LaserPacific Will Be Focal Point For Kodak Digital Intermediate Services

12-Jul-04

Eastman Kodak Company announced that it will concentrate all of its digital inter-mediate and other postproduction services for the motion picture and television industries in North America here at LaserPacific, a wholly owned subsidiary that the company acquired last October. LaserPacific CEO and President Emory Cohen says that the extraordinary capabilities at Cinesite Hollywood will be centralized as part of LaserPacific in their ongoing effort to focus on innovation and service for customers. The facility plans to open a fourth state-of-the-art digital intermediate suite in a theater environment before the end of the year. ìBy focusing our resources, we are better positioned to provide our customers with the latest advances in hybrid and digital technologies and services,î says Eric Rodli, President of Kodak's Entertainment Imaging division. ìOur primary goal is to enable filmmakers to more easily and efficiently control and manipulate the images they create from pre-production through post-production. The evolution of digital intermediate technology will help ensure that audiences experience films the way they are intended to be seen on cinema and TV screens.îCinesite (Europe) Ltd., headquartered in London, will continue providing world-class visual effects services. The facility recently completed delivery of some 500 visual effects shots for King Arthur. Current projects also include Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Phantom of the Opera, Aliens Vs. Predator and Alfie. LaserPacific and Cinesite (Europe) Ltd. are the hub of the Kodak Entertainment Imaging Services Group, led by General Manager Bertrand Decoux, which is part of the Entertainment Imaging division. Cinesite was founded in Los Angeles in 1992 as a proving ground for the Cineon digital film system developed by Kodak. That development marked a quantum leap forward in the convergence of film, digital and hybrid motion imaging technologies. ""Kodak scientists used the words 'digital intermediate technology' to describe their long-term goal when Cinesite was founded,"" Rodli points out. ìThey envisioned a gateway to a future where the convergence of film, digital and hybrid technologies was fully integrated into the creative process. As we move forward, Kodak will continue to strive to develop new technologies that the creative community needs and more efficient methods for serving the industry.îCohen was one of the founders of LaserPacific in 1990. LaserPacific was developed with an evangelistic vision of the future, which Cohen described as an ""electronic film lab."" The facility initially provided fully integrated postproduction services for the television industry, including front-end film lab services, standard and HD telecine transfer, color grading, editing suites, and DVD authoring capabilities. The facility more recently segued into the digital intermediate arena, providing a complete range of film scanning, recording and color grading services. ""We believe digital intermediate should be an integral part of the creative process from beginning to end,"" says Leon Silverman, Director of Strategic Business Development for Kodak's Entertainment Imaging Services in addition to his Executive Vice President role at LaserPacific. ""We are already in the process of leveraging Kodak's unique image and color science tools to pioneer the development of a more efficient workflow technology, which makes it more practical for filmmakers to carry their visions through to the end of postproduction.""For more information, please visit www.kodak.com/go/motion.

Read More:
http://www.kodak.com/go/motion