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Gibson Guitars Goes Back to the Future with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Matching the style of the original film was critical to the color grade.
Fremont, CA, USA - Blackmagic Design announced that colorist Mark Todd Osborne graded the commercial spot “Back to the Future” for Gibson guitars using DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, color grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software.
With the release of Gibson’s Back to the Future “1955” ES-345 Collector’s Edition guitar, the company aimed to highlight a combination of present day cinematography of the iconic instrument in the spot, while also showcasing how it was used in the classic film “Back to the Future.” The project was managed by Gibson Media Director Todd Harapiak, directed by Doc Crotzer, with cinematography by Justin Janowitz, a long time collaborator and friend of Osborne. Janowitz brought Osborne aboard and tasked him with helping merge the imagery into one cohesive spot.
For Osborne, the goal was to find a balance between the style of the original film and the new photography of the guitar, as well as scenes they were able to use from the film. “The spot needed to seamlessly blend iconic scenes from the film with newly shot material featuring a stand in for Marty McFly, the DeLorean, and a series of beautifully photographed hero shots of the guitars,” said Osborne. “The goal was to create a unified visual language where the new material felt authentically grounded in the ‘Back to the Future’ aesthetic, without calling attention to the transitions between sources.”
Using DaVinci Resolve Studio, Osborne needed to find that balance, enhancing the new footage without affecting the original film material. “The directive was to leave the original material untouched,” continued Osborne. “The film clips were provided in HDR, so my only adjustment was converting them to SDR to match the working format of the project. The key was dialing in the right amount of texture and carefully managing saturation, so the new footage integrated naturally with the original film clips.”
The overall feeling was warm and nostalgic, which Osborne completed with his primary grade. “Matching the Gibson guitar was also essential,” noted Osborne. “Todd (Harapiak) was very clear that the guitar’s tone needed to remain faithful to how it appears in the movie, as well as how it appears in real life, so a big part of the workflow involved maintaining accurate, consistent color reproduction while still allowing the piece to feel cohesive.”
“Also, Doc said that ‘Back to the Future’ fans are particular about the interior of the DeLorean, so we had to make sure the elements matched as best we could,” Osborne added. “Certain lights on the panels needed to be Power Window tracked to match the look from the movie’s trailer, and colors changed from yellow to red using the 3D keyer to get them to match better with the original light panels in the movie. A great deal of the look was done using primary grades, along with HDR exposure tools in DaVinci Resolve Studio.”
For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com
Cinema Audio Society Announces 62nd CAS Awards Nominations Honoring Excellence in Sound Mixing
LOS ANGELES — January 20, 2026 — The Cinema Audio Society today announced its nominees in seven categories for the 62nd Annual CAS Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing, honoring work released in 2025.
The 62nd CAS Awards will be held on Saturday, March 7, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. Tickets are now available at cinemaaudiosociety.org.
As previously announced, Academy Award®–winning re-recording mixer Skip Lievsay CAS (Gravity, No Country for Old Men, Roma) will be honored with the prestigious CAS Career Achievement Award. In addition, visionary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water, Pan’s Labyrinth, Frankenstein) will receive the Cinema Audio Society Filmmaker Award.
The CAS Award nominees highlight the outstanding contributions of sound mixers, recognizing excellence in the specialized craft of sound mixing for both motion pictures and television. Each year, accomplished CAS members—who possess extensive expertise in the art and science of sound—review hundreds of submissions to ensure the nominees represent the highest standards of achievement in cinematic sound.
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Other World Computing Announces ThunderBlade X12 Expansion Delivering Up to 192TB of Thunderbolt 5 RAID Storage
World’s Fastest Production Shuttle RAID SSD Now Doubles Maximum Capacity – Putting Unprecedented Performance and Scale In A Shuttle Drive
WOODSTOCK, Ill. (January 5, 2026) Other World Computing (OWC®), a trusted leader in high-performance storage, memory, connectivity, software, and accessories that empower creative and business professionals to maximize performance, enhance reliability, and streamline workflows, today announced a major capacity expansion for its OWC ThunderBlade X12 production shuttle RAID SSD – doubling max capacity to 192TBs. This makes the OWC ThunderBlade X12 the first and only Thunderbolt 5 RAID shuttle drive to deliver this level of capacity and performance in a compact form factor.
