News Stories

Studio Technology Leaders Dinner 2017

The Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California held its 2017 Studio Technology Leaders Dinner at NeueHouse in Hollywood. Sponsored by Western Digital, HGST and Equinix, the event honored former Sony Pictures CTO Spencer Stephens with the Bob Lambert Technology Leadership Award. The evening featured a panel of studio execs discussing new directions in film production, and a screening of “Wonder Buffalo,” the third R&D short produced under the auspices of ETC@USC’s Project Cloud to explore and test next-generation production processes. 

“Wonder Buffalo,” a coming-of-age story, was made possible through ETC’s 2016 Technology Award to filmmaker Christine Berg, who wrote the script with Simon Shterenberg.

The duo developed the project at the Writers Guild Foundation’s Veterans Writing Project, with the support of Disney/ABC Television Group, Warner Bros., NAGRA Kudelski Group, Technicolor, 8i, Realtra, Equinix, Sony Electronics, Amazon Web Services, the Creative Visions Foundation, The World Building Institute and the USC School of Cinematic Arts. It was also executive produced by Erik Weaver, HGST global director of M&E strategy and market development and former head of ETC’s Project Cloud.

ETC executive director Ken Williams noted that the short tested not only cloud production and post production technologies, but was also processed entirely in HDR, and tested volumetric capture, photogrammetry, ambianic sound and interactivity, via a room-scale virtual reality component. “Wonder Buffalo” was shown at Sundance and invited to SXSW.

(Photo by Cara Garcia)
———————————————————————————————————————(Photo by Cara Garcia)
Williams (above left) presented the Bob Lambert Technology Leadership award to Spencer Stephens (above right), whose early career involved data communications and photography.

Stephens joined Disney TV Animation in 1997, as the company transitioned from traditional to digital production. He later joined Chris Cookson’s Technology Operations at Warner Bros., ultimately building the 4K production capability for Warner’s Motion Picture Imaging post house, which he then ran. He followed Cookson to Sony Pictures where he became CTO. He’s left Sony, but is not retired.Williams (above left) presented the Bob Lambert Technology Leadership award to Spencer Stephens (above right), whose early career involved data communications and photography.

Walden Pond chief executive Wendy Aylsworth, a previous Bob Lambert Technology Leadership awardee; Sony Pictures Home Entertainment senior vice president Richard Berger; and former Sony Pictures Technology president Chris Cookson all spoke about Stephens’ achievements.

“If I’m in a crisis, I want Spencer by my side,” said Berger. “The scope of his knowledge knows no bounds.”

Stephens thanked Williams, the ETC board and Dean Elizabeth Daley of the USC School of Cinematic Arts for the award, and Cookson for hiring him twice. He also recalled his close connection with Lambert, who recommended him for the Disney job and then introduced him to Cookson.

Last, ETC hosted a panel of studio executives, including 20th Century Fox CTO Hanno Basse, Sony Pictures Entertainment CTO Don Eklund, Paramount Pictures EVP Anthony Guarino, Warner Bros. Technology EVP Justin Herz, Walt Disney Studios CTO Jamie Voris and Universal Pictures CTO Michael Wise. Moderated by Williams, the panel addressed pain points in the production process, significant opportunities opened up by technology, and how studios are handling change.

Panelists described the challenges of handling thousands of VFX shots from multiple cameras with differing resolutions, color spaces and formats, and putting it all together under increasingly tight deadlines. They noted that “Wonder Buffalo” has helped to shine a light on the issues, which also include the sheer size of files and massive number of deliverables. They also identified security as a “huge issue.”

New technologies have produced automated workflows and enhanced global creative collaboration, as well as significantly accelerated real-time rendering. Panelists noted that physical media isn’t going away any time soon, and that consumers are the big winners in an era in which there are so many platforms and distribution is not getting in the way of finding and enjoying content.

They also underlined that the studios have gone through many technology changes over the decades and that their resilience in managing change bodes well for the future, even as viewers redefine entertainment.

