- THX
- About
OUR HISTORY
After releasing “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back”, George Lucas embarked on a new project. He hired audio scientist Tomlinson Holman and together they found that although there had been significant improvements to how sound was recorded and played back on film, there was no control over what happened on the set or in the cinema itself.
In response, they set up the state-of-the-art audio mixing rooms that eventually became Skywalker Sound. Hollywood quickly took notice and studio executives started calling to incorporate Lucas’s performance standards into their cinema auditoriums and aging mixing rooms.
Soon, Lucas and Holman took things to the next level—designing a cinema certification program to help every artist deliver their truest vision to the audience. THX was born and began appearing in cinemas with the release of Lucas’ next film “Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi” in 1983.
From that moment forward, we’ve focused on our mission to deliver high-quality entertainment experiences that are true to a creator’s vision to audiences everywhere and have continued to evolve our programs to remain relevant as time and technology advance.
A lot has changed since our inception, but our goal of bringing audiences the most realistic and true audio and visual experiences, has not.
Meet our leaders
Tuyen Pham
Chief Executive Officer
Tuyen Pham serves as the chief executive officer of THX Ltd. An engineer by training, he previously held the post for 20 years as the founder and chief executive officer of A-Volute, an immersive audio technology innovator that became a worldwide leader in its sector. He brings to THX Ltd. advanced expertise from technology to product development. Under his leadership, A-Volute grew from a nescient start up to a well-known audio solution in its sector.
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Grace Qaqundah
SVP, Sales & Marketing
Grace Qaqundah serves as the head of THX worldwide sales and marketing to lead THX into new markets, regions, and partnerships to drive revenue growth. She brings to THX deep consumer marketing insights and industry experience and has managed marketing for recognizable entertainment and technology brands, including Dolby Laboratories, Adobe, and more. Grace is a strategic executive with strong skills in market analysis and competitive intelligence in current and emerging markets. She leads the THX efforts to expand cinema and home entertainment quality into Pay-TV, mobile, and gaming entertainment offerings. She also bridges the efforts between product development, sales, and marketing to bring new products to market for THX and THX partners.
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David Dever
SVP, Technology
David collaborates with consumer electronics hardware partners to implement key THX audio processing technologies, including THX® Spatial Audio, into laptops, soundbars, mobile handheld devices, and headsets. In this role, he also manages the THX mobile software engineering team working to deliver immersive audio experiences across any hardware or software device for high fidelity enjoyment of mobile gaming, movies, streaming, and music.
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Steven P. Martz
VP, Global Technology Partnerships
Steve Martz oversees global technology partnerships, as well as the THX Certification program for home theater and mobile consumer electronics. He is also responsible for THX Certified Cinemas worldwide including the VieShow in Taiwan and Cinemark in the US, and he leads the THX Ultimate Cinema program with premier locations in Los Angeles, and in Copenhagen. He launched THX Live! for the Beyonce Formation Tour and the Aerosmith Residency at the MGM Park in Las Vegas.
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Jody Privette Young
Sr. Director, Global Marketing & Communications
Jody Privette Young serves as the senior director, global marketing and communications. She brings to THX a proven track record for omnichannel communications, strategic marketing, business development and corporate social responsibility. She leads THX corporate and partner marketing, promotions, public relations, publicity, content strategy and strategic communications. Prior to THX, Jody was at the helm of an award-winning tech marketing communications and PR firm for 15 years that served brands from Fortune 500 to startups across a range of industries, with a focus on entertainment technology. She has also served at the now-named Ogilvy Technology Communications group and held PR leadership roles with a leading broadband service provider and a popular video game company. She recently earned a master’s degree in strategic communications from the University of San Francisco.
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Mike Henein
Director of Product Development
Michel “Mike” Henein brings more than 25 years in innovative audio production and product development to THX, serving as director of product development. Mike began in the audio business working for legendary composer Hans Zimmer’s Media Ventures and Remote Control productions as an assistant music editor. Eyeing the future, he sought to pursue his passion in gaming, where he shipped AAA titles as a sound designer and sound supervisor while at THQ’s flagship Rainbow Studios. Shortly after, he co-developed the first-of-its-kind game audio curriculum centered around the Wwise interactive sound engine as a platform to teach interactive sound production for students of the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences. Mike then joined GenAudio to lead 3D spatial audio product development, and then to co-found VZR, a leading gaming audio hardware company.
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