The Cinema Audio Society has announced the inaugural Jeffrey S. Wexler Award for Advancement in Sound Technology.
The annual award honours individuals, companies or products whose innovations have “significantly improved existing methods or are so innovative in nature that they have materially changed how sound is recorded, edited, mixed or delivered”.
This year’s award will honour achievements in non-linear technology for sound recording, editing and mixing.
Recipients will be honoured at the CAS Awards on 7 March at the Beverly Hilton.
Recipients of the 2026 Jeffrey S. Wexler Award for Advancement in Sound Technology are:
- Evan Brooks: cofounded Digidrums with Peter Gotcher in 1983, and the company was incorporated in 1984 as Digidesign, Inc. He developed the audio editing software package Sound Designer, and then Sound Tools, the first affordable, professional digital audio workstation, paving the way for the introduction and success of Pro Tools.
- Peter Gotcher: cofounded Digidesign with Evan Brooks and served as its president, CEO and chairman. Digidesign became the world’s leading manufacturer of digital audio workstations. After Digidesign was acquired by Avid in January of 1995, he remained as executive vice president of Avid until 1996. He currently serves as chairman of Dolby Laboratories.
- Glen Sanders: founder and president of Zaxcom. In the 1990s, he worked closely with Zaxcom’s engineering team to develop the Deva portable digital audio disk recorder, the first multitrack, file-based recording system designed for location sound.
- Howard Stark: chief engineer at Zaxcom. Howard made enduring contributions to the design and development of professional audio technologies used throughout film and television production. He led the engineering design for the Deva portable hard disk recorder.
The award is named in honour of the late Jeff Wexler CAS, the revered production mixer, leader, educator, and consummate sound professional whose career exemplified both technical excellence and forward-looking innovation.
Wexler passed away on 9 December 2025. His career spanned more than 40 years and included an impressive resume of more than 70 feature films, hundreds of commercials and numerous documentaries.
Wexler was honoured with a BAFTA Film Award for Best Sound for Almost Famous and was a two-time Academy Award nominee, as well as an Emmy and CAS Award nominee for his work on The Last Samurai, Independence Day and the HBO film 61.
In 2011, he was the recipient of the CAS Career Achievement Award.
Peter Kurland, president of CAS, said: “Honouring Jeff with an award that celebrates technological advancement is especially fitting. Throughout his long and deeply respected career, Jeff was always on the cutting edge, embracing new tools, improving established practices, and adopting new and better ways of working.
“Innovation is the foundation of this award, and we are proud to recognise four individuals who embody that same ingenuity.
“Congratulations Evan, Peter, Glenn and Howard. Your contributions have elevated audio quality and revolutionised the workflow of every sound professional.”
Applications for the 2027 Jeffrey S. Wexler Award will begin early in the second quarter of 2026. Rules, entry guidelines and a detailed timeline will be announced shortly.
