PALO ALTO, CA - HP (www.hp.com), here, and DreamWorks SKG have announced a three-year extension of its multi-million dollar technology agreement, which designates HP as its sole preferred technology provider for its core technology purchases, including the computing infrastructure of DreamWorks' digital studios. In addition, the companies plan to collaborate on technology innovations in areas such as digital editing, digital cinema and digital asset management.
The DreamWorks SKG agreement also calls for HP to receive certain rights for co-branding and joint consumer marketing initiatives tied to the premier of DreamWorks' 2005 release of "Madagascar" and other animated films.
"Our partnership with HP is enabling us to leverage technology in new and interesting ways to enhance our business and empower the creative vision of our filmmakers," says Ed Leonard, chief technology officer, DreamWorks SKG. "Technology is pivotal to our continued success and our partnership with HP is helping to ensure that we continue to shape the future of the convergence of technology and content." HP and DreamWorks first partnered in 2001 on the original "Shrek." In April 2004, the companies announced their collaboration on two digital filmmaking technologies, the Utility Rendering Service and Virtual Studio Collaboration (VSC), which were used to develop the sequel "Shrek 2." HP and DreamWorks are collaborating on the next generation of the VSC solution, which HP plans to make widely available in the near future.
In related news, HP announced that it is bringing studio-quality animation technology capabilities to USC film students. The company has donated its latest high-performing workstations to the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television. The 50 HP xw8200 workstations will be used in the Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts.
Nvidia will supply high-performance graphic cards and Avid will provide Xpress Pro digital video editing software. HP will work with these partners to integrate the hardware and software and add applications to the HP workstations.