Intended Audience
A great session for those who want to understand how Linux won a crushing victory over the niche operating systems of Windows and Macintosh. Gabrielle and Robin present the film industry as a compelling combination of art, business and technology. Fun for those who want to understand how Hollywood films get made from idea to screen, including drilling deep into the Linux technology and the business reasons that Linux is better, faster, cheaper. Your opportunity to learn how each of the major studios use Linux, including examples of specific blockbuster films. Will address questions such as which distro and kernels are in use at each studio, what hardware, how terabytes of mission critical data are stored and served, and how studio software development staffs of up to 100 Linux programmers use C++, Python, Perl and Java to create feature films that everyone sees in theaters. If you love movies and love Linux, don't miss this entertaining session, including Q&A.
Linux at the Movies
Gabrielle Pantera and Robin Rowe
All the top-grossing films, such as Titanic, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Shrek, Spider-Man, Batman, and Finding Nemo, were created using Linux. Linux reigns supreme in the most demanding desktop and server environment in the world: feature animation and visual effects. Disney, Pixar, ILM, Sony Imageworks, DreamWorks Animation, and many other big post-production companies with names less familiar, are powered by thousands and thousands of Linux desktops and servers.
How did Linux, the little open operating system by the people, for the people, become the top O.S. in one of the biggest, most competitive commercial computing environments in the world? Why did Linux explode as a worldwide phenomena in the film industry, dominating not only Hollywood, but film companies in London working on the Harry Potter films, in Australia working on the Lord of the Rings films, and everywhere across the globe?
What's so special about Linux and why do big budget filmmakers love it so?
Hollywood uses a combination of secret proprietary software, commercial proprietary software and free open source software that's connected in a pipeline. Why do they go to the expense to create secret proprietary tools when popular commercial alternatives exist? Why can't they open source tens of millions of lines of code of Linux software they've developed in house? Why are some free open source apps like CinePaint and 3D Delight used in big budget film production, but many other tools better known in the open source community are not? What commercial and free apps are available for Linux filmmaking and how practical are they to use?
Robin Rowe
is a writer, producer and technologist based in Hollywood. As a journalist he writes for Linux Journal, the Motion Picture Editors Guild Magazine, Hollywood Today, British Weekly, and many other publications. He's the founder of LinuxMovies.org. He's the executive producer of the television series Gosh! TV. He's the executive producer of COMEDY WALK, the largest free monthly comedy festival in the world. He is a co-founder of ScreenPlayLab, a 2,800-member film industry association. He's a partner in the company MovieEditor.com.
Robin Rowe has worked as a research technologist at DreamWorks Animation. He was chief technologist at Fortune 500 defense company SAIC, where he created technology for DARPA, the Pentagon, and the navy. He created proprietary software used in television stations around the world. He taught computer science at the Naval Postgraduate School and at the University of Washington. He worked as a navy research scientist. He was an NBC-TV technical director and built at NBC-TV Chicago one of the most advanced robotic commercial television studios in the world.
Gabrielle Pantera
is a writer and producer based in Hollywood. She's a book critic and as a journalist she writes for Hollywood Today, British Weekly, and many other publications. She's the host and producer of the television series Gosh! TV. She's the casting director of COMEDY WALK, the largest free monthly comedy festival in the world. She is a co-founder of ScreenPlayLab, a 2,800-member film industry association. She's a partner in the company MovieEditor.com.