Ultra Sharp
Jack Cashin's USL Pioneers
Sound and Much More

From: Film Journal International, August 1999, page 34

In the past, Ultra Stereo Labs, Inc, has proven to be the right company at the right place and time. Begun two decades ago in Tarzana, CA, to design and build sound equipment for studio screening rooms, the outfit was dragged into contact with the exhibition industry by chance, but has catered to it ever since. "A theatre owner in the San Fernando Valley asked us if we could produce a stereo system," recalls president Jack Cashin. "At the time, Dolby had introduced their system, and we were still concentrating on studio equipment. But he kept nagging us, for almost a year. Finally, we decided to make something at least for him, if only to shut him up." Calming this pestering outsider is actually what made USL dramatically expand its business. Once the company had embarked on this path, the perfection bug struck, and USL was not about to quit until it had met its own expectations.

"Like everything else, the first one we made was just kind of mediocre, and none of us was really satisfied with the performance of the thing. So we decided to make a little better one. Over a year or two, we improved it and improved it, and put it in a couple of theatres, and started getting some interest in it from people. At the time, we had quite an improvement in separation over what the other systems had. We included also a balancing circuit that took care of the film weave, and some of the imbalances between the soundtracks that created voice leakage in the back. That was a common problem in the early days when two-channel optical started." For their efforts, AMPAS in 1984 asked USL to submit their sound system for consideration for an Academy Award in Technical Achievement. It won, and business boomed.

"Like it or not, we wound up in the cinema business," Cashin says with a chuckle. "Shortly after that, we became involved in the recording side. Since we had been doing studio equipment for years, a number of people had asked us to see if we could make the encoding equipment. Again, there was only one company doing that at the time. We did that, and we've done over 2,000 soundtracks throughout the world over the years."

Recently, USL had another lucky stroke of fate, though this one was partly facilitated by the company having the foresight to work with a necessary partner. Several years ago, the firm introduced its Projection System Analyzer, a more reliable and exact alternative to using a spot meter to measure screen conditions such as brightness. The PSA consists of a video camera situated in the auditorium, which records the screen and outputs to a laptop computer, which tabulates results for brightness, weave, jitter and contrast ratio. The first model, though, was not a success, because it was too bulky and, in Cashin's own words, too pricey. At $8,000, it cost more than twice as much as as a dependable spot meter, though USL's product could also make more systematic readings, and since it computerizes findings, could form a useful database for exhibitors.

Only this year, the company streamlined the system and cut the cost in half, making it competitive with spot meters. That was a timely remedy, because, in May, Kodak introduced its ScreenCheck Experience projection-certification program, the main target of which is to improve screen brightness. Kodak's launch, of course, with the promise of pulling in more audiences by guaranteeing them improved picture quality, makes the amended PSA that much more attractive. Cashin sees things that way, but he also points out that his outfit has been speaking with Kodak about the need to upgrade the quality of projection for years. "There's an awful lot of screens in this country that are awfully dim," he notes. "[Our product] kind of goes hand-in-hand with ScreenCheck, because until there was a device capable of making as comprehensive a measurement as you need, trying to do it with spot meters would be very difficult. We're hoping that, with the price point down, and if Kodak pushes their program, it will all come together."

USL moved north from Tarzana to San Luis Obispo, away from the hub of the movie industry, and in this case its decision was reactive rather than predictive. "We were overwhelmed with disasters," Cashin remembers. "The [Northridge] earthquake turned our business upside-down. Virtually all of our neighbors lost their houses through the Malibu fire, too, which was pretty horrendous. We had always been talking about moving to a smaller town, and we had been looking at this general area. The college here, CalPoly, is one of the leading technology universities in the country, and we were looking to tap into some of its brainpower." Cashin doesn't hesitate to share additional reasons for the move residing in the interests of some of the families of his company. "Our employees were looking at moving away from Los Angeles because of the schools. Virtually ail our employees who had kids were having problems with them. In the school system up here, something like 75 percent of the kids go on to college. The peer pressure, I believe, is to succeed and do well; whereas in Los Angeles, I'm sure the peer pressure is, "Why do you need to do anything?" Of a small company of 40, half the employees decided to go.

While Cashin has been on top of several technological shifts in the exhibition industry, possibly his greatest contribution to the science of the movies came when he was still a college student, enrolled in the graduate division of USC's Film School in the early 1970s. Cashin, while doing an editing stint for quick cash, was privy to a conversation between a sound engineer and Robert Altman. When the engineer told the director that he could not think of a way to improve the on-location recording of multiple, simultaneous sounds, Cashin spoke up. "I blurted out, 'The music industry has been using multitrack techniques for years.' He obviously clicked, looked at me, and said, 'Well, sure.' About two days later, he gave me a call and said, "How would you like to work for me?'" Cashin recollects, obviously with fondness. "What do you think I was going to say? 'Oh, no, I don't think so. I'd rather work at Von's.'"

Cashin set himself to overhauling a small recording machine and console. The result, ready for California Split, was Altman's now famous eight-track recording equipment. The system allowed the director to use streams of sound impressionistically instead of with off-site, antiseptic clarity. Altman revolutionized the role of sound recording and editing internationally, and these techniques were perfected for Nashville, on which Cashin served as an assistant producer. As Nashville is time and again cited as a watershed in American film, including for its pronounced effect of coincident speech and sound, it is fair to say that Cashin helped make movie history.

© Copyright 1999, Film Journal International