Rahul Chandrakant Thakkar is an

Indian-American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

software inventor who was one of the 33 recipients of

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for scientific and technical achievement in 2016. Thakkar won the Academy Award for creating the "groundbreaking design" of

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division ...

Media Review System, a scalable digital film review platform. Thakkar was also a key member of the animation software development team for ''

Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 book of the same name by William Steig. It is the first installment in the ''Shrek'' franchise. The film was directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenso ...

'', which went on to win the first-ever

Academy Award for Best Animated Feature The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is given each year for animated films. An animated feature is defined by the Academy as a film with a running time of more than 40 minutes in which characters' performances are created using a frame-by- ...

at the

74th Academy Awards The 74th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 24, 2002, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (common ...

. He currently resides in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, working in the

aerospace industry Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astr ...

for a

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subsidiary.

Early life and family

Thakkar was born to Prabha Thakkar and Chandrakant Thakkar in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and was subsequently raised in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

.News. (2016).
Oscar-winner Rahul Thakkar thinks highly of Indian VFX. Ankita Chaurasia & Dominic Ferrao. ''Times News Network'', ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

''. Retrieved 2 February 2016. Thakkar's mother Prabha, whom he considered his inspiration, was a teacher and encouraged his interest in science. His father Chandrakant was, as per Thakkar, an "actor, writer and director" apart from being a voice-over artist.News. (2016).
Mumbai varsity graduate wins Oscar for design. Special Correspondent. ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

''. Retrieved 2 Feb 2016. Thakkar spent his early years in Mumbai and considers himself a '' Mumbaikar''. He completed his graduation from the

University of Mumbai The University of Mumbai is a collegiate university, collegiate, State university (India), state-owned, Public university, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the un ...

with a degree in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

. Eventually, Thakkar studied at

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

to complete his

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in computer science in 1995. Because of his father's background, Thakkar's early years in India were spent around actors. During these initial years, Thakkar worked with his father for some time in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, contributing to a 1971

Films Division of India The Films Division of India (FDI), commonly referred as Films Division, was established in 1948 following the independence of India. It was the first state film production and distribution unit, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcastin ...

documentary, and playing parts in television and radio shows. Thakkar also worked as a

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...

artist for television advertisements. At the same time, Thakkar's interest in mathematics and science remained predominant. Later on, he moved to the United States as he believed it was easier to make visual effects movies in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. Currently, Thakkar stays with his wife and a daughter in Virginia.

Career

In the United States, after graduating, Thakkar got a job offer from an animation studio and worked for a few television advertisements, developing their

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

. Thakkar also developed the show opening software for CBS'

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

and

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

election coverage, and for the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

''.Interview. (2016).
Indian American Technologist Rahul Thakkar Wins Oscar for Technical Achievement. Archi Sarkar. ''India-West''. Retrieved 15 February 2016. He was soon invited by

Pacific Data Images Pacific Data Images (PDI) was an American computer animation production company based in Redwood City, California, that was bought by DreamWorks SKG in 2000. It was renamed PDI/DreamWorks and was owned by DreamWorks Animation. Founded in 1980 by ...

and he joined in 1996, to develop an animated film that turned out to be

Antz ''Antz'' is a 1998 American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation (in its debut film) and Pacific Data Images and released by DreamWorks Pictures. It was directed by Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson (in their fe ...

. PDI was soon acquired by

DreamWorks DreamWorks may refer to: * DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin ** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio ** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and f ...

in 2000,Business Roundup. (2000).
DreamWorks SKG Agrees to Buy Pacific Data Images. ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''. Retrieved 15 February 2016. where he headed the ' "high performance particle system rendering software" and "colour management system and software" teams.News. (2016).
Oscars 2016: Meet Rahul Thakkar, the Indian who will keep the tricolour high at the awards this year. Aparna Singh. ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...

