June / 2010

What’s New

Ahmed Ouri

Technicolor Re-brands with a New Logo and 3D Innovations

There’s a lot more going on with Technicolor these days than just a pretty new logo. For starters, the 95-year-old company has shed the name of its parent company, Thomson, so that Technicolor will once again operate under its own name.

Technicolor, purchased by the French electronics and media conglomerate Thomson in 2001, continued to work under the parent company’s name until February of this year. But the re-branding of Technicolor is really just the tip of the iceberg of the recent changes.

“The way we’re going to approach our clients, the press and our partners will be a far more outreaching Technicolor than you would have seen in the last 5-to-10 years,” said Technicolor CMO Ahmad Ouri from his office in Los Angeles. Technicolor is hoping that a new approach to the way it does business will benefit future endeavours.

Technicolor is already considered the largest independent company in DVD and Blu-ray Disc replication, but feels that it has more to offer than just for which it’s best known. “We want to continue to strengthen the areas that we do have leading market shares in, including replication, digital cinema, film and post-production. But at the same time we want to expose what we’re doing in terms of innovation to the outside world,” said Ouri.

Generally older companies don’t get along with new technology, but Technicolor has built a franchise on it. Technicolor was the first to develop practical colour cameras and participated in the future of the film industry when they helped create Hollywood classics such as The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Wizard of Oz, Singin’ in the Rain and Disney’s Fantasia. Now, decades later, it’s beginning to make another mark on movie history with 3D innovations.

Technicolor has been involved in 3D innovation since the release of Chicken Little back in 2005. Since then Technicolor has had a heavy influence on 3D digital cinema. It has worked on over 80 per cent of the digital intermediates (post-production and colour correction process) in 3D that have been released.

Technicolor created the first full-length 3D feature film released on Blu-ray 3D, Monsters Vs. Aliens, in collaboration with Dreamworks Animation and Samsung. The animated film will remain the only Blu-ray 3D for a while, with James Cameron’s Avatar not slated to be released in 3D until next year.

While most of Technicolor’s future plans are related to 3D in the cinemas and the home, there are some other pet projects that are just as interesting. The company has announced that they would be producing animated pieces on Pete and Pickles, an animated children’s book. By producing their own content Technicolor hopes that it will further strengthen its relationship with its partners and the creative community.

Technicolor will also be releasing advanced digital devices and applications for the home. More announcements on some of the innovations are to be made by the end of the year.
Jonathan Thomas

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