UHD Alliance Brings Together Filmmakers, CE Companies and Hollywood Studios For New “Filmmaker Mode”

New ‘Filmmaker Mode’ Maintains Creative Intent for Movies and TV Shows

LOS ANGELES, CA – August 27, 2019 – The UHD Alliance (UHDA) along with leaders in consumer electronics, the Hollywood studios and members of the filmmaking community announced today their collaboration on a new viewing mode for watching movies and episodic TV called “Filmmaker Mode^TM”.

“When Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler, Patty Jenkins, Martin Scorsese, and Christopher Nolan reached out to the UHDA about extending the cinematic experience into the living room, we were eager and ideally situated to engage in the conversation,” said UHD Alliance Chairman, Michael Zink of Warner Bros. “The Ultra HD TVs from supporting CE members are capable of delivering a range of viewing options and the addition of Filmmaker Mode for cinematic content, which is based on input from a broad range of preeminent filmmakers, provides a way for consumers to better experience the filmmaker’s vision.”

Current TV’s use advanced video processing capabilities to offer consumers a broad range of options in viewing various types of content, ranging from sports to video games. Filmmaker Mode will allow viewers to enjoy a more cinematic experience on their UHD TV’s when watching movies by disabling all post-processing (e.g. motion smoothing, etc.) so the movie or television show is displayed as it was intended by the filmmaker, preserving the correct aspect ratios, colors and frame rates.  

“The thing that sets Filmmaker Mode apart is it will be a pure, clean expression of what the movie was meant to look like when it was made,” said Rian Johnson, director of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and the soon to be released, “Knives Out.”

LG Electronics, Panasonic and Vizio announced support for Filmmaker mode and expressed their interest in delivering creative intent to the home. Specific product and implementation plans will be announced by each company at the appropriate time.

“Modern televisions have extraordinary technical capabilities, and it is important that we harness these new technologies to ensure that the home viewer sees our work presented as closely as possible to our original creative intentions,” said Christopher Nolan, the celebrated director of such acclaimed films as “Dunkirk”, “Interstellar” and the “Dark Knight Trilogy.” ”Through collaboration with TV manufacturers, Filmmaker Mode consolidates input from filmmakers into simple principles for respecting frame rate, aspect ratio, color and contrast and encoding in the actual media so that televisions can read it and can display it appropriately.”

While studios and CE manufacturers have long worked in concert to deliver new entertainment technologies and experiences to consumers, Filmmaker Mode marks the first collaboration to add leaders in the creative community to the mix.

“I care deeply about how cinema is experienced at home because that's where it lives the longest. That's where cinema is watched and re-watched and experienced by families,” added Ryan Coogler, director of “Black Panther” and “Creed”. By allowing the artists in the tent to help consult and give feedback to the electronics companies on Filmmaker Mode, we can collectively help make the consumer’s experience even more like it is in the cinema.”

Notably, unlike some picture modes which may require the user to enter one or more menus to find and select, Filmmaker Mode will be activated either automatically, through metadata embedded in the content, or through a single button which enables the consumer to activate Filmmaker Mode without moving through multiple menu levels. Further, to make finding displays that can display content in Filmmaker Mode, the name and settings will be consistent across multiple TV brands.

”With all the advances in today’s televisions, now is a great time to introduce Filmmaker Mode. It's just impossible to ignore what the technology can do,” noted Paul Thomas Anderson, director of such films as “There Will Be Blood” and “Phantom Thread.” “We can use these capabilities to preserve the intent of the filmmaker, preserve the purpose of the art.”

In addition to consolidating feedback from filmmakers, studio and CE manufacturers, the UHDA engaged the broader creative community by polling their members to identify priorities. As part of the specification development process for Filmmaker Mode, the UHDA worked with and solicited input from the Directors Guild of America and The Film Foundation.

“I started the Film Foundation in 1990 with the goal to preserve film and protect the filmmaker’s original vision so that the audience can experience these films as they were intended to be seen,” noted celebrated director, Martin Scorsese. “Most people today are watching these classic films at home rather than in movie theaters, making Filmmaker Mode of particular importance when presenting these films which have specifications unique to being shot on film.”

“Every day on set, we make hundreds of decisions about how to present and tell our story. No one decision makes or breaks a film, but there’s a cumulative effect that results in a film that looks and feels the way we envisioned it,” offered “Wonder Woman” director, Patty Jenkins. “As a filmmaker, I want to see…and think viewers want to see…that vision carried through to every possible viewing environment. Filmmaker Mode makes it possible for all those choices to be seen in the home.”

ABOUT THE UHD ALLIANCE:

The UHD Alliance (UHDA), comprising nearly 40 member companies, is a global coalition of leading entertainment studios, consumer electronics manufacturers, content distributors and technology companies aligned to foster the creation of an ecosystem that fully realizes and promotes the next generation premium in-home entertainment platform. UHDA Board members are executives from: Dolby Laboratories, Panasonic Corporation, Samsung Electronics, Technicolor, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment and Xperi Corporation. To learn more about the UHD Alliance, please visit: experienceuhd.com

Companies interested in the UHDA specification and the associated licensing terms can contact: uhdalliance.org/contact-us/.
For press inquiries, please contact:
Heather Gioco, HoogComm
+1-713-299-1312 - hgioco@hoogcomm.com

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UHDA

“One of the UHD Alliance’s missions is to help ensure consumers get a great 4K UHD experience,” said Mike Fidler, UHD Alliance President. “Through the creation of Filmmaker Mode, TV manufacturers are giving consumers the quickest path to a filmmaker’s creative intent.”

Panasonic

"Panasonic has long committed itself to delivering to our viewers picture quality which accurately captures the creators' intent. For this reason every year we work directly with some of Hollywood's top colorists to ensure that our extreme technical accuracy matches what creatives are actually seeing in grading bays. Thanks to this work, our OLED TVs are currently in use in a large number of studios and post production houses as client reference monitors. Accordingly, when we heard of the concerns raised by numerous directors, we were keen to work together with the UHD Alliance to make Filmmaker mode a reality.", said Akira Toyoshima, Director of Panasonic's Visual and Sound business unit.

Universal

 “Filmmaker Mode is a meaningful offering, benefitting movie fans eager for best-in-class home viewing,” stated Michael Bonner, Executive Vice President - Digital Distribution for UPHE. “Through this unprecedented cross-industry collaboration, we have effectively bridged the best of creativity and technology to deliver filmmakers’ distinct cinematic visions directly to millions of 4K UHD television homes around the world.”

Vizio

“At VIZIO, we are dedicated to providing consumers with the ability to access cinema-like entertainment in their homes. We are constantly innovating by integrating the meaningful features and technologies into our TVs and Sound Bars and partnering with other leaders to provide stronger, smart features for an unmatched entertainment experience,” said William Wang, CEO of VIZIO. “Being part of the Filmmaker Mode initiative is a natural extension of our brand mission, giving viewers instant access to next-level entertainment on their VIZIO TVs. We are pleased so many studios are getting involved to make sure the content they are creating is always able to be presented at the highest quality, whether it is viewed in a movie theater or home theater.”

Warner Bros.

“We’ve long valued our collaborative relationship with the CE companies to consistently improve the home entertainment experience,” said Jim Wuthrich, President, Worldwide Home Entertainment and Games for Warner Bros. “We are thrilled to support our filmmakers in bringing Filmmaker Mode to these televisions to better preserve and deliver their creative vision to the home.”