Angela and I live about a block away from each other in L.A.’s Larchmont Village area. We think of our neighborhood as kind of Baja Hollywood and she and I frequent the same cool coffee shop on Larchmont Boulevard – Peet’s. Larchmont is not really the poshest of movieland neighborhoods like nearby mansion-rich Hancock Park where moguls live. Nor is it Brentwood where the stars and starlets hang out. But Larchmont is hip enough from the lunch-and-dinner trade that comes from Paramount Studios right down the street and from the vast digital post production industry which begins close by along Vine and Cahuenga before sprawling over the hills into Burbank. When Lady A recently went missing from Peet’s and the boulevard for a few weeks after Halloween, I knew she must be off riding some new digital entertainment wave of some sort and not telling, so it was time for some creative and coercive interrogation. (Disclaimer: None of her civil rights were violated during the making of this Q&A.) -- TOM GOFF
OK, so you weren’t kidnapped by aliens after all, but you are living in and working for … what … some sort of new 3-dimensional digital universe?
Yes, we jokingly call it “The New 3ality,” because the name of the company is “3ality Digital.” We exist to power 3D entertainment — specifically, pixel-perfect live 3D entertainment, from image capture to broadcast. What does that mean? Well, it means that you’ll soon be enjoying more 3D movies, as well as live broadcasts and scripted television, in cinemas and at home on your 3D-enabled television. My friend Sandy Climan is CEO of the company, and he asked me join as head of sales and marketing, given my background in digital media, consumer brands, and technology startups. Our goal — to be the “Dolby” of 3D.
Angela, everyone my age knows that 3-D went out with the Bwana Devil in 1952. Robert Stack was wonderful in that movie, by the way, but the technology made me seasick.
Tom, I think you’re the only person in Hollywood who will cop to being old enough to have seen Bwana Devil. I think I heard my grandmother talk about that one, once. But, you’re right, those old movies could make you seasick, because they were shot on film and required two projectors to be seen in a cinema — and no matter how hard you try, you can’t get film to line up well enough for good 3D. Digital filmmaking is what makes this possible now. 3D requires separate images for the left and right eye, and with digital media you can make those images line up perfectly. Plus 3D has proven to have an economic payoff: that slew of recent films you probably didn’t go see (Journey to the Center of the Earth, Bolt) have proven that 3D films make 3 times per screen than their 2D versions. And, as you know given your LONG experience in Hollywood, folks here don’t do anything unless there’s money in it for ‘em.
Ageism is a crime in some states, little sister. I forgive the slurs, but we do have a time warp between us … … you’re saying the 3-D past is the new digital future … and you have proof in the present?
Yes, I have proof — three proofs, actually. The first was the ground-breaking, live 3D broadcast we did of the Raiders/Chargers game on Dec. 4th. We broadcast the game to invited guests in three 3D-enabled cinemas in NYC, LA and Boston. It was the first live 3D broadcast of an NFL game — EVER. The response? NBC Sports called it “a transformative moment in our culture.” The second proof will be our live 3D broadcast of the FedEx BCS Championship Game on Jan. 8th, which will be available in at least 80 theaters nationwide. It’s the first live 3D broadcast open to consumers, and if it’s a sellout, well, there’s your business case ... And a great launching pad for what may become a series of 3D alternative entertainment events in theaters. The third proof? Those money-making 3D movies I mentioned above.
I thought only the Metropolitan Opera and maybe a few pious Christian evangelists were doing narrow-casts in digital theater auditoriums. I wouldn’t mind seeing Carmen or Salome sung in 3-D. I mean, it would, uh, make the music so much more interesting.
Well, the Met has certainly been successful with their theater broadcasts, although they haven’t yet ventured into 3D or disrobing divas as yet. I do think most of their fans actually stay awake for the theater projections, so 3D may not be necessary (although Roberto Alagna (link: http://bit.ly/FSHw) in 3D would be a magnificent thing). But there are all sorts of alternative entertainment applications for this, ranging beyond the eye-popping double-takes produced by 3D cheerleaders during the NFL game broadcasts: Rock concerts, Cirque du Soleil-style shows, UFC and boxing, perhaps even the 2009 Presidential inauguration .... Any time there’s a major event where people would really like to be there, but can’t, there’s an opportunity.
