Lucasfilm, HP partner for game, effects technology

Industry News :: Lucasfilm, HP partner for game, effects technology

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Lucasfilm Ltd., which created the blockbuster "Star Wars" film franchise, said Wednesday it will partner with Hewlett-Packard Co. for three years and use the company's software to design film and video game effects.

Lucasfilm which houses Industrial Light and Magic, one of the film industry's best known special effects teams will use HP technology to create visual effects, video games and animation.

HP, based in Palo Alto, said the partnership was worth millions but would not disclose exact terms.

"With this agreement, we will continue expanding the quality of our entertainment offerings and meet the constantly rising expectations of consumers when it comes to movies and video games," Cliff Plumer, Lucasfilm's chief technology officer, said in a statement.

The deal with Lucasfilm comes less than a month after HP said it would stop reselling Apple Computer Inc.'s popular iPod digital music players, ending a partnership introduced with much fanfare by HP's former CEO, Carly Fiorina.

HP said more than 1,000 high-powered computers will be sent to Lucasfilm's new Letterman Digital Arts Center, which recently opened in San Francisco, as well as Lucasfilm's Singapore location. The computers will be used to produce visual effects as well as for composing and editing.

Most of Lucasfilm has moved to the San Francisco complex from Marin County, the corporate offices of Lucasfilm Ltd., ILM and LucasArts, which produces video games.

"Lucasfilm has become a leader of the digital revolution in entertainment by understanding how to use technology to push the limits of what is possible in filmmaking," said Shane Robison, HP's chief strategy and technology officer.

Lucasfilm and ILM also created effects for such films as the "Harry Potter" series, the "Jurassic Park" films and the recent Steven Spielberg film, "War of the Worlds."

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