XDC FTT and Bewegte Bilder are being rebranded as one company – dcinex – to provide digital cinema services in Europe. The decision to merge and develop the new common brand – dcinex - is intended to leverage the potential and knowledge base of the entities while reinforcing the synergies among all three.
“With dcinex our goal is to strengthen our position of an end-to-end cinema sales and service organization and to create a leading brand with full geographic coverage across all European countries ” says Serge Plasch CEO of XDC. “The time has come to join forces and fully utilize our wide range of know-how and experience.”
Dcinex will operate under two main business lines: Exhibitor Services and Content Services. The company will continue to serve all players in the cinema industry in a streamlined and focused way. On the Exhibitor side dcinex will focus on full service provision including equipment supply and installation VPF financing NOC Support and maintenance services. On the Content side dcinex will focus on offering the full range of post-production and mastering services for distributors and content owners as well as Pan-European physical and electronic delivery and digital rights management. “This versatility accounts for the company’s past and current success and is the key to continued development of dcinex in the future” commented Carsten Schuffert XDC’s vice president of content and delivery services and CEO of Bewegte Bilder. Dcinex combines lab and distribution services in different countries and enables us to have both a national and a Pan-European scope.”
The group employs approximately 200 professionals in 14 countries throughout Europe. “Until now the awareness of all three brands functioning under one umbrella has been limited ” says Till Cussmann FTT sales and marketing director. “Our individual brands are all very strong in their respective markets. With dcinex we will become one single entity while optimizing our different strengths and local footprints. The new brand will continue to operate locally with a high degree of independence while developing the full potential of a Pan-European network.”
The company is currently developing its new corporate identity which will be officially launched at CineEurope in Barcelona in June. ,3321
Digital Anarchy Upgrades Beauty Box,2012-05-31, Digital Anarchy has announced Beauty Box 2.0 a significant update of their award-winning skin retouching product. Version 2.0 increases the speed by using OpenCL a new technology that runs on ATI and Nvidia cards. The new product also introduces a new smoothing algorithm that improves automatic masking and adds shine removal for hot spots on skin areas. Host app support now includes Final Cut Pro X and support for OpenFX applications is in development. Beauty Box is almost magical ” says Bill Evans producer for Radiant Records. “We didn't have time to properly light our scene and the artists didn't look like themselves. Options were slim and costly. With Beauty Box we were able to solve the problem the same afternoon we downloaded it. The facial tracking really works the skin-tone algorithms are pretty natural and the interface is simple. I'm still amazed. The pictured project is from a Steve Morse & Sarah Spencer promotional video. “Our biggest request has been for increased speed and this 2.0 release delivers on that “ says Jim Tierney president of Digital Anarchy. “Beauty Box is now about 300 percent faster on most video cards. The best part is that it’s as great as ever at producing subtle skin smoothing that looks beautifully realistic.” Beauty Box Video 2.0 is $199. Upgrades are $89. Digital Anarchy www.digitalanarchy.com ,3322
Digital Domain twofour54 Collaborate to Develop Abu Dhabi Film Industry,2012-05-31, The Digital Domain Media Group and twofour54 the Abu Dhabi government-backed media and entertainment hub have announced that they are collaborating to drive development of the local film TV and media production industry in the Middle East. Digital Domain Media Group will establish an animation visual effects and motion capture studio and Digital Domain Institute media school in Abu Dhabi. The collaboration is designed to support the Emirate’s goal to become the region’s center of excellence for media content creation growing both the industry and national talent. DDMG will begin production of visual effects and animation in studios in twofour54 at the beginning of 2013 with plans to recruit and hire staff immediately from local and international talent pools. Over time the studio will employ as many as 500 people. DDMG will develop a purpose-built 150 000 square foot (14 000 square meter) state-of-the-art entertainment production complex which is expected to be operational by the end of 2015. The new Digital Domain studio will create animated feature films produce visual and 3D effects engage in the production of original Middle Eastern-branded entertainment for global audiences and contribute to international productions. The studio will become part of Digital Domain’s global feature film VFX and animation pipeline connected to its studios in Los Angeles Vancouver San Francisco London Florida and Mumbai. The Digital Domain Institute/Abu Dhabi modeled after the Digital Domain Institute in West Palm Beach Florida will train students in the essential skills of digital media production for entertainment simulation and related applications. Classes at the Digital Domain Institute/Abu Dhabi are scheduled to begin early in 2014. This marks the first time a major global studio has established a presence in the region highlighting the impact that twofour54 has had on the media industry in the Arab world. By bringing leading edge technologies and creative techniques to Abu Dhabi DDMG will support the wider film and TV production industry and provide massive opportunities for talent and creative development in the region. Separately earlier this week twofour54 announced that the Emirate of Abu Dhabi now offers one of the world’s most competitive