With up to 6600MB/s peak and 5990MB/s sustained write speeds thanks to its Thunderbolt 5 technology, OWC ThunderBlade X12 has once again doubled the performance of its highly acclaimed predecessor. Up to 192TB of storage is under your control with SoftRAID Premium, the fastest, most powerful, and flexible RAID tool on the planet. It’s the perfect portable solution with the highest performance, efficiency, and dependability for film and streaming service content production as well as cutting-edge multi-cam 4K, 6K, or 8K RAW sequences, 12K RAW video, and beyond, or even stereoscopic 360 VR editing.
The OWC ThunderBlade X12 delivers:
Massive Capacity – Twelve 16TB NVMe M.2 SSDs for up to 192TB
Breakthrough Performance – Up to 6600MB/s peak speed with blazing-fast 5990MB/s consistent sustained write speed over the entire volume
Safe and Secure Use – Non-skid rubber feet, locking power connector, and OWC ClingOn ready for on-set use
Continuous Status Information – Confirm use status instantly via a configurable LED
Versatility – Daisy-chain up to five additional Thunderbolt devices or connect a USB-C device via the second Thunderbolt port
Silent Operation – Heat-dissipating fanless aluminum chassis keeps you working quietly, at top speed
Certification – Meets Thunderbolt and OWC operating certifications for assured performance and reliability
Mobility – Compact footprint and custom-fit ballistic hard-shell case make this the perfect shuttle drive
OWC SoftRAID - Robust software for creating, monitoring, and managing advanced RAID sets
“Creative teams continue to tell us that they love OWC ThunderBlade X12, but their projects are still getting bigger, their cameras are generating more data, and they need to move entire productions without slowing down,” said Larry O’Connor, Founder and CEO, Other World Computing. “Scaling OWC ThunderBlade X12 to 192TB answers that call. It’s the same trusted platform, now with the kind of capacity that lets filmmakers, DITs, and editors carry an entire production in the palm of their hand and keep moving at full speed.”
The OWC ThunderBlade X12 in the 192TB capacity will be generally available (GA) in 2026. Please sign up for availability notifications on the website here: https://www.owc.com/solutions/thunderblade-x12.
Advanced HDR by Technicolor and Zinwell Integrated onto ATSC 3.0 Conversion Boxes
Advanced HDR by Technicolor and Zinwell, a leading provider of digital cable, satellite, wireless equipment, 5G and Internet of Things products, are teaming up to integrate the Advanced HDR by Technicolor technology onto next-generation ATSC 3.0 conversion boxes manufactured by Zinwell for the North America market.
“Consumers increasingly expect higher picture quality across platforms, while broadcasters are moving toward advanced video formats with the rollout of ATSC 3.0,” says Paul Wu, vice president of sales division III at Zinwell. “HDR has become a vital feature for delivering a premium viewing experience. The incorporation of the Advanced HDR by Technicolor solution enables Zinwell to meet evolving consumer demands.”
The Zinwell team is already working with Philips, one of the developers of Advanced HDR by Technicolor, to integrate the Advanced HDR by Technicolor solution to Zinwell’s conversion box powered by Amlogic system-on-chip. System optimization is also underway as well as testing to ensure compatibility with broadcaster workflows and various display devices.
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2026 Predictions from Larry O’Connor, Founder and CEO, Other World Computing (OWC)
2026 Prediction 1: On-Prem Comes Back, Not as a Rebellion Against Cloud, but as the Sensible Default for Performance, Cost, and Control.
“In 2026, more teams are going to rediscover the joy of having their data and workflows close to where the work actually happens. Not because the cloud is bad. The cloud is a great tool. It is just not the right answer for everything, especially when you are talking about performance, predictable costs, and keeping control of your own data.
