Gordon E. Sawyer Award

	Ray Feeney, pictured with actress Maggie Gyllenhaal (left), who hosted the awards, received the Gordon E. Sawyer Award, an Oscar statuette, for his technological contributions to the industry.

Ray Feeney, a pioneer of software solutions for visual effects in motion pictures, has been voted the Gordon E. Sawyer Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The award, an Oscar statuette, was presented at the Scientific and Technical Awards Dinner on Saturday, February 10, 2007, at the Regent Beverly Wilshire.

“Ray has helped develop and implement many of the groundbreaking technologies that have become industry standard techniques used in the creation of visual effects for motion pictures,” said Academy President Sid Ganis.

Established in 1981, the Gordon E. Sawyer Award is “presented to an individual in the motion picture industry whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry.” Feeney is the 20th recipient of the award.

Feeney, a graduate of the California Institute of Technology, began his career at Robert Abel & Associates working on visual effects for commercials and feature films. In 1988 he received his first Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy for his part in the development of one of the first motion control camera systems. A second Scientific and Engineering Award followed in 1991 for his work on the Solitaire Image Recorder, and two more in 1994 honoring his work in developing film input scanners and the Cinefusion software implementation of the Ultimatte Blue Screen Compositing Technology.

In 2001 the Academy’s Board of Governors awarded Feeney the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation.

Feeney founded RFX Inc. in 1978 to provide leading-edge scientific and engineering solutions for the film industry, many of which are now in widespread use to produce visual effects for feature films, television shows and commercials.

In 1995 Feeney launched another company, Silicon Grail, to facilitate software development in the motion picture industry. Silicon Grail’s RAYZ software addressed the post-production need for a digital compositing tool that could be used to efficiently create visual effects for feature films. In 2002 Apple® Computer acquired the technologies and continues to incorporate them into Apple products.

A co-chair of the Academy’s Science and Technology Council, Feeney also serves on the Academy’s Scientific and Engineering Awards Committee and has chaired the Digital Imaging Technology Subcommittee.

In addition, Feeney is a founding member and director of the Visual Effects Society as well as a fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.

Segments of the Scientific and Technical Awards presentation will be broadcast by the ABC Television Network during the 79th Academy Awards® on Sunday, February 25, 2007.

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12/18/2006 Academy to Honor Ray Feeney with the Gordon E. Sawyer Oscar®