Lucasfilm Minus The Film George Lucas To Use Sony HDTV Cameras With Panavision Lenses

NAB, Las Vegas, April 20, 1999 -- Sony Electronics announced at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in Las Vegas that a joint research and development project with Panavision Inc. will develop filmless, digital cameras for Lucasfilm Ltd. in time for George Lucas to shoot the second of his Star Wars prequels. ""This working relationship between ourselves, Sony and Panavision represents a model for an industry seeking to capitalize on fast-developing breakthroughs in digital imaging,"" said Rick McCallum, Producer of the upcoming Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace. Sonyís news conference announcement gives the first formal indication that the less than two-year-old R&D initiative will produce a specific product in time for Lucas to embrace for his next two movies. Lucas has been an ardent proselytizer of ""electronic cinema,"" the notion that filmmakers can shoot movies directly in the digital realm without film and get film-quality results for theatrical projection. Some earlier tests of a filmless Sony camera and related Panavision lenses were performed during the making of Phantom Menace. No mention was made as to whether the Panavision lenses would be anamorphic widescreen.