Creating a more efficient process with digital files in post-production has earned Howard Lukk accolades from his colleagues in the entertainment industry.
Lukk, the vice president of digital production technology at Walt Disney Studios, received the first Technology Leadership Award from the Entertainment Technology Center @ USC for his work on the Interoperable Master Format project.
The project is easier to describe then the name may imply.
Simply put, Lukk and his team are creating standards for digital files that can be shared between content creators, studios, and post-production facilities to make one master copy of a film or television show rather than separate masters for distribution into theaters, television, downloads, and for mobile devices.
“With demands for faster content in more channels, we are trying to make the process of getting it out quicker,” Lukk said.
The master format project is just one of several the Entertainment Technology Center is working on. Other projects involve 3D in the home, entertainment and social media, and getting content out on multiple devices.
The center wanted to recognize the people working on these projects because while it is the ETC that gets the credit it is the people on the teams that make the results possible, said center CEO and Executive Director David Wertheimer.
“It is the individuals that make the difference,” Wertheimer said.
Lukk’s name was among the first brought up to receive the leadership award because the work on the master format project would create new efficiencies for the entire industry.
Lukk and others have been working on the master format project for about 18 months and look to finish by the spring.
Draft specifications have been given to the member companies of the ETC for their input and feedback and some suggestions will be incorporated into the revised specs, Lukk said.
Those specifications will then be turned over to the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers to create a standard for the entire industry.