Disney Digital Tech Chief Receives Leadership Award

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. Expanding Image In an interview with Ted Green and John Hyde from Image Entertainment Inc. in Chatsworth, the pair said that acquisitions and purchasing of new titles were two ways the company was going to grow. Recent moves by the home entertainment programming distributor show that Green, the CEO, and Hyde, vice chairman, are true to their word. Image acquired a majority share in the home video division of Madacy Entertainment, with purchase of the final minority share taking place on or before Aug. 31, 2014. The library of Madacy Home Video includes classic television and feature film titles and special interest titles. The acquisition allows Image to expand its library quickly and have more titles to release through DVD, video on demand and digital download, Green said. Madacy titles include “The Lucy Show,” “The Beverly Hillbillies,” John Wayne films, and documentaries including “Our Planet Earth” and “NASA – The Complete History.” Image has also taken steps to enter into the nascent 3D in the home market. The company has an agreement with Big Picture Digital Productions to distribute four Imax 3D titles starting in December. Image worked with Big Picture to optimize the 3D image for home viewing, scanning the original image at a minimum of 5.6K, and in some cases, 8K resolution for the Blu-ray release. The first titles for release are “Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk,” “Wild Ocean,” and “Dinosaurs Alive!” Interactive Hires The Disney Interactive Media Group has named John Pleasants and James Pitaro as its two co-presidents. Pleasants will oversee the digital games business while Pitaro is in charge of Disney Online. The pair replaces Steve Wadsworth who left the company several weeks ago. The rapidly growing digital businesses will benefit from the experience and leadership skills that Pleasants and Pitaro bring, said President and CEO Robert Iger. “Both have outstanding track records in anticipating trends and delivering to consumers creative, innovative and successful experiences and products,” Iger said. Pleasants joined Disney over the summer when his company Playdom, a social gaming developer, was acquired. Pleasants will continue at Playdom while also directing the overall games strategy and global network of game development studios. He will be based in the San Francisco Bay area. Pitaro had been vice president and head of media at Yahoo! Inc. before joining Disney. While at Yahoo! he expanded original video, branded entertainment and editorial content and pioneered using data to enhance the consumer web experience. Pitaro and Pleasants will co-manage group enterprise functions, including business affairs, finance and human resources. Ballard Comes to WB Thomas Ballard has been named as senior vice president of digital games at Warner Bros. Studios. Ballard will oversee business and strategy for the digital game business worldwide. Prior to Warner Bros., Ballard had been chief executive at Transpera, served as president and CEO of Glu Mobile, and held positions at SONICblue, 3Dfx, Capcom, and Digital Pictures. Ballard will serve as chairman of the board at Transpera, a mobile distribution company headquartered in Santa Monica. Staff Reporter Mark Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or by e-mail at [email protected].