In praise of Bond - and Lowry Digital

I have not bothered to update you about the ins-and-outs of the Ambani-Speielberg-DreamWorks-Paramount deal because there is enough written about it everywhere else anyway. Instead I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight the good work done by our colleagues as Lowry Digital ahead of the latest James Bond release. "Quantum-what," are you saying? No, no, this is Blu-Ray release of the Bond film that launched the franchise, Dr. No.

Lowry Digital did the restoration of the Bond series four years ago and amazingly it is the same restoration that is being used for the BD release as was used for the DVD. The release was reviewed by Robert Harris, one of the hardest task masters when it comes to digital restoration (a much abused term if there ever was one) and rightly so, as he was in charge of the restoration of Lawrence of Arabia and Vertigo.

So when you submit a four year old restoration meant for DVD, it is a bit like submittng a freshman essay as your PhD thesis to the toughest professor in college. What does Mr Harris have to say on "A few words about...™ Dr. No - in Blu-ray":

M-G-M and Eon made a prudent move in permitting Lowry Digital to scan, digitize, and work their magic on the elements. A featurette produced several years ago describes the work performed as restoration, and while I'm not certain whether the actual work performed was restoration or digital cleanup, the final result on Blu-ray is nothing less than spectacular.
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The correct post facility, using the correct (here Lowry's proprietary) techniques, can make a huge difference in the viewing pleasure of films from the last half of the twentieth century.
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Dr. No, via the wizards at Lowry Digital, looks far better than it has any right to look. The overall viewing experience is superb. The disc arrives at a street price with a full list of extras of around $23.

The question that I raised earlier, as to whether this film is truly "restored" in the full sense of the word really doesn't come into play here. The single overriding fact is that the Blu-ray is as perfect as it can be.

High praise indeed from a man who really knows his trade and who has slammed many a lesser efforts of 'digital restoration'. Big congratulations to John and his team and I am looking forwards to getting my hands on a copy to see it for myself.

Reliance buys Lowry Digital Images from DTS

I'm absolutely chuffed to pieces that the news is finally official - my new employer Reliance ADAG has acquired DTS Digital Images, better known by its original name Lowry Digital Images.

This is an absolute gem of a company and I was blown away when I saw the work they had done when I visited their facility as part of the EDCF pre-ShoWest tour in March 2007 (see photo above). IMDB has a list of a small selection the films the company has worked on, while there is a dedicated page on Amazon of DVDs that feature work done by Lowry. You can read an (old) interview with John Lowry himself here or a more recent one by Debra Kaufman here.

In hindsight, it was an unfortunate mismatch of expectations when Lowry digital Images was acquired by DTS in 2005, but the new ownership fits perfectly into both what Reliance and Lowry want to achieve. From the press release:

DTS, Inc. today announced that the Company has completed the sale of its Digital Images business to Reliance Big Entertainment Ltd., a member of the Reliance ADA Group of India.

The sale, which closed on April 4 for approximately $7.5 million in cash, marks DTS' exit from the image enhancement and restoration services business.

As my new boss says:

"DTS Digital Images, also popularly known as Lowry Digital Images, enjoys a superb reputation as the premier film imaging and restoration facility. The company fits well with the Digital Services strategy of the Reliance ADA Group in the global media and entertainment space," said Anil Arjun, Senior Vice President of Reliance.

So far none of the Hollywood trades seem to have picked up on it. The best write up so far has come from India's DNA newspaper:

It’s body of work includes over 300 well-known feature films — Casablanca, Singing in the rain, Sunset Boulevard, Indiana Jones trilogy, Star Wars Trilogy, James Bond classics — with output to DVD, 35mm film, digital cinema and Imax.

Industry observers said that this acquisition would help Reliance Big Entertainment to cater to the rapidly growing 3D content market with technology solutions for correction in original stereoscopic footage as well as re-rendering of 2D footage into 3D.

DDI recently provided custom image processing services for New Line Cinema and Walden Media’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth 3D, the world’s first digitally captured stereoscopic live action film shot in digital 3D.

Details on the last job mentioned can be found in a press release here.

Too early to go into details about the company's future, just don't expect Lowry to suddenly become some cheap restoration outsourcing service provider. It will remain the Gold Standard of quality content work in Hollywood and will only grow as part of the Reliance film services family.