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Autodesk kicked off a branding campaign tonight at the Oscars with a series of commercials designed to raise awareness about the behind-the-scenes technology of digital content creation.
On the biggest night in the entertainment industry, Ryan Reynolds’ creative agency Maximum Effort honored Otto Desć, an influential, groundbreaking – and completely made-up – Hollywood legend and icon. It’s all in the name of drawing the connection between the artist and the tools under the hood that make the artist’s creations possible.
The irreverent spots debuted on Oscar night to raise awareness of Autodesk, which describes itself as creating “design & make” software.
Autodesk technology helps Hollywood filmmakers—as well as game developers, architects, engineers, students, and more—create their creations. But those tools are largely unsung.
“Raising awareness about Autodesk is definitely a priority,” said Diana Colella, head of media and entertainment at Autodesk, in an interview with GamesBeat. “Our focus is more on the creative. The [digital] performers aren’t really in the spotlight on Oscars day because there’s a separate kind of Oscars for the creatives. The creatives are in the background, but they make the magic. So I think it’s more of a tribute to them.”
Colella pretty much said that film that has won an Oscar or been nominated for an Oscar has used Autodesk products, from Maya to 3D Studio Max, which are used for computer animation. The goal is to manage the entire pipeline from the artists to post-production.
The three-part ad sequence that ran last night during the Oscars broadcast introduced viewers to Otto Desinski, known to his friends as Otto Desć, who is described as fearless when it comes to digital effects.
The runner-up gives viewers a glimpse into the impact he’s had on his Hollywood peers, including writer/director Elizabeth Banks (Cocaine Bear, Pitch Perfect and Reynolds’ Absolute, Maybe Co-Star), actor Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Beauty & The Beast, Sons of Anarchy), Academy Award-winning special effects supervisor Paul Lambert (Dune, Blade Runner) and Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Mandy Walker (Elvis).
“Maximum Effort likes to play with the cultural landscape and the Oscars are an important cultural event,” Ryan Reynolds said in a statement. “Autodesk has been a secret weapon for Hollywood artists for decades and what better way to emphasize that than to create a fake man of vaguely Germanic descent to collect an award that doesn’t exist? Massive thanks to my Absolutely, Maybe co-star Elizabeth Banks, the legendary Ron Perlman and also to Mandy Walker and Paul Lambert for taking serious things so seriously. ”
In the third and last spot, Otto Desć is finally revealed – Otto Desć is actually a software technology product, Autodesk.
“Autodesk is how the world is designed and made — including the beautiful movies that delight and inspire us all. The Oscars are a night to celebrate the biggest names in Hollywood, so we’re excited to celebrate Autodesk’s design and technology that makes this magic possible in such a fun and creative way,” said Dara Treseder, chief marketing officer. at Autodesk, in a statement.
Although Otto Desć is not human, Autodesk made no reference to making AI movies, which is all the rage in some tech circles. But Autodesk is researching AI in media and entertainment.
“That’s definitely an investment area for us,” Colella said.
But the company isn’t suggesting that human artists can be replaced by AI.
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