Quantel, the Newbury-headquartered maker of the iQ and eQ postproduction systems, announced that it promoted managing director Ray Cross to the position of CEO. Simultaneously, it announced the departure of longtime Quantel executives Richard Taylor, formerly chairman and CEO, and Paul Kellar, R&D director. Martin Mulligan continues to lead the Post/Digital Intermediate (DI) division.
Quantel–which has been privately held since it orchestrated a management buyout in 2000–reported that this latest move is part of a broad strategic initiative to accelerate the deployment of Quantel’s generationQ technology across the broadcast, post and DI industries.
“With a very healthy order book, a renewed focus on customer requirements and a significantly enhanced sales organization, Quantel is now positioning itself to exploit its new-generation technology to the full, delivering world-class systems that meet and exceed the demands of our industry’s most visionary–and demanding–clients,” said Cross, who came to Quantel roughly 18 months ago with an IT background and earlier served as CEO of U.K.-based Expert Systems, a communications systems company.
“Richard and Paul have successfully navigated Quantel practically from its birth in the mid-’70s right through to the launch of the current generationQ range of products,” Cross continued. “This is a terrific accomplishment and the company and our customers owe them a debt of gratitude for the strength of their vision. Our focus is now one hundred percent on ensuring that we deliver the full potential of generationQ technology to the widest possible market.”
Originally unveiled in 2002, Quantel’s generationQ concept has matured into an all-encompassing product range. Quantel’s eQ is in use in HD/multi-resolution postproduction workflows for applications including commercial post, and the company estimates that over 500 movies been touched by it highest-end iQ.
“There are still a huge amount of plans for [the generationQ systems],” Cross told SHOOT in a recent interview. “The products are complete but we are expanding their scope and reach.”
He declined to disclose specifics, but in general commented that the company is focusing on 4k data support. Cross added, “DI is not just about grading. I think the workflow will change and our products have to be capable of change.” That, he said, means emphasizing more collaborative workflows and products that can produce all deliverables.
