Richard Trus
@richard-trus
241 followers
http://www.globeadvisor.com/servlet/ArticleNews/story/GAM/20030816/TRUS16
News from globeandmail.com
Lights, camera, software!
Saturday, August 16, 2003
Vancouver's Richard Trus's new computer program is going to revolutionize how movies get made, and make him a very rich man in the process, MICHAEL POSNER reports
MICHAEL POSNER
Richard Trus carries an Oscar on his arm. Not the golden statuette, but a tattoo in blue. He had it done 10 years ago, a totem of his ambition. He wants to win an Academy Award for technical achievement. The achievement? A piece of software he designed and personally wrote -- all eight million lines of code -- that may be the holy grail for a film and television industry in crisis.
A 34-year-old native of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., now a resident of Vancouver, Trus extravagantly claims his program, dubbed Studio Pipelines, will shave 30 to 50 per cent off current, below-the-line costs of production. Below-the-line means, essentially, discretionary spending: sets, catering, film stock, processing, wardrobe, publicity and post-production improvements Even if he's half right, Trus will not only earn his Oscar; he'll revolutionize the industry and probably make himself a billionaire.
If you think that sounds far-fetched, think again. He's already been told by the Academy that the software is being considered for an Oscar nomination next spring.
For years, studio executives have dreamed of finding a computer-based program that could help them exercise more control over runaway costs. Other software companies have marketed programs that handle various elements of production, but no one has yet been able to integrate them all in one seamless whole.
The task, Trus concedes, was monumental. Investing $2-million of his own money and sleeping an average of three hours a night (often on a friend's sofa), he has created software that, for the first time, links 181 separate modules, from budgeting, scheduling and storyboarding to dailies and post-pr
News from globeandmail.com
Lights, camera, software!
Saturday, August 16, 2003
Vancouver's Richard Trus's new computer program is going to revolutionize how movies get made, and make him a very rich man in the process, MICHAEL POSNER reports
MICHAEL POSNER
Richard Trus carries an Oscar on his arm. Not the golden statuette, but a tattoo in blue. He had it done 10 years ago, a totem of his ambition. He wants to win an Academy Award for technical achievement. The achievement? A piece of software he designed and personally wrote -- all eight million lines of code -- that may be the holy grail for a film and television industry in crisis.
A 34-year-old native of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., now a resident of Vancouver, Trus extravagantly claims his program, dubbed Studio Pipelines, will shave 30 to 50 per cent off current, below-the-line costs of production. Below-the-line means, essentially, discretionary spending: sets, catering, film stock, processing, wardrobe, publicity and post-production improvements Even if he's half right, Trus will not only earn his Oscar; he'll revolutionize the industry and probably make himself a billionaire.
If you think that sounds far-fetched, think again. He's already been told by the Academy that the software is being considered for an Oscar nomination next spring.
For years, studio executives have dreamed of finding a computer-based program that could help them exercise more control over runaway costs. Other software companies have marketed programs that handle various elements of production, but no one has yet been able to integrate them all in one seamless whole.
The task, Trus concedes, was monumental. Investing $2-million of his own money and sleeping an average of three hours a night (often on a friend's sofa), he has created software that, for the first time, links 181 separate modules, from budgeting, scheduling and storyboarding to dailies and post-pr