Open Source in Film

This past week, I watched a video about Open Source in Film, featuring Larry Gritz (Sony Pictures Imageworks) and Carol Payne (Netflix), who were happy to talk about how open source has reshaped the film industry over the past two decades. As a computer science student, I found their insights into tooling, collaboration, and community-building especially curious to ponder about.

Key Takeaways

1. Platform Evolution
   • From SGI to Linux PCs: Studios long relied on expensive SGI workstations and proprietary software. Over time, commodity PCs with powerful graphics cards and Linux became the new standard, lowering hardware costs and opening the door to open source tools.
   • OpenEXR Breakthrough: In 2003, Industrial Light & Magic open-sourced the OpenEXR image format. Because it solved critical technical problems—high dynamic range, multi-channel support—it quickly became embedded in every major VFX application.
2. Labor Market & Interoperability
   • Project-based Hiring: As margins tightened, artists shifted from permanent studio roles to project-to-project contracts. Open source and standardized file formats reduced onboarding overhead and increased skill portability.
   • Fragmented Pipelines: Today, big films are split across multiple facilities. Shared open formats (OpenEXR, ACES, OpenColorIO) enable studios to exchange shots seamlessly and collaborate in parallel.
3. Industry-wide Collaboration
   • Academy Software Foundation (ASWF): Founded in partnership with the Linux Foundation to mitigate single-vendor risk, the ASWF provides a neutral home for critical projects. Projects now have formal steering committees, public meetings, and shared roadmaps.
   • Non-Code Contributions: Beyond writing code, tasks like documentation, UX design, testing, and even event coordination are vital. Fresh eyes on docs and polished websites help onboard new contributors and drive adoption.

Reflections from a CS Student

• Community over Competition: Studios discovered that the true “battlefield” isn’t proprietary code but the films themselves. By sharing infrastructure, they can focus scarce engineering resources on solving novel problems rather than reinventing the wheel.
• Library vs. Application: Open source in film tends to center on robust libraries (file formats, color pipelines) rather than end-user GUIs. As a developer, this reinforces the value of building modular, well-documented libraries that others can integrate.
• Career Opportunities: Contributing to a project like OpenColorIO or OpenEXR offers unparalleled visibility into industry-scale engineering. Even non-code contributions are a great way to get one’s foot in the door, and build a portfolio that studios actually notice!