Editor

‘DIGITAL SYNTHESIS’ TECH SYMPOSIUM FEATURES HD 3D
SPEAKER LINEUP ANNOUNCED
Retuning to Santa Barbara, California for its biennial Tech Symposium,
Digital Synthesis, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival is presenting a compelling lineup of speakers and premiere screenings. Participants will venture from deep sea to deep space in special High Definition 3D screenings featuring NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Journey to Mars and selections from James Cameron’s Aliens of the Deep as well as premiere screenings of HD programs by BBC and National Geographic/Sea Studios.
Slated for September 30-October 2, the three-day event is targeted pecifically for media professionals interested in exploring the economic, logistical and creative dimensions of technological advances. Described by Festival Executive Director, Lisa Samford as “a rich opportunity for independent filmmakers to access the latest--often prototype--technology available to create and distribute programs,” the Symposium features a superior lineup of industry experts and tech pioneers in a series of in-depth panels and roundtable discussions.
This year's event will examine topics ranging from the complex issues of format origination and conversion to synthetic imaging, digital intermediate, digital cinema, distribution alternatives and HD-3D. The Symposium offers hands-on opportunities with the latest prototypes of digital and high definition equipment.
Confirmed speakers include:
Blaine Baggett (JPL), John Brooks (Arrow Productions), Dana Brown (Bron-Wa Pictures), Charles R. Caillouet, Jr. (Vision Unlimited/LA), Tom Campbell (Cambell HD Productions), Mark Chiolis (Thomson Grass Valley), Barry Clark (Mandalay Media Arts), John Coghill (Dalsa), Randall Dark (HD Vision Studios), Mike de Gruy (The Film Crew), Eric De Jong (JPL), Pierre de Lespinois, (Evergreen Films), John Ford (National Geographic Channel), Alastair
Fothergill (BBC Natural History Unit), Ted Geier (Cinemuse), Fred Grossberg (Mill Reef High Def), Bill Hudson (Apple Computer), Masaru Ikeo (NHK), Ed Marsh (Earthship Productions), James Mathers (Digital Cinema Society), Jeff Merritt (Panasonic Broadcast), Yasuhiko Mikami (Sony), Greg Moyer (VOOM HD Originals Rainbow Media Holdings), Atsushi Murakami (NHK), Nolan Murdock (Panavision), Vince Pace (PaceHD Productions), Chris Palmer (Center for Environmental Filmmaking/American University), George Scheckel (QuVIS), Steve Schklair (Cobalt Entertainment), Steve Shannon (Akimbo), Mark Shelley (Sea Studios Foundation), Leon Silverman (LaserPacific Media Corporation and Eastman Kodak), Russell Sparkman (Fusion Spark Media), Kees van Oostrum (ASC), and Andrew Wight (Earthship Productions).
The event was specifically created to be a retreat noted for extensive opportunities for casual networking and informal discussions. Digital synthesis focuses on practical and tangible demonstrations of the most exciting new technologies and market opportunities through immersive involvement in seminars, panel discussions, and meaningful hands-on experience.

SPECIAL HD3D SCREENING EVENTS:
In special HD3D presentations we will be screening stunning material from NHK, Cobalt 3D, PaceHD Productions, Earthship Productions and JPL/NASA including:

ALIENS OF THE DEEP
Selected Excerpts, followed by Q&A with members of the Production Team!
James Cameron, Academy Award® winning director, deep ocean adventurer, and space exploration visionary, combines his talent and his passions in the forthcoming digital 3D film Aliens of the Deep. Cameron takes audiences to the depths of the ocean to encounter some of the strangest life forms on Earth, while inviting us to imagine what future explorers may someday find on other planets.

Aliens of the Deep presents the highlights of more than 40 dives made to the Mid-Ocean Ridge, a submerged chain of mountains that winds 46,000 miles around the globe and contains mineral-rich volcanic vents with names like Lost City and Snake Pit. These vents spew constant clouds of super-heated water, made dark as smoke by substances sent up from deep beneath the earth’s crust.

The creatures are abundant and very strange, including 6-foot tall worms with blood-red plumes, white crabs, and an absolutely astonishing biomass of blind, white shrimp, all competing to find just the right location in the flow of superheated water – or fry trying. “They are as close to alien life as anything seen on Earth,” says Cameron. “A clue to what might exist elsewhere.” Aliens of the Deep gives first-hand insight into Cameron’s passion for exploration, the extreme machines that allow humans to explore the deep, and the possibilities that exist both below and beyond the horizon. Cameron and the mission scientists help us consider the correlations between life under water and the life we may one day find in outer space.

Discover Mars—in HD3D
Saturday, October 2, Symposium delegates will be treated to an extraordinary screening of HD3D footage from NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Mission, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This amazing screening event will be followed by a conversation with the production team that is opening up an entire new world for discovery!