What I am seeing is this: it is easy to move a workflow up into the cloud, and then you wake up one day and realize you are paying for every little thing, and you are also at the mercy of a lot of services you cannot fix or influence. If your internet is flaky, or the provider has an outage, or you get hit with egress costs at the exact moment you need your data, that is not a strategy. That is a hope. In 2026, the smart shops will keep cloud as redundancy and reach, but they will rebuild the core on-prem so they can get their job done with less drama.”
2026 Prediction 2: The Real Differentiator Will Be ‘Boring’ Infrastructure: High Performance Tech That Disappears into the Workflow.
“I think 2026 is the year more people stop buying ‘fancy numbers’ and start buying results. Everybody can show a chart. Everybody can promise the sky. But in the real world, what matters is whether the product is low overhead, dependable, and actually makes your day easier. The best compliment we can get is that someone forgets we are there, because they are too busy getting real work done.
More buyers are going to get tired of the enterprise pattern where you buy the thing, and then you learn you need ten other modules, another server, and a pile of add-ons to get what you thought you already purchased. That is not delight. That is aggravation. In 2026, the winners are going to be the companies that show up, evaluate the environment honestly, and deliver what the customer actually needs, with the least amount of fuss. Under promise. Over deliver. And make it work in the real workflow, not just in a lab.”
2026 Prediction 3: AI Becomes a Creative Partner – but the Creativity Remains Human.
“AI finally settles into its proper role for creatives, in 2026. It stops trying to be the artist and starts becoming the best assistant a cinematographer, editor, or photographer has ever had. The true creative spark still lives with the human, not in the machine. You can’t automate taste, timing, instinct, and storytelling. What AI can do is clear the runway so creators can spend more time making decisions that actually matter.
Those that rethink where AI lives in the workflow will be the teams that get this right. Instead of pushing raw footage and unreleased work into distant clouds, they will bring AI closer to the media and closer to the creator. When AI runs next to your storage, things happen at the speed of thought. You can test an idea, throw it away, try another, and never break your flow. That immediacy changes how people create. In 2026, the most successful creative teams will not be the ones chasing the biggest models. They will be the ones who build infrastructure that keeps humans in control, keeps their content private, and lets AI quietly do the heavy lifting in the background while the creativity stays exactly where it belongs.”
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Strada Receives Strategic Investment from OWC
Investment Helps Strada Accelerate its Product Roadmap
December 15, 2025 - Strada, the media collaboration start-up co-founded by brothers Michael Cioni & Peter Cioni, today announced a significant investment from Other World Computing (OWC), the world leader in high performance storage, memory, connectivity, software, and accessories for media & entertainment customers. This investment marks a key milestone in Strada’s current fundraising program, further accelerating the Company’s product roadmap.
Strada’s peer-to-peer collaboration platform enables video content professionals to access, share, and review large video files stored on local drives anywhere in the world without needing to upload anything to the cloud. OWC provides innovative, high performance technology solutions that empower creative professionals to achieve their creative and business goals. OWC aims to create a world where technology enables imagination, offering tools from capture to collaboration to completion with minimal environmental impact.
Michael Cioni explained: “We want to help video production teams understand they no longer need to rely on expensive and energy consuming cloud subscriptions in order to collaborate with their remote colleagues. As we continue to expand the Strada network around the world, OWC is a perfect partner because they understand the needs of remote video production teams and build solutions for every budget, every workflow, on every platform.”
“In my nearly 40-year career running OWC, I have seen numerous innovations that improve video content production workflows,” said Larry O’Connor, Founder and CEO, OWC. “What Strada has built is revolutionary: their peer-to-peer technology is so powerful, I believe it has the potential to disrupt more costly, less beneficial ‘existing status quos’. I’m thrilled to partner with Michael and Peter and I cannot wait to pair the Strada software with our OWC hardware. Strada instantly enhances the value of OWC products for every one of our customers.”