I get the theater applications – the Met’s revenue from some of its theater-casts exceeds by a bunch the ticket money it gets from the tux and Rolex snobs in the real audience in Manhattan. But can I check out the 3-D cheerleaders or the those nearly naked contortionists from the Cirque du Las Vegas work on my home television set anytime soon? I’m just asking.
You know, it’s funny, but during the NFL broadcast, we set up 3D-enabled HD TV’s in the lobbies of the theaters, and we couldn’t tear folks away from them. Many of them actually liked the 3D better on TV’s, and we had to stop a couple of the larger security guards from sneaking the TV’s out to their homes. (I’m kidding, obviously, but they really wanted them.) Consumer electronics manufacturers are already shipping a few models of 3D-enabled TV’s — Samsung in particular has an installed base of about 2M sets in homes already, but consumers don’t really know they’re there, because there’s been a dearth of available content.
How about those goofy glasses I wore to see Bwana Devil? There is a picture of me in those specs somewhere. Gosh, I was cute back then.
You still do need glasses to watch these TV’s in 3D even today, but that’s definitely not an issue for the Wii-loving, Xbox-gaming set — they’re used to a diet of peripherals with their entertainment. You’re going to hear a lot more about 3D in the home at CES this year, starting with our consumer electronics partner for the BCS: Sony.
What is the production challenge here – did you have ex-linemen with humongous two-eyed cameras running up and down the sidelines at that NFL game? That must have seemed entertaining in its own right.
Well, yes, you do need two “eyes,” in the form of two cameras mounted in a specialized rig that move in perfect alignment, driven by our mechanics and our software. But we’ve brought these rigs down to handheld size, so they’re very mobile. And I know you wanted to hear something about getting resistance to our setup, but there wasn’t any. We’ve made the technology so digestible that we were actually able to use regular NFL camera people on the shoot, taking a few days beforehand to train them on the equipment, with fantastic results.
I see that you have also have a studio in Germany. Was ist los mit dir, mädchen? Do we need to turn you into Homeland Security for fraternizing with Deutschland’s Angela Merkel and giving her our digital secrets? Why is everyone named Angela these days?
Actually, the Germans brought the technology to us. They were developing amazing space-age 3D image processing software for industrial use, and, like the good Americans we are, we repurposed them into supporting pop culture instead. Guess Hollywood has that effect on things, yes?
Are you a software play … or hardware … or vaporware?
We’re most definitely software that drives some hardware, which includes cameras and broadcast equipment. We’re not vaporware, my friend: just ask anyone who saw that NFL broadcast, or just ask the stars of our first movie — U2 3D.
I see that polymath Sandy Climan is your President and CEO. I thought he was a movie producer and an agent.
Sandy has had a number of careers, certainly, including his long stint as a managing partner at that tiny agency CAA, and significant operations roles at several studios. But what he does best is bring new ideas to life, and we’re delighted that he’s leading the charge at 3ality Digital — bringing along his blue-chip business contacts, which are helping to give our tiny company international reach. Thanks to Sandy, they know about us in Europe, Asia, and Australia — and we’re very big in Dubai at the moment, where we just debuted U2 3D at the Dubai Film Festival. (Ask me a bit later about the Dubai Cup, the world’s most fantastic horse race.)
I hope those raucous Modell brothers of NFL fame aren’t going to restrict this technology just to football. I think we need to see more of those twisty sisters at Cirque du Soleil in 3D.
One of my favorite things about John Modell is that he’ll let anyone who asks try on his SuperBowl ring. It’s hella cool. And David Modell, our chairman and former president of the Baltimore Ravens, has had a long history as an out-of-the-box marketer and visionary. Who better to back this company than the family who first put the NFL on television? As much as they love football, they love breaking boundaries even more.
BTW, Sandy says he saw your pitch for that remake of Bwana Devil with Keanu Reeves, and he’ll get back to you on that.
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