Film Production
DreamWorks Animation wins two awards from Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences
MUMBAI: DreamWorks Animation has been awarded two Technical Achievement Awards by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the development of two revolutionary tools used in feature filmmaking: Foliage System and OpenVDB.
Both of these tools were most recently used in the making of How to Train Your Dragon 2, an Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature and winner of this year’s Golden Globe, six Annie Awards from ASIFA-Hollywood and named Best Animated Feature by the National Board of Review. In addition to these two awards, Hewlett-Packard also received a Technical Achievement Award for its HP DreamColor LP2480zX Professional Display monitor, created in collaboration with DreamWorks Animation engineers.
“At DreamWorks Animation, engineers, technicians and artists come together to create new technology stimulated by the vision and imagination of filmmakers such as writer/director Dean DeBlois (HTTYD2). I want to congratulate our engineers and artists, as well as the DreamColor team at Hewlett-Packard, on their Technical Achievement Awards that recognize outstanding innovation in the development of tools and technology that enhance the industry’s creative storytelling ability,” said DreamWorks Animation chief technology officer Lincoln Wallen.
The Foliage System was first developed for 2001’s Shrek, where it was used to create more than 10,000 trees, the largest deployment of digital vegetation in any film at its time. Since then, DreamWorks Animation has continued to be the industry leader in innovating new tools and techniques that provide the greatest artistic flexibility in rendering foliage. DreamWorks Animation effects artists Scott Peterson, Jeff Budsberg, and Jonathan Gibbs received the award for the design and implementation of the Foliage System.
OpenVDB is an open source data structure and set of tools that help manage the storage of enormous amounts of information created by complex visual effects such as water, dust, smoke and fire, found in both animated and live action films. OpenVDB’s efficiency reduces digital storage requirements and the need for long wait times when running simulations, which have resulted in it becoming a standard in the animation and VFX industry. With adoption at studios including Weta Digital, Disney Animation, and ILM, the tools were used in the making of several of this year’s Academy Award nominated films for Best Visual Effects, including X-Men: Days of Future Past, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Guardians of the Galaxy. DreamWorks Animation engineers Ken Museth, Peter Cucka, and Mihai Alden, received the award for the creation of OpenVDB.
HP’s DreamColor monitor was jointly developed with DreamWorks Animation to provide the highest color quality level LCD monitors required for graphic intense workflows, such as those for producing feature animation and visual effects. Karl Rasche, a DreamWorks software engineer, was recognized by the Academy, along with the other award winners from Hewlett-Packard, for the joint development of the HP DreamColor LP2480zx Professional Display.
Film Production
Priyanka Kaur Dhillon joins SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution
A seasoned content dealmaker with 16 years in digital and satellite media joins the Bengali entertainment powerhouse as it pushes into the pan-India music market
Mumbai: Priyanka Kaur Dhillon has made her move. The content acquisitions and commercials veteran, most recently commercial manager at Sony Pictures Networks India, has joined SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution, stepping into one of the more interesting briefs in regional entertainment right now.
SVF is no ordinary regional label. Over 30 years it has built a formidable legacy in Bengali cinema and music, driven by culturally resonant storytelling and a catalogue that consistently punches above its weight. Its recent success with Chiraiya underlines the point. But the Kolkata-based powerhouse now has its sights firmly set beyond Bengal, most visibly through Legacy, a rap reality series produced in collaboration with hip-hop label Kalamkaar that signals a deliberate push into the pan-India music ecosystem.
Dhillon brings precisely the kind of muscle SVF needs for that expansion. At Sony Pictures Networks India, she led film acquisition and commercials and handled music licensing across the entire satellite network. Before that, she spent nearly 15 years at Hungama, rising to assistant general manager and leading strategic content licensing for the platform’s digital entertainment business, with a particular focus on international markets. Her label relationships span the full roster: Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music, Believe International, Tunecore, The Orchard and a clutch of smaller aggregators. She has negotiated and closed deals with Hollywood studios, Bollywood production houses and regional content players alike, building pricing models and deal structures off data analysis rather than instinct.
Announcing the appointment, Dhillon said she was “thrilled to begin this journey with an iconic Bengali music label and content powerhouse,” adding that SVF’s “constant drive to push boundaries” was what drew her to the role.
SVF has spent three decades proving that regional does not mean limited. With a sharp commercial operator now steering its music distribution, its bid to go national just got a good deal more serious.
