SGI Supports EFilm Australia

LAS VEGAS -- To supportchanges in film production as well as attract major internationalproductions, EFILM AUSTRALIA is upgrading its existing SAN from SGI(NASDAQ: SGIC) with an additional 22TB of SGI InfiniteStoragesystems. The two new SGI InfiniteStorage 4500 systems will be installedin April in the Sydney and Melbourne locations. EFILM AUSTRALIA is adigital postproduction facility that combines client-centered services withthe advanced technologies of leading Digital Intermediate facility EFILM,L.A. in Hollywood, and The Atlab Group, one of the largest front end andrelease printing laboratories in the region.

With three films coming in simultaneously from three internationallyrenownAustralian directors, EFILM AUSTRALIA, which has relied onthe SGI® InfiniteStorage CXFS® shared filesystem for digital intermediate(DI) in both locations for five years, needed a storage upgrade toaccommodate the increased workload. One film production will be in 2K,and another will be a 4K scan with 2K throughput. The third and largestproject is Oscar-nominated director Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, starringNicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, and scheduled for U.S. release by20th Century Fox in November 2008. Luhrmann, known for his filmsusing eye-popping, oversaturated colors, required Australia to beprocessed entirely in 4K. A typical 90-minute film with no major visualeffects (VFX) component needs 12 to 14TB of storage for a 4Kproduction workflow. Robert Sandeman, Digital Services Manager atEFILM AUSTRALIA, estimates Luhrmann’s WWII romantic Outback epicwill need approximately 22TB or more for online 4K processing, editing,special effects and color-correction and conform.

“We bought more SGI technology because it’s solid: it does what it’ssupposed to do and it works at the speed it’s designed to work at,” saidSandeman. “We can’t be in the middle of a major production for BazLuhrmann and have disks fail. We’ve relied on the 16TB SGI SAN for at least two yearsand it’s never missed a beat, and that’s what we need. We need things that just keep onworking.”

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