« 1 of 5 »

Studio Technology Leaders Dinner

ETC held its 5th Studio Technology Leaders Dinner at USC’s Town & Gown on Friday, June 24. Industry colleagues from member companies and af liates gathered for an evening of networking, VR demos, the presentation of ETC’s Bob Lambert Technology Leadership Award and the dinner’s featured panel discussion.

Elizabeth M. Daley, Dean of the USC School of Cinematic Arts opened the evening, welcoming
the guests in a speech that highlighted ETC’s success convening technology companies and studios, and touched on the center’s history, accomplishments and continued importance in the industry. ETC’s CEO and Executive Director, Ken Williams, served as the evening’s host and panel moderator. He announced the Executive Board’s newly created honorary category, ETC Board Director Emeritus and the inaugural designees, Chuck Dages, Vince Roberts, and Wendy Aylsworth.

This year’s ETC Bob Lambert Technology Leadership Award recipient was Wendy Aylsworth, CEO (Walden Pond). She accepted the award after remarks from Howard Lukk, Director (SMPTE — on behalf of Executive Director Barbra Lange); Chuck Dages, Chair (TV Academy); and Darcy Antonellis, CEO (Vubiquity). The award recognizes Wendy’s outstanding, broad and lasting contributions that have helped shape the future of entertainment technology.

USC’s VR student club (VRSC) offered hands-on VR experiences for attendees, who could try out student VR project “Zombie Camp” on HTC Vive and the new Samsung Gear, as well as student VR project “Lions and Deer” on the Samsung Gear. GrabGames Deluxe and Wearality also had booths.

Offering their expert opinions about the current challenges, developments and future impact of media and entertainment technology, the Center’s signature studio leaders panel discussion featured Hanno Basse, CTO (20th Century Fox Film), Justin Herz, SVP, Digital (Warner Bros. Entertainment Group), Spencer Stephens, CTO (Sony Pictures Entertainment), Jamie Voris, CTO (Walt Disney Studios), and Michael Wise, CTO (Universal Pictures).

NEXT ARTICLES >

Specification for Naming VFX Image Sequences Released

ETC’s VFX Working Group has published a specification for best practices naming image sequences such as plates and comps. File naming is an essential tool for organizing the multitude of frames that are inputs and outputs from the VFX process. Prior to the publication of this specification, each organization had its own naming scheme, requiring custom processes for each partner, which often resulted in confusion and miscommunication.

The new ETC@USC specification focuses primarily on sequences of individual images. The initial use case was VFX plates, typically delivered as OpenEXR or DPX files. However, the team soon realized that the same naming conventions can apply to virtually any image sequence. Consequently, the specification was written to handle a wide array of assets and use cases.

To ensure all requirements are represented, the working group included over 2 dozen participants representing studios, VFX houses, tool creators, creatives and others.  The ETC@USC also worked closely with MovieLabs to ensure that the specification could be integrated as part of their 2030 Vision.

A key design criteria for this specification is compatibility with existing practices.  Chair of the VFX working group, Horst Sarubin of Universal Pictures, said: “Our studio is committed to being at the forefront of designing best industry practices to modernize and simplify workflows, and we believe this white paper succeeded in building a new foundation for tools to transfer files in the most efficient manner.”

This specification is compatible with other initiatives such as the Visual Effects Society (VES) Transfer Specifications. “We wanted to make it as seamless as possible for everyone to adopt this specification,” said working group co-chair and ETC@USC’s Erik Weaver. “To ensure all perspectives were represented we created a team of industry experts familiar with the handling of these materials and collaborated with a number of industry groups.”

“Collaboration between MovieLabs and important industry groups like the ETC is critical to implementing the 2030 Vision,” said Craig Seidel, SVP of MovieLabs. “This specification is a key step in defining the foundations for better software-defined workflows. We look forward to continued partnership with the ETC on implementing other critical elements of the 2030 Vision.”

The specification is available online for anyone to use.

Oops, something went wrong.