| Type | Public (NYSE: DDMG) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Visual effects, CGI animation |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Founder(s) | James Cameron, Scott Ross, Stan Winston |
| Headquarters | Venice, Los Angeles, California and Port Saint Lucie, Florida, USA |
| Key people | John Textor, Cliff Plumer, Ed Ulbrich, Jody Madden, Pam Coats, Aaron Blaise, Brad Lewis, Chuck Williams |
| Parent | Digital Domain Media Group |
| Website | www.ddmg.co |
Digital Domain is a visual effects and animation company founded by film director James Cameron, Stan Winston and Scott Ross. It is based in Venice, Los Angeles, California. The company is known for creating state-of-the-art digital imagery for feature films, television advertising, interactive visual media and the video game industry. The company is a majority owned subsidiary of Digital Domain Media Group (NYSE: DDMG) based in Port Saint Lucie, Florida.
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The company began producing visual effects in 1993, its first three films being True Lies, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, and Color of Night in 1994.
It has produced effects for more than 60 films including Titanic, Apollo 13, What Dreams May Come, The Fifth Element, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Armageddon, Star Trek: Nemesis and The Day After Tomorrow. More recent films include I, Robot, Flags of Our Fathers, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Transformers, Speed Racer, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Star Trek, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, 2012, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The A-Team, Tron: Legacy, Thor, X-Men: First Class and most recently, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Real Steel.[1]
In October 2002, Digital Domain launched a subsidiary, D2 Software, to market and distribute its Academy Award-winning compositing software, Nuke.[2] The move was partially motivated by Apple's acquisition of a similar program, Shake.[2]
In May 2006, Digital Domain was purchased by an affiliate of Wyndcrest Holdings, LLC, a private holding company whose principals then included Wyndcrest founder John Textor, director Michael Bay, former Microsoft executive Carl Stork, former NFL player and sports television commentator Dan Marino, and Jonathan Teaford.[3] However, in 2009, Carl Stork sold his shares in the company to parent company Digital Domain Media Group, and on September 8, 2010, Stork filed suit against Textor and DDMG seeking to rescind the sale of his stock.[4] The case, Carl Stork vs. John Textor, Digital Domain Holdings, Inc. et al. (U.S.D.C., Central District of California Case No. 2:2010-cv-07631-JHN-PLA), is now set for trial in February 2012.
In 2009, DDMG launched Tradition Studios in Florida to develop and produce original, family-oriented CG animated features that will rival films created by Disney, DreamWorks and Pixar. The studio will move on January 3, 2012 to the new 115,000-square-foot (10,700 m2) facility in Port St. Lucie. Build with the city's incentives, the studio is expected in return to hire 500 employees by 2014.[5] The studio, which has attracted many talents, including Aaron Blaise, the director of Brother Bear, and Brad Lewis, the co-director of Cars 2,[6] is currently developing an animated feature film The Legend of Tembo[7] for a 2014 release[8] with Aaron Blaise and Chuck Williams directing it. Tembo will tell a story of a young African elephant who is captured and separated from his family and taken to India where he has to become a fierce, battle elephant.[9]
The studio has partnered in 2011 with Reliance MediaWorks, a division of the Indian media conglomerate Reliance ADA Group, to open studios in London and Mumbai to provide post-production services for movies, TV shows and commercials. The facilities will be owned by Reliance, which has existing post-production facilities in London and Mumbai, and will be managed by Digital Domain.[10] Digital Domain Media Group has also partnered with Beijing Galloping Horse Film Co. to open new China based Digital Domain - Galloping Horse Studio, which will provide visual effects, animation and production services for motion pictures, television and related media. Each partner will own 50 percent of the new studio, with Digital Domain contributing technology and expertise, and Galloping Horse constructing the new facility.[11]
Digital Domain's business units have been recognized with awards from many top industry organizations.
As of March 2009, Digital Domain has won seven Academy Awards: three for Best Visual Effects (Titanic, What Dreams May Come, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button);[12] and four for Scientific and Technical Achievement for its proprietary technology—i.e., for Track (proprietary tracking software),[13] for Nuke (proprietary compositing software),[14] for Storm (proprietary volumetric renderer),[15] and for its proprietary fluid simulation system.[16]
The company has also been nominated for three other Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects (Apollo 13, True Lies, I, Robot). In addition, its excellence in digital imagery and animation has earned Digital Domain multiple British Academy (BAFTA) Awards, and Prix Ars Electronica and Prix Pixel INA awards.[17]
Digital Domain's Commercials division provides digital imagery and animation for television commercials, working with top commercial directors. To date, it has been awarded 34 Clio Awards, 22 AICP awards, 8 Cannes Lion Awards and numerous other advertising honors. The Commercials division has also produced multiple music videos working with artists that include The Rolling Stones, Faith Hill, Creed, Janet Jackson, Busta Rhymes, Björk, Celine Dion, Michael Jackson and Nine Inch Nails, and has earned Grammy and MTV "Music Video of the Year" Awards.[17]