Press Release

Warner Bros. is sponsoring a special reception and screening of Martin Scorsese’s remarkable restoration of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Red Shoes (1948) the evening October 28, 2009 for attendees of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) Annual Tech Conference and Expo (Oct. 27 – 29, 2009, Hollywood Renaissance Hotel, Hollywood, Calif.)

Scheduled from 6:45 to 10:30 p.m., the private screening of The Red Shoes for registered SMPTE conference attendees will take place at the Warner Bros. Steve J. Ross Theater. Space is limited to the first 250 registrants, and only SMPTE conference registrants may attend. Transportation will be provided to and from the event. More details about the screening and registering for the SMPTE Fall Conference are available at http://www.smpte2009.org

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to share the result of our work with Martin Scorsese in the painstaking restoration of The Red Shoes with our colleagues from across the motion-imaging industry. We applaud his creative vision, the amazing work of the restoration team at WB’s Motion Picture Imaging, and the ongoing efforts of magnanimous people in our industry to preserve these kinds of cinematic treasures,” said Wendy Aylsworth, SMPTE Vice President of Engineering and Senior Vice President of Technology for Warner Bros. “We look forward to seeing our colleagues at this special event.”

“We are very grateful to Warner Bros. for its on-going industry leadership, its contributions to SMPTE’s standards development and technology educational efforts, and its extremely generous support of the special reception and screening during the SMPTE conference this month,” said Ken Fuller, president of SMPTE.

To register for the SMPTE fall event, and for more details about the special Warner Bros. event, please visit http://www.smpte2009.org

A Loving Restoration
The Red Shoes made an indelible impression on Scorsese, who first saw the film as a young child. He oversaw the project to restore the 61-year-old film’s original negatives, which had yellowed, cracked, and fallen into a state of repair, as a gift to Powell’s and Pressburger’s memory. The restoration process was funded by the Film Foundation, a non-profit organization Scorsese established in 1990.

After two and one-half years of intensive effort, the restored film was shown at Cannes in May by Scorsese, who also heads the World Cinema Foundation, which is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of neglected films from around the world. The restored version of The Red Shoes is now available on DVD and BluRay.

Providing 3D Leadership
The 2009 Conference and Expo exemplifies SMPTE’s ongoing leadership in providing education and information about technologies—such as HD, digital cinema, stereoscopic (3D) cinema and television, and advanced production and post production—that help expand critical industry revenue-generating opportunities. A complete description of the sessions is available at www.smpte2009.org/technical-sessions

“The on-going work of SMPTE – such as the standardization efforts now underway for a 3D home content master – is critical to us all,” said Aylsworth.”

Accelerating the pace at which 3D entertainment can be made available – and envisioning a time where it might not require special glasses to enjoy it – SMPTE will make 3D a main focus at the Conference at the end of October. SMPTE will host numerous 3D-related technical sessions and panel discussions led by technical experts from media leaders such as Dolby Labs, FOX Network, DTS, and RealD – including one focused on the multi-view 3D technology required to support glasses-free displays and viewing.
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