ASC Magazine Looks Back on 100 years of Technicolor, and Asks Today’s Leaders About its Future

ASC Magazine’s recent feature on 100 years of Technicolor offered as much insight into the future of the company as it did a summary of its past.  The article, authored by Michael Goldman, features key observations from industry leading cinematographers about the impact Technicolor has had on the aesthetics of movie making over the years.  But it was interesting to see the clear and “future-focused” message from the Technicolor executives quoted in the report.

• Tim Sarnoff, deputy CEO and president of production services pointed out how the past 100 years have laid a technological and entrepreneurial foundation for the industry’s immediate future. “Color science remains a cornerstone of Technicolors legacy...and future,” he said.  “Such fundamental disruptions as virtual reality and augmented reality” will require companies like Technicolor to work with partners to “invent the next grammar of storytelling.
   
• Joshua Pines, Technicolor’s vice president of imaging research and development described how the key to the company’s success over the past century has been based on leveraging a pattern of self-disrupting innovation. The company has learned to act rather than to be acted upon as Technicolor transitioned from being a leader in the chemical era of color science and art...to define the future the of digital age with image processing software and hardware. “The first wave of DI [digital intermediate] facilities had to do a ton of technical work, R&D and engineering to make it easier for the second wave. So, there were certainly some Herculean efforts at the advent of DI.”