Over the coming months, OWC and Strada will commence co-marketing initiatives, including events and social media collaboration, and will extend special incentives to customers who purchase packages of OWC and Strada products. In addition, both companies will share a booth at NAB 2026.
“As we approach the New Year, I could not be more excited about what we have planned for Strada’s customers,” continued Cioni. “With OWC on our side, we can deliver solutions that will forever change how global teams create video content.”
About Strada
Strada is a Los Angeles-based software startup revolutionizing file access for video content production teams. Started in 2023, Strada enables customers to convert their local media storage into a globally-accessible social network, helping them save time, cut costs, and streamline collaboration workflows, especially with remote teams. The Company’s patent-pending technology, which leverages peer-to-peer connectivity instead of cloud infrastructure, has been downloaded by more than 7,000 users around the globe since launching in April 2025. For those who would like to learn about investment opportunities, please email invest@strada.tech.
About Other World Computing (OWC)
Founded in 1988, Other World Computing (OWC®) is a trusted leader in high-performance storage, docks, and memory card solutions that empower professionals in video and audio production, photography, and business with the tools to maximize the performance and reliability of their workflows seamlessly. OWC’s professional-grade storage, expansion, media cards, docks, and connectivity, as well as its apps and accessories, are built to last by the people who use them: creatives, businesses, and consumers. For further information, please visit www.owc.com.
Skip Lievsay CAS to be Honored with the 2026 Career Achievement Award by the Cinema Audio Society
LOS ANGELES — November 13, 2025 — The Cinema Audio Society today announced that it will honor Academy Award-winning re-recording mixer Skip Lievsay CAS with its esteemed 2026 Career Achievement Award. This prestigious recognition will be presented during the 62nd Annual CAS Awards on Saturday, March 7, 2026.
“The Career Achievement Award is the Society’s highest honor, and Skip’s work represents the pinnacle of our craft,” says CAS President Peter Kurland. “His artistry and creativity have shaped the sound of some of the most celebrated films of our time. Skip’s collaborations with visionary directors and his extraordinary ear for storytelling have left an indelible mark on the industry. It’s been my honor to have worked with Skip for several decades, including sharing previous CAS awards with him. I’m thrilled that the CAS Board has chosen him as the recipient.”
“I’m deeply honored to receive this recognition from the Cinema Audio Society,” says Lievsay. “Sound mixing is an intensely collaborative art, and I’ve had the great fortune to work with incredibly talented filmmakers, mixers, and editors over my career. To be recognized by my peers, people whose work I deeply admire, means the world to me.”
Skip Lievsay CAS is one of the most acclaimed re-recording mixers in film history, with a career spanning more than four decades. He is an Academy Award winner for Gravity and has received multiple Oscar nominations for No Country for Old Men, True Grit, Inside Llewyn Davis, and Roma, among others. A frequent collaborator of the Coen brothers, Alfonso Cuarón, Martin Scorsese, and Spike Lee, Lievsay has helped define the sonic worlds of modern cinema. His credits include Barton Fink, Goodfellas, The Big Lebowski, The Silence of the Lambs, and The Tragedy of Macbeth.
Read more here
Other World Computing to Sponsor and Present at Vimeo REFRAME
Award-Winning Editor Jonathan Hensley and OWC’s Loren Mally Share How They Built A Workflow That Could Keep Pace with the Oscars
Other World Computing (OWC®), a trusted leader in high-performance storage, memory, connectivity, software, and accessories that empower creative and business professionals to maximize performance, enhance reliability, and streamline workflows, today announced it is sponsoring and will speak at next week’s Vimeo REFRAME video innovation conference.
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AVID POWERS DATA-DRIVEN FUTURE WITH AVID CONTENT CORE US DEBUT AT NAB SHOW NEW YORK
Avid® will make the US debut of its groundbreaking Avid Content Core™ at NAB Show New York 2025 (booth 547), taking place October 22–23. At the event, Avid will demonstrate the industry’s first cloud-based production and content data platform directly to North American media professionals. Unveiled last month at IBC2025, Avid Content Core is being featured alongside Avid NEXIS | Remote – a new storage capability launched in the cloud to enable facility-grade editing from anywhere – together with other solution enhancements and expanded partner integrations that deliver best-in-class AI, automation, and streaming tools directly into Avid workflows. The showcase underscores Avid’s evolving broadcast and postproduction strategy, which advances cloud and open ecosystem innovation across the company’s portfolio.
