ANIMATION, VISUAL EFFECTS, RECRUITING, ACADEMIC OUTREACH AND OPEN SOURCE PROGRAM LAUNCH HIGHLIGHT PRESENCE

CULVER CITY, Calif., July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Pictures Imageworks, the Academy Award(R) winning visual effects and digital character animation unit of Sony Pictures Digital Productions, will feature its latest artistic and technical achievements at SIGGRAPH 2009, the 36th International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques. Imageworks' participation includes presentations on the making of Sony Pictures Animation's upcoming feature film, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS, the 3D stereo/live action/animation production of the current box office hit, G-FORCE, and a panel deconstructing WATCHMEN. With an eye to the future, Imageworks will be recruiting for current and upcoming productions, including ALICE IN WONDERLAND, ZOOKEEPER, CATS AND DOGS 2, the Aardman Animation production ARTHUR CHRISTMAS, Sony Pictures Animation's HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA and THE SMURFS, in association with Columbia Pictures.

Imageworks also announced the launch of an open source development program and a website, http://opensource.imageworks.com, to initially make 5 technologies available freely to the open source community. A team of software engineers, led by Imageworks' Chief Technology Officer Rob Bredow, will be in New Orleans and will conduct a Birds of a Feather session on Thursday.

For the second year in a row, Rob Engle, senior stereographer, digital effects supervisor, and stereo visual effects supervisor on G-FORCE, is the curator for the two days of stereoscopic sessions during this year's show.

"SIGGRAPH attracts the leading innovators, artists and educators to exchange ideas and insight," noted Randy Lake, executive vice president and general manager of Sony Pictures Imageworks. "As a leader in hybrid and all-cg production, where filmmakers, artists and engineers collaborate in an environment where they may work in live action visual effects, refined digital character creation, and fully animated feature film production, Imageworks taps and contributes to the full spectrum of the SIGGRAPH conference."

IPAX, Imageworks and Sony Pictures Animation's innovative academic outreach program continues its growth and will be at SIGGRAPH to meet with its member schools. Ken Maruyama will lead the effort as he welcomes an additional four schools - Gobelins, California State University-Fullerton, Brown University, and ESMA (Ecole Supierieur des Metiers Artistiques) - into the program. The IPAX program was created in 2004 to connect faculty and students from leading academic institutions with Imageworks and Sony Pictures Animation to further develop future talent and enhance academic programs.

Details of Imageworks participation at SIGGRAPH 2009 include the following:

                           Imageworks at SIGGRAPH 2009
    MONDAY

    Getting a Job in CG for Entertainment: Visual Effects, Animation,
     and Games
    Monday, 3 August | 1:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Room 260-262
    Panelist Ken Murayama

    Keeping a Job in CG for Entertainment: Visual Effects, Animation,
     and Games
    Monday, 3 August | 3:45 PM - 5:30 PM | Room 260-262
    Panelist Rob Bredow

    TUESDAY

    Job Fair Interview Room #3
    Tuesday, 4 August | 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

    WEDNESDAY

    Job Fair Interview Room #3
    Wednesday, 5 August | 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

    From Pitchvis to Postvis: Integrating Visualization Into the Production
     Pipeline
    Wednesday, 5 August | 10:30 AM - 12:15 PM | Room 271-273
    Panelist Rob Bredow

    CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS: Making Mouthwatering 3D
    Wednesday, 5 August | 1:45 PM - 3:30 PM | La Nouvelle Orleans Ballroom
    Presenters Rob Bredow, Karl Herbst and Danny Dimian

    Animateering: The Hair-Motion Compositor: Compositing Dynamic Hair
     Animations in a Production Environment
    Wednesday, 5 August | 3:45 PM - 5:30 PM | Auditorium C
    Presenter Francois Chardavoine

    THURSDAY

    Deconstructing WATCHMEN
    Thursday, 6 August | 8:30 AM - 10:15 AM | La Nouvelle Orleans Ballroom
    Panelist Rob Bredow

    Job Fair Interview Room #3
    Thursday, 6 August | 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

    Beyond The Big Screen: The Evolution of 3D Standards in Cinema, Broadcast
     and the Home
    Thursday, 6 August | 10:30 AM - 12:15 PM | Room 271-273
    Moderator Rob Engle

    G-FORCE 3D: Guinea Pigs, Gadgets, and Post-Production Stereoscopic
     Filmmaking
    Thursday, 6 August | 1:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Room 260-262
    Presenters Rob Engle and Dan Lobl

    FRIDAY

    Rendering: Practical Uses of a Ray Tracer for CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF
     MEATBALLS
    Friday, 7 August | 8:30 AM - 10:15 AM | Auditorium C
    Presenters: Karl Herbst and Danny Dimian

    SCREENINGS
    Stereoscopic 3D: Research, Applications, and Entertainment
    Friday, 7 August | 1:45 PM - 3:45 PM | Rooms 260-262
    CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS Selected Scenes in 3D

ABOUT SONY PICTURES IMAGEWORKS

Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. is the Academy Award(R) winning, state-of-the-art visual effects and animation unit of Sony Pictures Digital Productions. The Imageworks production environment supports live-action visual effects and character animation, all-CG animation, Imageworks 3D stereoscopic, and Imageworks Interactive, a full service creative group that produces websites and supports digital marketing for the studio and outside clients.

Imageworks' achievements have been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with Oscars(R) for its work on SPIDER-MAN(TM) 2 and the CG animated short film THE CHUBBCHUBBS!. In 2008, SURF'S UP was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. In 2007, two of Imageworks' projects, SUPERMAN RETURNS and the all-CG animated feature MONSTER HOUSE, were nominated for Academy Awards in the Outstanding Achievement in Visual Effects and Best Animated Feature respectively. With those two nominations, Imageworks became the first studio to be recognized in the same year in these distinct areas, an indication of the diversity and quality of the company's capabilities. Other Oscar(R) nominated projects include THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, SPIDER-MAN(TM), HOLLOW MAN, STUART LITTLE and STARSHIP TROOPERS, for a total of ten nominations.

Imageworks' most recently completed projects include G-FORCE, WATCHMEN, VALKYRIE, BODY OF LIES, EAGLE EYE, HANCOCK, SPEED RACER, BEOWULF, and I AM LEGEND. Upcoming projects include ALICE IN WONDERLAND, CATS AND DOGS 2, 2012, and Sony Pictures Animation's CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS.

Imageworks maintains operations in Culver City, CA; Novato, CA; Albuquerque, New Mexico and Chennai, India.

Sony Pictures Imageworks is a division of Sony Pictures Digital Productions.

For more information, please visit www.imageworks.com.

SOURCE Sony Pictures Imageworks

Web site: http;//www.imageworks.com/