LAIKA becomes a leading member of the Academy Software Foundation
LAIKA Joins the Academy Software Foundation as Premier Member
LAIKA, the award-winning feature film animation studio based in Portland, Oregon, has joined the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF) as a Premier Member. This move further cements LAIKA's commitment to open-source software development in the visual effects, animation, and digital content creation industries.
On August 10th, Jeff Stringer, CTO at LAIKA, will give a keynote talk at Open Source Days in Vancouver and virtually, discussing how LAIKA has transformed its production pipeline with open-source projects supported by ASWF.
The Academy Software Foundation, a world-class home for open-source software developers, was developed in partnership by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Linux Foundation. It provides a platform for resources and collaboration on technologies for image creation, visual effects, animation, and sound. For more information about the Academy Software Foundation, visit https://www.aswf.io/.
LAIKA's role in the ASWF is as a Premier Member and a longtime contributor. The studio has been actively involved in foundational ASWF projects like Open Shading Language, MaterialX, and the OpenUSD Working Group. LAIKA engineers have contributed to these projects, which are vital for shader development in animation, managing complex material and look development workflows, and developing the Universal Scene Description format widely used in animation and VFX pipelines, respectively.
LAIKA's unique approach of combining stop-motion tradition with digital technology and open-source software enriches the ASWF community with innovative perspectives. This involvement aligns with the Academy Software Foundation’s broader goal to sustain open source ecosystems for animation and visual effects by fostering collaboration among studios and vendors and supporting diverse, skilled talent for the industry’s long-term benefit.
Registration for Open Source Days is complimentary. Open Source Days is the leading event dedicated to furthering open-source software development for the visual effects, animation, and digital content creation industries.
Beyond its work with the ASWF, LAIKA is also making strides in live-action filmmaking. Its Live Action subsidiary is developing an original project from Oscar®-nominated screenwriter Jon Spaihts. Phil Lord and Chris Miller are producers for the original script Crumble at LAIKA's Live Action subsidiary. The studio also has several other projects in development, including feature films based on the action thriller novel Seventeen by John Brownlow, an original script Crumble written and directed by Brian Duffield, and a live-action adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid's new novel Atmosphere written and directed by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, who also worked on the Captain Marvel film.
For media inquiries, please contact Emily Olin at [email protected].
[1] Information sourced from the Academy Software Foundation press release.
- With its commitment to open-source software development in the animation industry, LAIKA's keynote at Open Source Days in Vancouver will shed light on how the studio has leveraged cloud-based data-and-cloud-computing technology to transform its production pipeline.
- As a Premier Member of the Academy Software Foundation, LAIKA's active involvement in projects like Open Shading Language and MaterialX has contributed to the advancement of news and technologies in the field of animation and visual effects.
