SAN FRANCISCO — The Academy Software Foundation (www.aswf.io) has announced that two new companies have come on board as members. Framestore and HP represent digital content creation and solutions development respectively. Both are committed to furthering the vision of ASWF, which provides a neutral forum for open source software developers to share resources and collaborate on technologies for entertainment industry applications.
Founded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Linux Foundation back in August of 2018, ASWF has steadily advanced its initiatives.
“Framestore has already been involved in many of our open source projects, and we’re delighted to have their continued support,” says David Morin, executive director of the Academy Software Foundation. “We’re also excited to welcome HP, and look forward to working and collaborating with them. We are grateful to have the insight and leadership of both Framestore and HP in the Academy Software Foundation brain trust.”
These new members come on board as the ASWF prepares for its flagship Open Source Forum event, which is set to take place on February 16th at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. The Open Source Forum annual event gathers business and technical leaders to discuss the state of open source software across the motion picture and media industries.
“HP has a long history of innovation and collaboration in the M&E space, and we believe the ASWF is a great forum for fostering community and solving problems together,” states Barbara Marshall, global segment lead, media & entertainment, HP. “While many might think of HP as a hardware company, with our acquisition of Teradici and Poly, as well as other software projects, we are increasingly becoming a solutions company, and what’s important to our customers is important to us. I think most people would agree that more can be achieved through collaboration than individually, and open source embodies that principle.”
Framestore is an Oscar, BAFTA, Cannes Lions and Emmy award-winning creative studio that’s home to more than 3,000 creatives, artists, producers and technologists. The company’s work can be seen in Gravity, Blade Runner 2049 and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. They’ve also brought the Geico Gecko to life.
“Open source has been a foundation for much of what we do at Framestore,” says CTO Michael Stein. “From using Linux as our main operating system, to formats such as OpenEXR and OpenVDB, to frameworks and libraries that enable our complex and broad workflows, open source is a critical part of our business and industry. Our technology team believes that the industry as a whole grows and becomes stronger through collaboration and partnership. We are excited about joining this incredible organization and contributing back to an already vibrant and diverse community, and want to thank the entire ASWF and TLF organizations for their support during our onboarding process.”