Ioan Robert Allen
Ioan Allen (born October 25, 1938) is a British-American audio engineer. His career with Dolby Laboratories started in 1969, where he led the introduction of many of Dolby's innovative audio formats — from Dolby Stereo in 1974 to Dolby SR in 1986, and Dolby Digital in 1992 — each step evolving Dolby Laboratories’ transition from analog audio pioneer to digital entertainment leader...[1] He has been referred to as “the patriarch of the company’s film program”[2] as he was largely responsible for the origination and development of the Dolby Stereo film program.[3] Ioan Allen is the recipient of five Academy Awards (three Scientific or Technical Awards and two Awards of Commendation).[4]
Early Life
Allen was born in Stafford, England.
He was educated at Rossall School and Dartmouth Royal Naval College, England and in 2007 was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from the University of Nottingham in the UK.[5]
Career
Allen was in the British Royal Navy receiving officer training from 1955 until 1959. On leaving, he spent some time doing technical writing, including the preparation of Admiralty manuals. He later became interested in folk music and recording, which evolved into artist management, music recording, and record production.[3]
Allen joined Dolby Laboratories in 1969 as employee number 20, where his first responsibility was to encourage the adoption of Dolby professional noise reduction (Dolby A-type) with the burgeoning use of multi-track tape recorders in the music industry.[6]
For the first few years while working at Dolby, he also continued various recording activities. Notably, he was producer/engineer for the Irish record company, Claddagh Records. For Claddagh, he produced such albums of Irish music as Veronica McSwiney’s definitive piano performance of the John Field Nocturnes, and the 3rd Chieftains album.[7] [8] A highlight of their poetry catalog was the production of English Poet Laureate Ted Hughes reading Crow.
After the successful worldwide adoption of Dolby A-type noise reduction for multi-track music recording, from 1971 on Allen became increasingly interested in the potential for Dolby technology in the film industry.[6]
Other Activities
Allen has served as technical chairman of the Trailer Audio Standards Association (TASA), is a Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), the Audio Engineering Society (AES), the British Kinematograph Sound and Television Society (BKSTS), and a past president of the International Theatre Equipment Association (ITEA). He is active in world standards organizations such as the International Organization of Standardization (ISO), and was Engineering Director, Motion Pictures for SMPTE.[9]
Allen is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts[10] and has spoken at the University of San Francisco on the history of Dolby sound.[11]
Innovations & Awards
Allen holds seven patents[12], and has authored over 40 articles and papers in technical journals[13], including The X-Curve, Its Origins and History, on the electroacoustic characteristic now employed in most theaters throughout the world[14], How Loud is a Movie for the SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) Motion Imaging Journal, and Screen Size: The Impact on Picture and Sound.[15] Non-technical written works include a long article, A Movie Odyssey, describing his 25 years of conversations with Stanley Kubrick, published in Film Journal in the USA, and Cut Magazine in Japan[16].
Allen is the recipient of five Academy Awards (1978, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2006)[4].
In 1978 he was awarded a BKSTS Fellowship for “his contribution to the improvement of sound in cinema”[17].
Allen received the Samuel L. Warner Award for contributions to motion picture sound (1985) by SMPTE, “in recognition of his contribution to the development of the Dolby Stereo Optical Sound process and his continuing efforts to improve the quality of motion picture sound”[18].
Allen received the BV Sturdivant Award for extraordinary service to the exhibition industry (1998) from the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), given to “an individual who throughout their career has demonstrated a dedication to the exhibition industry and its causes.”[19] He also was given the BKSTS Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Industry (1999) from the International Moving Image Society (IMIS) in Britain[9].
In 2000 the International Cinema Technology Association (ICTA) created the Allen Award in honor of his outstanding contributions to the industry[20].
Allen has also been honored for his contributions to the film industry with the Ken Mason Award from the Inter-Society for the Enhancement of Cinema Presentation (2002)[21].
He received the Audio Engineering Society (AES) Silver Award in 2009[22]
In 2014 he received SMPTE’s highest medal, the Progress Medal, for his innovations in sound research and development programs at Dolby Laboratories[23]
The International Cinema Technology Association in 2017 awarded Allen the first ICTA Lifetime Achievement Award to be presented[24], and the CTC (UK) awarded him their first Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
Personal Life
Allen has been married three times, to Winnie (aka Billie) Campbell (1964, died 2018), Carol Fraser (1976), and Melani Chickering (1995, died 2015). He has two sons, Simon and Christopher, from his marriage to Winnie, and two adopted daughters from her previous marriage, Sharon and Fiona (died 2018).
He currently resides in San Francisco, California.
References
- ↑ "Ioan Allen Biography". IEEEXplore. 2016. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Théberge, Paul; Devine, Kyle; Everrett, Tom (2015). Living Stereo: Histories and Cultures of Multichannel Sound. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-6235-6516-9. Search this book on
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sergi, Gianluca (2004). The Dolby era - Film sound in contemporary Hollywood. Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-7067-8. Search this book on
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Academy Awards Search - Ioan R. Allen". Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
- ↑ "Honorary Graduates of The University of Nottingham" (PDF). The University of Nottingham. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mead, Bill (December 27, 2016). "Dean of Dolby: Audio pioneer Ioan Allen looks back on five decades of innovation". Film Journal International. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Veronica McSwiney, John Field (2) – John Field Nocturnes". Discogs. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "The Chieftains – The Chieftains 3". Discogs. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Ioan Allen - Senior Vice President at Dolby Laboratories". Comparably. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Hall, Don (October 27, 2017). "USC Cinematic Arts | School of Cinematic Arts Events". USC Cinematic Arts. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Ioan Allen describes the history of Dolby Sound at the University of San Francisco". YouTube. June 14, 2013. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Justia Patents Search - Ioan R. Allen". Justia Patents. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Ioan Allen - Google Scholar". Google Scholar. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "IEEEXplore - The X-Curve: Its Origins and History: Electro-Acoustic Characteristics in the Cinema and the Mix-Room, the Large Room and the Small". IEEEXplore. doi:10.5594/J16175. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Reprint Paper - SMPTE Journal May 1999". IEEEXplore. May 1999. doi:10.5594/J14028. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "On why Kubrick never used a Dolby Stereo Mix on any of his films". reddit. February 26, 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "BKSTS Fellowships". BKSTS Journal: 196–198. July 1978.
- ↑ "The Samuel L. Warner Memorial Medal Award Recipients". SMPTE. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "A Chronology of Dolby Laboratories, May 1965 - May 1998" (PDF). Film Tech. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Awards - ICTA". International Cinema Technology Association.
- ↑ "Ken Mason Award INTER-SOCIETY". The Inter-Society for the Enhancement of Cinema Presentation, Inc.
- ↑ "Audio Engineering Society Honors Dolby's Ioan Allen with Silver Medal Award". DCinema Today. September 30, 2009. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "George Lucas Among SMPTE Award Winners". Variety. August 26, 2014. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Dolby on Twitter: "Congratulations to Ioan Allen, who was recently recognized with the ICTA Lifetime Achievement Award."". Twitter. January 18, 2017.
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