One argument I hear quite frequently–usually from venture capitalists from Silicon Valley–that one of Southern California’s advantages is at the intersection of entertainment and technology. Interestingly enough, as a daily observer of the startup world here I don’t find quite as many technology-plus-Hollywood startups around. Yes, you run into content startups (online video / production / celebrity / etc.); and yes, you run into technology startups, but few which are actually at the intersection of both, which take are developing technology for Hollywood. This usually is because the technologists in Southern California don’t hang out with the folks in Hollywood, and the typical folks in Hollywood wouldn’t know the first thing about a technology startup.

However, there is one area which seems to me to be a true, technology-focused, startup market where Southern California does have a new industry emerging, and where the physical proximity of Hollywood and access to technology talent really does make a difference: 3D technology. Driven by a growing adoption of 3D films in theaters, I’m starting to see companies like RealD (with a major market share in 3D projection equipment), based in Beverly Hills; In-Three (technology which helps companies turn 2D films into 3D using software), in Westlake Village; and 3ality Digital, in Burbank (3D camera rigs for filming 3D content, plus 3D production — ie U2 3D). There’s undoubtedly many, many more firms I haven’t yet heard of in the sector, but it’s cleary a new, growing market. 3D films are just at their beginnings, and 3D television is not all that far away, and 3D is now providing a huge contribution to the box office take of films.

It’s also clear that the location of these firms in Southern California, and their proximity and familiarity with the various players (studios, production, post-production, etc. etc.) in Hollywood gives them a huge advantage over firms located outside of Southern California and a few other entertainment production hubs. Even the local universities are into the act: USC recently started offering a university degree in 3D.

I spent some time recently at a 3D technology demonstration at In-Three, which has technology which takes standard, 2D content, and maps that into 3D.

The firm–whose biggest win so far has been Disney’s G-Force 3D–has developed a process and accompanying technology which extracts 3D out of 2D filmed content, essentially allowing productions which weren’t 3D in the first place to be turned into 3D; or, in some cases, makes 3D possible where the technology otherwise wouldn’t be practical. (this happened to be the case in G-Force, where the low point of view of the guinea pigs made 3D camera rigs impossible to use.) John Sanders, the firm’s Chief Technology Officer, and Damien Wader, a Senior account Manager at the firm, walked a number of members of the press through its technology and some demonstrations of the possibilities of its technology.

Among the 3D “dimensionalization” clips the firm showed as examples (none of which are ongoing projects) were 3D conversions of Star War scenes, The Matrix, and even Casablanca. The whole industry has even spawned a brand, new job title: “Stereographer” — someone who is responsible for controlling the 3D effects in films.

This new industry happens to be one of the few where the understanding of Hollywood and films absolutely impacts the technology. It’s not a Hollywood celebrity just taking advantage of your latest Web 2.0 technology; it’s something which, at its heart is technology applied to the business of Hollywood. It’s also something where an understanding of technology (in this case, computer science and graphics processing) is at the core of the operation, but where artistic vision, creativity, and the creative process is also central. In short, it’s someplace where you really do convergence and understanding of both technology and Hollywood to make these companies happen.

Filed under:
Hollywood, Southern California, Startups by Benjamin Kuo