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Thursday, August 2, 2007

Animation Executive Says New Mexico Is Fertile Soil for Movies in An 'Incredibly Tough Industry'

By Andrew Webb
Copyright © 2007 Albuquerque Journal; Journal Staff Writer
    Sony Pictures Imageworks executive Tom Hershey says the company's expansion to New Mexico was critical for the "long-term health of the company."
    Not only will it give the 15-year-old company a chance to build a new site with all the last decade's computing advances, but the state's tax breaks will help defray the rising costs of special effects.
    "This is an incredibly tough business to be in," Hershey, the company's senior vice president of operations and one of its first employees, said during a filmmaking workshop in Albuquerque last week. "There are so many moving targets, both technologically and economically. With all the growing film talent here, (expansion) is not a luxury, it's something we have to do to stay competitive."
    Sony Pictures Imageworks is building a 100,000-square-foot office complex adjacent to Albuquerque Studios' massive sound stages at Mesa del Sol, a 12,000-acre development south of the Albuquerque International Sunport.
    The Culver City, Calif., company plans to eventually move up to one-third, or between 300 and 400, of its 1,100-strong work force here. Sony Pictures Imageworks also has offices in India and in Novato, Calif.
    The first employees here will likely be Imageworks veterans, but Debbie Denise, executive vice president of production infrastructure, told the Journal the company will work with local universities and colleges to develop more special-effects and computer-animation technicians.
    "We'll attract new talent both locally and from other locations as we grow," she said.
    Sony Pictures, an entertainment subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate, was created in the late 1980s by the purchase, from Coca-Cola, of Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures.
    Its Imageworks subsidiary was created in 1992 as a cheaper alternative to George Lucas' pioneering Industrial Light & Magic, Denise said.
    Some of its early special-effects work can be seen in the 1997 TriStar science fiction film "Starship Troopers." Over its early years, Sony Pictures Imageworks developed a specialty in character animation, producing such films as "Stuart Little," "Open Season" and "The Polar Express."
    The company has since focused on four specialties:
   

Visual Effects— digitally animated special effects for live-action movies, such as car crashes or space battles.
   

Animated features, such as the recent release "Surf's Up."
   

Performance capture— the process of digitally enhancing live action. This process involves using video cameras to very accurately capture the complicated motion of actors, animals or other on-stage activity, and using it to create highly realistic animated films. "Beowulf," scheduled for release this year, will use this technique.
   

And converting two-dimensional films to three-dimensional— a gimmick that has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity with the recent development of digital projection, which, unlike traditional film projection, does not require a second print or projector to get a 3-D effect.
    Denise said Sony's varied expertise gives it an advantage in the business.
    "We offer a big variety for artists," she said. "When you have really good artists, you want them to stay with you. And it shows directors we have lots of tools in the toolbox. The technology in one area can help another."
    Furthermore, she said, a growing "convergence" of video and computer gaming, film and Internet content requires these multiple talents. "The people we'll be bringing to Albuquerque will hopefully be from all those different groups," she added.
    Hershey said the Albuquerque office will give Imageworks a chance to "reinvent our technology, our infrastructure and our computer room."
    Assumptions made during the construction of its first infrastructure in Culver City turned out to be "about 60 percent wrong," he said.
    Hershey said New Mexico's aggressive recent efforts to build a film industry, along with Albuquerque's easy access to the Los Angeles area, were the deciding factors in moving some of its business here.
    The state offers zero-interest loans to filmmakers and tax rebates of up to 25 percent on all film production costs, including labor, that are taxable in New Mexico.
    "In California, the film industry gets all the media attention, but in terms of government attention, it's zero," Hershey said.