production incentives: a 30 percent rebate for film television and commercial media projects. “We are incredibly excited to join twofour54 in building a strong foundation for the filmmaking industry in Abu Dhabi ” says DDMG CEO and chairman John Textor. “There is tremendous opportunity to produce original entertainment content for Middle Eastern audiences worldwide and to bring Hollywood work and our own original productions here as well. Pairing the studio and school enables us to help the Emirate to build a sustainable creative industries base. Abu Dhabi was the natural location for us given its strategic location modern infrastructure and supportive government. We’re looking forward to grooming up-and-coming Arab filmmakers at a time of such great awakening in this part of the world.” “Digital Domain represents the next great leap forward for twofour54 and Abu Dhabi – a strong move into digital production and the development of locally created feature films and TV content ” says Wayne Borg deputy CEO and chief operating officer of twofour54. “The establishment of DDMG in Abu Dhabi is a significant event in the evolution of the media industry in the Middle East. It will provide incredible opportunities for young Arabs to develop skills and careers in an area of the media industry that has simply never existed before in the region.” Digital Domain Media Group http://www.ddmg.co ,3323
Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre will open with Brave Premiere,2012-05-31, Disney•Pixar’s Brave will have its world premiere on June 18 marking the Grand Opening of Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre. The red-carpet event is a special presentation for Film Independent’s 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival. Premiering in Dolby 3D Brave is an epic tale set in the mystical Scottish Highlands where the film’s headstrong protagonist Merida is forced to discover the meaning of true bravery. The film hits theatres nationwide on June 22. “With a spirited heroine and enchanting setting in the ancient Scottish Highlands Brave represents some exciting firsts for Pixar ” said Ricky Strauss president marketing The Walt Disney Studios. “We are proud that the world premiere of ‘Brave’ will serve as the inaugural premiere at the new Dolby Theatre as part of the LA Film Festival a fitting way to launch Merida’s extraordinary adventure.”
According to Ramzi Haidamus executive vice president sales and marketing at Dolby Laboratories the 180 000-square-foot 3 400-seat Dolby Theatre will be a world stage for entertainment and a top venue for world premieres and launch events. “The world premiere of Disney•Pixar’s Brave in conjunction with the LA Film Festival is perfect for kicking off the next era for Dolby ” said Haidamus. “We are committed to creating the best entertainment experiences and now with the grand opening of the Dolby Theatre we are honored to host the best as well. This is the first of many exclusive and exciting events—from movie premieres to awards ceremonies—in which Dolby and our technologies will play a featured role.”
Celebrating 18 years the Los Angeles Film Festival will make this special presentation available to Festival attendees with Platinum All-Access or Gold Passes. An additional Gala screening of the film will be held the next day at Regal Cinemas at L.A. Live for pass and ticket holders. “We are thrilled to present the world premiere of Brave a beautiful adventure story to our LA Film Fest audience ” said festival director Stephanie Allain. “As Disney•Pixar’s first film with a female protagonist it fits perfectly with our celebration of Women in Animation programming we’ll be holding during the Festival.”
With its grand opening the Dolby Theatre is set to be a showcase for Dolby innovation including Dolby Atmos Dolby 3D and other new technologies for years to come. The Brave world premiere is sponsored by VisitScotland.
Dolby Laboratories www.dolby.com ,3325
DriveSavers Restores Oscar-Winning Film The Shore,2012-05-31, DriveSavers Data Recovery has successfully recovered the Academy Award winning film The Shore. Produced by the father and daughter team of Terry and Oorlagh George The Shore is a 30-minute film about an expatriate Irishman returning home for the first time in 25 years. It won the Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short Film. For a time it appeared the preferred version – the director’s cut – might be lost.
The director’s cut was the version that was used to create several other versions of the film using Apple's Final Cut Pro. Producer Oorlagh George explained “We edited the film to an airplane friendly version another for television with cuts for commercials a shorter film version for film festivals and then there was our prized Director’s Cut.”
Shot completely in digital format the producers stored all the various versions of the film on a MacBook Pro laptop computer that was configured for automatic backups. At some point the MacBook refused to boot up for some unknown reason. When the files were finally restored it was discovered that the critical director's cut version of the film was missing.
The father/daughter team experienced their data loss only days before the 84th Academy Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles California. No one in the audience or the nearly 40 million television viewers could tell how worried the pair was about their film when they accepted their first Oscar for Best Live-Action Short Film.
We went to the Oscars-and we won George said. Since the drive was in transit to DriveSavers we weren’t sure we would get the version of the film back that we really wanted people see. But after only two days DriveSavers rescued the irreplaceable director's cut along with family photos and notes for future projects.”
George summed up her experience by saying We are so grateful to the kind people at DriveSavers they are just amazing. I would use them again in a heartbeat...but hope I never have to.
XDC FTT and Bewegte Bilder Form Dcinex
