BURBANK, Ca—Sep 28, 2007
Technicolor Sponsors New York Film Festival Via its Famous Brand Technicolor, Thomson Provided Advanced Services to a Number of New York Premieres
Technicolor, part of the Services division of Thomson (Euronext 18453; NYSE: TMS), today announced its sponsorship of the 45th annual New York Film Festival presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Technicolor provided key services for many of this year’s festival premieres, including director Wes Anderson’s new comedy, The Darjeeling Limited that opens the festival on Friday, Sept. 28.
In addition, Technicolor led a team of postproduction and visual effects companies on the “definitive” restoration of director Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner - receiving its North American premiere on Saturday, Sept. 29. Technicolor also provided services for director Brian DePalma’s Iraq quasi-documentary Redacted; director Noah Baumbach’s Margot at the Wedding; director Todd Haynes’ critically lauded I’m Not There – a “re-imagining” of multiple facets of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan’s life; and director Sidney Lumet’s Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.
This group of films being premiered clearly represents Technicolor’s industry-leading services offerings, while also demonstrating Technicolor’s evolution and leadership in the postproduction industry. Technicolor’s work on behalf of Blade Runner exemplifies the rapid advancements in digital postproduction and restoration tools and processes. Having been involved with the initial theatrical release of the film in 1982, Technicolor, under the direct supervision of Mr. Scott, created a new digital intermediate master for the festival play-date, the subsequent theatrical release in October, including digital cinema projection, and the ultimate master for all home video distribution formats. Blade Runner remains one of the most beloved science fiction films in motion picture history. The film is only one recent example of how Technicolor applies new tools and methodologies to a cherished film from its past.
Technicolor’s East coast team performed multiple services for Mr. Lumet - representing a far different approach but with equally distinctive results. Mr. Lumet, one of the great New York master directors, received a special Academy Award OscarÒ in 2005 for his lifetime achievement. His new film, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead is receiving the best notices he’s received in nearly two decades. Technicolor’s West Greenwich Village facility in New York produced digital HD dailies from the production’s digital photography; digital intermediate color-grading; answer and festival release printing; and video mastering. Mr. Lumet has made the transition to the digital workflow model piloted by Technicolor in a rather seamless fashion, and recently he announced he would work exclusively in HD in the future.
“Technicolor is extremely proud to be a sponsor of this year’s festival,” said Ahmad Ouri, president of Technicolor Content Services. “The films we’ve served at this year’s festival truly represent the breadth and depth of our service offering – and provide further evidence of our industry-leading position in the transition to file-based, digital workflows. We’re also extremely proud to support both narrative and documentary features – as well as classic restoration efforts for films like Blade Runner.”
Technicolor is also peripherally involved with another festival program, entitled “In Glorious Technicolor,” being presented by director Martin Scorsese. The program presents recently restored classics overseen by Mr. Scorsese’s Film Foundation. In this case, the festival will premiere the newly restored Technicolor classic, Leave Her to Heaven.