As much as I wish this were a story about the general availability of Star Trek's transporter system or a Princess Leia-like Star Wars hologram technology, IBC is bringing perhaps the next best thing.

During the show, IBC will present its International Honor for Excellence 2008 award to Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation SKG. The award and high-tech presentation recognizes the growing importance of 3D in movie entertainment, and the part in it played by DreamWorks. The award will be presented during a live interview with Katzenberg (in Los Angeles) by USC's Elizabeth Daley. The 3D HD transatlantic telecast will take place during IBC on Sunday, Sept. 14, at 6:30 p.m.

The stereoscopic HD interview will be delivered to the IBC Big Screen using 3ality Digital’s 3D image capture and transmission encoder/decoder technology. Communication specialist Arqiva will provide the high-bandwidth HD satellite circuit to Amsterdam; Christie and RealD will provide for the stereoscopic images projected at the conference.

Peter Owen, chair of the IBC Council, explains, "Our International Honor for Excellence, the highest award we bestow, goes to someone who has the vision to seize on the technologies of today and tomorrow and use them to help realize popular storytelling in new and imaginative ways."

"I am thrilled to be among the distinguished list of recipients to have received an International Honor for Excellence," Katzenberg says. "At DreamWorks Animation, we aim to create and deliver quality and innovative entertainment for family audiences across the globe, and I am very grateful to IBC for acknowledging our efforts in this area. As we enter the year of 3D, I have never experienced a more dynamic and exciting time within the film industry than right now."

Owen adds, "We are delighted that Jeffrey Katzenberg has accepted this award, and we very much look forward to his debate with Elizabeth Daley, which is sure to be one of the highlights of IBC 2008."

Live Transatlantic Stereoscopic HD Interview
Katzenberg will be interviewed by Elizabeth Daley, professor and dean of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, in a session that will explore his view of motion picture production in the age of diverse distribution channels as well as the impact of 3D technology in theaters, in the home and across other platforms.

"Stereo 3D is still in its infancy in many ways," says 3ality CEO Steven Schklair. "We have been making impressive 3D movies, but live transmissions bring their own unique challenges. Like every live show, there’s less time to make corrections and no room for error. One of the big challenges has also been how to keep the parallel signals in perfect synchronization. That’s a special challenge over satellite links, where atmospheric conditions can be problematic. To do this, we have developed a solution where we multiplex the 3D signals into a single 2D signal for transmission. At the receiving end, we then unwrap the 2D signal back into a 3D picture. We have done this before, but not over such a long link or internationally. We have also developed the twin camera systems that will be capturing the images. In this case, we will be using two camera rigs to show that 3D pictures can be cut and mixed live."

Phil White, IBC’s director of technology, says, "This is a natural progression from last year’s live HD interview with Robert Zemeckis. We are working with a group of technology partners who are at the cutting edge of 3D imaging and transmission."

Inside the RAI Auditorium, the 3ality decoder will pass the left- and right-eye signals to two more key technology providers: projection company Christie and 3D presentation specialists RealD.

Viewers will be asked to put on a pair of RealD’s polarized glasses to view the stereoscopic image. "We manage the separate images with a special adapter that fits on the projector, which then transmits the left- and right-eye images through the glasses to the viewer," explains RealD president Joshua Greer.

"This will be a challenging time for us," adds White, "but setting the pace is what we do each year at IBC. The technology we are using is exciting enough, but to have Jeffrey Katzenberg addressing our delegates in conversation with our good friend Elizabeth Daley is a real treat and unique privilege. This really is the genesis of a new age in immersive cinema and broadcasting. It will be a very special night for everyone!"

About Jeffrey Katzenberg and DreamWorks
DreamWorks Animation was a division of DreamWorks SKG until October 2004, when it became a separate company. Under Katzenberg's leadership, DreamWorks Animation has enjoyed a number of critical and commercial successes, including Madagascar, Shark Tale, the three Shrek movies and Kung Fu Panda. Shrek and Wallace & Gromit: the Curse of the Were-Rabbit were each winners of the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film, and Shrek 2 is the highest grossing animated feature film of all time.

Prior to co-founding DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen in October 1994, Katzenberg served as chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. During his tenure, the studio produced such landmark animated films as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.

About the IBC International Honor for Excellence
The IBC International Honor for Excellence is awarded each year to an individual or body which has made an outstanding contribution to advances in technology, creativity or productivity in electronic media. Previous winners include Steve Wozniak, Aardman Animation, Ray Dolby, James Cameron and Ted Turner.