On the Sunday afternoon before the start of NAB, I attended the first press conference of the artist-friendly company formerly known as Discreet, which as many of you know was recently renamed Autodesk Media and Entertainment to more closely align itself with its San Rafael, Calif.-based, publicly traded parent company Autodesk. This move had left many questioning why the company would abandon the well-regarded and recognized Discreet brand.
At NAB, we saw a bit of both entities–and observed two different company cultures learning to co-exist.
The press conference was at Pure, a new night club at Caesars Palace. Upon arrival I was greeted by some familiar faces, escorted into the ultra-cool club with mood lighting and white couches. I was offered a drink.
It felt like a Discreet event.
More familiar faces stepped up to give presentations; they announced the acquisition of Colorfront (see main story), debuted Toxik (SHOOT, 4/1, p. 1) and showed some commercials. Asylum senior compositor Phil Brennan was on hand to talk about the Toxik beta program.
It still felt like a Discreet event.
But then something jarring occurred. During the press conference, Autodesk COO Carl Bass stepped up to speak to the audience. I would assume that there were some financial journalists in attendance; Bass announced the company’s age, annual revenues, and number of employees worldwide.
Then he went on to describe the businesses the company supports, such as how its CAD technology is used to build buildings and sewer systems.
Sewers? Discreet? Could this be a toxik mix?
Then, addressing the new name, Bass explained that “merging is just one indicator of our commitment to media and entertainment.” He dismissed questions about the new moniker, saying that the company offers great product, and as long as that was the case then the name and “what goes on inside a company is not relevant [to customers’ buying decisions].”
The press conference concluded, and the duality of the event left a fair number of journalists scratching their heads as we moved to our next media event. Back at Caesars, I hear that a similar Autodesk corporate message was presented at the company’s annual user group–and that event started to lose its audience of artists.
But I also heard that the company diffused the situation by poking fun at its corporate image with a compositing demo that included Bass and The Three Stooges, demonstrating that it is still a fun company. By the time the customer reception got going, it felt like Discreet again.
The following morning, the exhibition opened. The company’s booth this year was one of its best, and as usual, it was packed. In the final hour of the show, the company announced that it closed $7.1 million in business at NAB. And the infamous final demo of NAB, which included viewing candid pictures and poking fun at staffers, went uninterrupted.
And so the company bearing the Autodesk Media and Entertainment brand finished its NAB in a discreet fashion. Just don’t expect them to hand out rolling paper at Siggraph.
