

Filmmaker David Strohmaier ("Cinerama Adventure") & cinematographer John Hora, ASC ("Gremlins," "The Howling")

TMH Corporation's Fritz Koenig

Filmmaker Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive," "Under Siege") at the podium roasting Tom

Pacific Theatres' John Sittig posing in front of the film cans for the 13-reel, 500-pound 70mm-DTS print of "Lawrence Of Arabia"

Holman posing in the ArcLight's lobby at the conclusion of the event

About Tomlinson Holman, from www.tmhlabs.com:

Tom's distinguished career in audio, video and film spans over thirty-three years. His influence has been felt by both the creators and consumers of motion pictures in production facilities, commercial movie theaters, and in homes worldwide. Tom has the rare ability to push the state of the art and, in doing so, challenge entire industries to achieve new quality standards. He creates new markets and redefines existing markets by establishing new quality standards and designing products which perform to them.

Mr. Holman is Professor of Film Sound at the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television and a Principal Investigator in the Integrated Media Systems Center at the university. IMSC is the Engineering Research Center for multi-media of the National Science Foundation. He is founding editor of Surround Professional magazine, and author of the books Sound for Film and Television and 5.1 Surround Sound Up and Running, both published by Focal Press. He is an honorary member of the Cinema Audio Society and the Motion Picture Sound Editors. He is a fellow of the Audio Engineering Society, the British Kinematograph Sound and Television Society, and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. He is a member of the Acoustical Society of America and the IEEE. He has lifetime or career achievement awards from the CAS and the Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association. Tom holds 7 U.S. and corresponding foreign patents totalling 23, and they have been licensed to over 45 companies.

Tom was chief electrical engineer at Advent Corporation, founded Apt Corporation, maker of the Apt/Holman preamplifier, and was at Lucasfilm Ltd for 15 years, winding up as the company's Corporate Technical Director and where he developed the THX Sound System and its companions the Theater Alignment Program, Home THX, and the THX Digital Mastering program.