August 13, 2007 - 8:38 pm
“Charles Swartz leaves a mark on the entertainment industry and the world…The volume of his contributions are nothing sort of extraordinary,” said Leon Silverman, president of LaserPacific Media Corp. Silverman was one of nearly 100 who attended an intimate and moving memorial Saturday at USC for Swartz—an educator, author, filmmaker and industry leader who was heavily involved in digital cinema. Attendees included digital cinema industry leaders who represented Hollywood studios, technology developers, and exhibitors; cinematographers; postproduction executives; co-workers; family and friends. Swartz died Feb. 10 of pneumonia; He was 67.
Swartz served as director and CEO of the Entertainment Technology Center, an organized research unit at USC within the School of Cinema-Television, from February 2002 until his retirement last spring. Under his watch, ETC-USC’s Digital Cinema Lab became Hollywood’s de facto digital cinema forum, hosting and supporting the Digital Cinema Initiatives work toward establishing digital cinema specifications. His wife, Stephanie Rothman, described the ETC as: “His last and favorite job… his happiest time.”
“I think the ETC was the birthplace of digital cinema,” said former ETC board chair Jerry Pierce. “It was critical to the technical development of digital cinema. The ETC was a collection of studios—a friendly bunch of political sharks—he knew (how) to keep them in check.” Added Pierce: “What a class act. He did things right; he did them with style… I was constantly learning from Charles.” During the ceremony, many attendees shared heartfelt recollections of Swartz. ETC’s Edie Meadows sang “Inspiration,” and Silverman presented a slide show of Swartz’ life. (Carolyn Giardina)
August 13, 2007 - 8:35 pm
 Hundreds — including directors such as Peter Bogdanovich and Richard Donner; cinematographers including Vilmos Zsigmond, Caleb Deschanel and Roger Deakins; colleagues; film students; family and friends –gathered Saturday at the American Society of Cinematographers clubhouse in Hollywood to remember internationally acclaimed cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs, who died July 22 at his home in Beverly Hills. With the clubhouse filled to capacity, many attendees were provided seating on the building’s front lawn, where monitors were set up for ceremony viewing.
Attendees remembered a brilliant cinematographer who compiled more than 70 features credits include ‘Easy Rider,” “Paper Moon,” “Five Easy Pieces,” “Shampoo,” and “What’s Up Doc? Speakers also paid tribute to a loving family man, generous student mentor, professional collaborator and special friend. “He was a partner with you,” said Bogdanovich, one of many speakers who reflected on Kovacs’ life during the ceremony. “If you had a problem, he could solve it … He was wonderful with actors. He made them feel comfortable.”
A heartfelt tribute was also presented by Vilmos Zsigmond, whose life and career will forever be linked with Kovacs. The two Hungary-born cinematographers were students in Budapest 50 years ago, when a revolt against the communist regime started on the city streets. He and Zsigmond made the daring decision to film the event for its historic significance. The pair then embarked on a dangerous journey during which they carried 30,000 feet of documentary film across the border into Austria. They entered the U.S. as political refugees in 1957, and went on to become two of Hollywood’s most influential directors of photography.
“He was my soul mate,” Zsigmond said. “ We were inseparable.” So much so, he said, that they he and Kovacs were sometimes confused with each other, and were given T-shirts that said: “I’m Not Laszlo” and “I’m Not Vilmos.” Joked Zsigmond: “Occasionally we would switch shirts to confuse everybody.” Zsigmond concluded: “Laszlo’s greatest achievement was his generosity… He inspired students and cinematographers.”
Many — including students — spoke of his educational efforts, and numerous speakers encouraged mentoring as a way of remembering Kovacs. Observed cinematographer Woody Omens: “You see the lasting impact of education… in that sense, Laszlo lives forever.”
(Carolyn Giardina)
August 9, 2007 - 8:11 pm
 Warner Bros. Pictures’ “The Invasion,” the much maligned Nicole Kidman-Daniel Craig thriller, has suffered another indignity: no premiere. Word is that no party will be thrown to celebrate the movie, the latest adaptation of Jack Finney’s novel “The Body Snatchers,” which has had three previous screen incarnations. Nothing in L.A., nothing in N.Y. Some will say it’s because Kidman is shooting Baz Luhrmann’s “Australia” in, you guessed it, Australia, and that Craig is about to shoot “Defiance” in Lithuania, but nothing at all? How bad can the movie be? I guess it doesn’t help that the original director was sent packing. The thriller was supposed to have been the high-falutin English language debut of German director Oliver Hirschbiegel, but after it wrapped principal photography in early ‘06, the Wachowskis were brought it to straighten things out. They in turn brought in their “V for Vendetta” director James McTeigue to direct new scenes. Warner isn’t doing that much to promote “Invasion.” TV spots have been sporadic and where are the billboards? The movie is set to open August 17 for Pete’s sake! (Borys Kit)
August 9, 2007 - 7:58 pm
 This week’s computer graphics confab Siggraph hosted its first FJORG competition, an “iron animator” event in which 16 competing teams from around the world had 32 hours to create an impressive character-driven animation of at least 15 seconds in length adhering to at least one of two themes and using at least one of 16 sound bites. The event was held during Siggraph at the San Diego Convention Center, with support provided by DreamWorks Animation, HP and AMD.Wednesday evening’s judging and winners announcement was a standing room-only event that required an overflow room. In the spirit of the contest, many participants wore Viking hats.
The judges panel consisted of: Simon Allen, animator, Pixar Animation Studios; Scott Benza, animation director, “Transformers,” Industrial Light + Magic; Spencer Cook, animation director, “Spider-Man 3,” Sony Pictures Imageworks; Raman Hui, co-director, “Shrek the Third,” DWA; Gregorz Jonkajtys, directing artist and Marcin Kobylecki, executive producer, “The Ark,” (Siggraph 2007 Computer Animation Festival Best of Show); and David Smith, DWA.
First place was awarded to ‘Team Mocap’ from Bowling Green State University; second place to ‘Picture This,” a team from Miami International University of Art & Design; and third place to ‘Impulse’ from The Illinois Institute of Art-Schaumburg. Team Mocap, pictured, included from left Tomas Jech, W. Jacob Gardner, and Jim Levasseur with FJORG chair Patricia Beckmann-Wells.The three winning teams will be treated to lunch with Sony executives and animators among other prizes. The first and second place teams will also be awarded an all-expenses-paid trip to DWA that includes a sneak preview of “Bee Movie,” a tour of the facility, and dinner with DreamWorks executives. (Carolyn Giardina)
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