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AMERICAN CINEMA EDITORS, ACE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE AND TEMPO BRING BIG PICTURE PERSPECTIVES TO EDITFEST GLOBAL
American Cinema Editors (ACE) and its International Relations Committee, in collaboration with global editing organization TEMPO, will bring expansive international perspectives to the upcoming EditFest Global. Known for offering rare access to knowledge, opportunity, and community, EditFest events feature world-renowned editors in interactive panel discussions and networking sessions, both in person and online.
Launched in 2008, EditFest is central to ACE’s mission to honor editors and their craft, while inspiring and supporting the next generation of storytellers.
International Committee Co-Chairs Michelle Tesoro, ACE, Avril Beukes, ACE, and Michael Ruscio, ACE noted that, “The ACE International Committee is thrilled to collaborate with our TEMPO colleagues to present Global Editing Perspectives. We are confident that editors across the continents will benefit from this engaging and encompassing discussion.”
For more info, visit here
Other World Computing (OWC) Takes Home Two Future’s Best of IBC2025 Show Awards, Presented by TVBEurope
Both the OWC Thunderbolt 5 Dual 10GbE Network Dock and OWC Jellyfish S24 Earn Coveted Honors at IBC
WOODSTOCK, IL— Other World Computing (OWC®), a trusted leader in high-performance storage, memory, connectivity, software, and accessories that empower creative and business professionals to maximize performance, enhance reliability, and streamline workflows, today announced its OWC Thunderbolt 5 Dual 10GbE Network Dock and its OWC Jellyfish S24 have both been awarded a Future’s Best of Show Award, presented at IBC2025 by TVBEurope.
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ALIEN ABDUCTION THRILLER DESCENDENT GRADED WITH DAVINCI RESOLVE STUDIO
Blackmagic Design today announced that the alien abduction thriller “Descendent” was graded by Alastor Arnold of FotoKem using DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software.
“Descendent” was produced by David Lawson of Rustic Films and Caleb Ward, along with Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Marvel’s “Daredevil,” “The Endless”), and was directed by Peter Cilella. The film was shot by cinematographer Alexander Chinnici. Set in present day Los Angeles, the film follows Sean Bruner, a school security guard who is haunted by childhood trauma while preparing for the birth of his first child with his wife, Andrea. After a beam of light appears in the sky during a late night shift, Sean wakes up in the hospital with an inexplicable talent for vivid, unsettling drawings of extraterrestrials and desert landscapes. As his visions blur the line between dreams and reality, Sean’s grip on sanity unravels. With time running out, he must confront his fears to escape his family’s tragic legacy.
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MAXON UNVEILS A BRAND NEW LOOK FOR ITS GROWING FAMILY OF PROFESSIONAL TOOLS
Bad Homburg, Germany – Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects, and more, today announced a fresh unified product logo system designed to visually connect its suite of creative tools – Maxon One, Cinema 4D, Red Giant, ZBrush, Redshift, Universe, Capsules, Cinebench, Cineware, and Moves – within a cohesive ecosystem. This redesign introduces a modular, consistent, and connected visual identity, underscoring Maxon’s commitment to fostering clarity, creativity, and connection for its growing family of tools.
Evolving the Maxon Design Language
Maxon’s new product identities were designed to fit seamlessly with the existing Maxon logo mark, mimicking the look and feel of a honeycomb and mirroring the philosophy behind Maxon One: individual tools, distinct in purpose, but unified in workflow and stronger together. Each logo adopts a simplified geometric design and vibrant accent color, ensuring instant recognition while fitting seamlessly into the broader brand architecture.
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