I have left Deluxe

The time has come to move on.

I've been at Deluxe UK/Europe for six months and the adrenaline rush of setting up the digital cinema operation from scratch has worn off. There is now a great team in place to look after the day-to-day running of all the aspects of the operation. But rather than me sitting and watching hard drives replicating while I wait for the time to come for the next big leap forward (satellite transmission), I have decided to look for opportunities elsewhere.

Digital cinema is starting to take off in a major way, even though significant obstacles remain in its path, particularly here in Europe. I aim to be part of that transition in many different aspects, so I guess I'd better get used to calling myself what I have now become; a digital cinema consultant.

See you all at ShoWest!

In memoria Dr Charles Swartz (1939 - 2007)

The sad news has reached me that Dr Charles Swartz has passed away. I had the privilege to know him through his running of the Digital Cinema Lab (DCL) that was part of the Entertainment Technology Centre (ETC), as well as contributing to his book 'Understanding Digital Cinema'.

Charles was one of those exceptional people that was not only thou roughly knowledgeable about digital cinema but also a supremely nice guy who would always have time for you. He had been battling cancer for over a year, though according to the website set up by hid friends and colleagues (http://www.charlesswartz.org/) he had seemed better recently. He had attended the 2k-4K demo last year at the Pacific Theatre, which was fittingly the last major event at the DCL, where he had devoted so much energy to advancing the cause of digital cinema.

Coming so soon after Lasse Svanberg's death, the digital cinema world in both Europe and America have been deprived of leading figures and I have lost another friend. Like Lasse, Charles also had a hands-on background in film (his IMDB credits). I remember the story he told me of how he and Stephanie, his wife of many years, renewed their vows, as well as the tales of the haunting of the Pacific Theatre by Jack Warner. I hope Charles' own ghost will rest because his spirit will be with me and everyone else who knew and worked with.

Variety has posted a fne article about Charles: Entertainment industry veteran Swartz dies. Amongst the many things I did not know about him was that he co-founded Dimension Pictures. The article gets it spot on when it says that "Swartz was admired as a mentor and a diplomat with a knack for resolving thorny arguments." Very true.

The Hollywood Reporter has posted a fairly bland article about Charles (Digital cinema educator Charles Swartz dies). The article in the LA Times is much better (Charles Swartz, 67; took film to the digital age), not least as it quotes some of the colleagues that knew him best:

"He was one of the fathers of digital cinema," said Jerry Pierce, senior vice president of technology for Universal Pictures. "Charles played an important role in bringing people into the same tent to nudge digital technology in the right direction."

Bob Lambert, senior vice president of worldwide technology strategy for the Walt Disney Co., called Swartz "a leader, a visionary and a collaborator" whose skills as a filmmaker and educator helped him broker understanding between the technical and creative sides of the business.

Amen to that. Memorial donations can be made to Save the Redwoods League, or the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

Kodak & Technicolor layoffs - it's not all bad

If you have found it easy to get a parking space at either Kodak or Technicolor recently it's no surprise why. Even the press are writing about it.

Forget film, it is ink-jet printers for Kodak. I like their idea of cheaper cartridges, but the article with the stark headline (Kodak Plans to Cut Up to 3,000 More Jobs) does not go into detail about whether digital cinema will help save Kodak. They sure seem to be pulling out all stops to make the Odeon trial work and good luck to them. Before too long I'm sure they will even have players to share with Deluxe Europe and NORDIC. We await them keenly.

The article Technicolor Focuses on Future After Layoffs is subscription only, so I can only quote the introduction sentence: "In the wake of layoffs from its home entertainment division, Technicolor looks to the new high definition format of discs as a means to rebound in the DVD ..." So high definition DVDs will save Technicolor. But it won't save any jobs in Wales, according to this (non-subscription) article Pioneering Welsh DVD plant to shut, which tells us that:

Production at the unit, the first CD plant in Europe outside of Germany when it opened in 1984, is to be switched to a Polish plant at Piaseczno. Some 310 jobs will be lost as a result of the shutdown of the factory which had a reported capacity of 225,000 DVDs a day.

Another European facility in Luxembourg is also to close and the company’s US operations have not been spared with the announced shut down of a plant in Illinois and the threat of ultimate closure at its Camarillo HQ in California, which once employed 2000 people.

Technicolor blamed reduced growth in standard definition DVDs and demand for lower pricing for the closures.

I never even knew that my DVDs came from Wales. First Burberry closing factories in Wales and pulling out of BAFTA parties (Burberry drops Bafta party sponsorship in face of Welsh factory closure protest) and now this. But at least Kodak still sponsors the Academy Awards theatre: Kodak moments - coming to a colour ink jet printer near you soon!

Zemeckis goes all motion capture at Disney

There are no less than 57 articles tagged by Google about the news that Robert Zemeckis is setting up a motion-capture animation studio at Disney. However, it is best to start off by reading the official press release first (The Walt Disney Studios and Academy Award(R)-Winner Director Robert Zemeckis and Producing Partners Form New Company That Will Produce 3D Performance Capture Films). Disney has always been a driver of new cinema technology (pace digital cinema), so this makes perfect sense, even though Zemeckis did 'Polar Express' at WB, 'Monster House' at Sony Pictures and 'Beowulf' at Paramount.

However, to me it seems like Disney is hedging its bets. They closed down the hand-drawn animation division and its CG-animation division got absorbed into Pixar. So while they like Steve Jobs, they definitely don't want to trust their entire future to him when it comes to animation. So this makes perfect sense. I am not a huge fan of motion capture, as used by Zemeckis, as it makes the character's eyes seem lifeless. It can be put to great use if you have Andy Serkis doing the dotted leotard honours, as witnessed in the Lord of the Rings and King Kong films. Let's hope Zemeckis puts him under contract at his new studio.