''. Retrieved 15 February 2016. While at DreamWorks, Thakkar worked with his mentor Richard Chuang (the co-founder of Pacific Data Images) on designing the DreamWorks Animation Media Review System, which subsequently led Thakkar to jointly win the Academy Award in 2016.Official Awards Notification. (2016).
11 Scientific and technical achievements to be honoured with Academy Awards. ''

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

''. Retrieved 3 February 2016. He was the primary

coder A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

for the system's product suite since his time at PDI, when it was yet to be known as DreamWorks Animation Media Review System. The suite was developed in an era of

56K modem A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by modulating one or more carr ...

s to enable seamless collaboration between different artists and technicians in film-making. In Thakkur's words:- "They wanted any artist to view to view any number of shots, back-to-back, from part of the film, in high resolution, at 24 fps, with high quality audio, with speed-change control, from any phase of production from any department (story, editing, animation, modeling, layout, lighting, vfx, etc.)..." At PDI and DreamWorks, Thakkar worked on several films, including '' Forces of Nature'', ''

'', ''

The Legend of Bagger Vance ''The Legend of Bagger Vance'' is a 2000 American sports film directed by Robert Redford, and starring Will Smith, Matt Damon and Charlize Theron. The screenplay by Jeremy Leven is based on Steven Pressfield's 1995 book '' The Legend of Bagger V ...

'', '' The Peacemaker'' and ''

A Simple Wish ''A Simple Wish'' is a 1997 American children's-fantasy-comedy film directed by Michael Ritchie, and starring Martin Short, Mara Wilson, and Kathleen Turner. The film is about a bumbling male fairy godmother named Murray (Short), who tries to hel ...

''. He was also a member of the animation software development team for ''

'', which went on to win the first-ever

at the

.Entertainment News. (2016).
Indian Born VFX Pro Rahul Thakkar Just Won An Oscar And You've Never Heard Of Him. Mimansa Shekhar. ''

Indiatimes Times Internet is an Indian internet technology company, based in Gurgaon, which owns, operates and invests in various internet-led products, services and technology. It is the digital arm of the Times Group, the largest media conglomerate in I ...

'', ''

Times Internet Times Internet is an Indian internet technology company, based in Gurgaon, which owns, operates and invests in various internet-led products, services and technology. It is the digital arm of the Times Group, the largest media conglomerate in I ...

''. Retrieved 12 February 2016. After leaving DreamWorks in 2002, Thakkar worked in PIXIA Corp from 2003 to 2013 as a Chief Architect and was the Vice President of Technology in the area of

satellite imagery Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell ima ...

.Profile. (2016).
Rahul Thakkar, VES Member, Public Info and Biography. ''

Visual Effects Society The Visual Effects Society (VES) is an entertainment industry organization representing visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and pr ...

''. Retrieved 22 February 2016. He then worked at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

from 2013 to 2014 as Vice President of Technology contributing in the entertainment, media and sports fields. Later, in 2014, he became the Vice President of R&D at Brivio Systems, a company operating in the

access control In the fields of physical security and information security, access control (AC) is the selective restriction of access to a place or other resource, while access management describes the process. The act of ''accessing'' may mean consuming ...

industry. Thakkar noted certain surveillance drones used in the rescue of Captain Philips (from Somalian pirates) ran on their software. He left Brivio in 2015, and since then has been engaged with the aerospace industry, working for a

subsidiary in the cloud-computing sector. At the time of winning the 2016 Academy Award, Thakkar had 25 patents in his name, including patents pending, and had also developed a

web standard Web standards are the formal, non-proprietary standards and other technical specifications that define and describe aspects of the World Wide Web. In recent years, the term has been more frequently associated with the trend of endorsing a set of st ...

.News. (2016).
Oscar-winner Rahul Thakkar is a Mumbaikar at heart. Dominic Ferrao. ''Times News Network,

''. Retrieved 2 February 2016.News. (2016).
Aggie alum wins Academy Award. Jared Thane. ''Utah State Magazine''. Retrieved 15 February 2016.

2016 Academy Award

Thakkar won the 2016 Academy Award for scientific and technical achievement for his "groundbreaking design" of DreamWorks Animation Media Review System.News. (2016).
Academy Honors 33 Individuals With Scientific and Technical Awards. Dave McNary, Film Reporter. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''. Retrieved 2 February 2016. He was interviewed by six members of the Academy during the shortlisting process. In a ceremony held on 13 February 2016 at

Beverly Wilshire Hotel The Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel, commonly known as the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, is a historic luxury hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Located at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, it was completed in 1928. It has ...

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...

, Thakkar received the Academy Award jointly with Pacific Data Images' co-founder Richard Chuang.News. (2016).
Oscar for person of Indian origin: Rahul Thakkar honoured for the 'groundbreaking design'. ''

''. Retrieved 2 February 2016.Entertainment News. (2016).
WATCH: Rahul C. Thakkar and Cottalango Leon, who are of Indian origin, given Oscar Technical Achievement awards. Dominic Ferrao and Keyur Seta. ''Times News Network,

''. Retrieved 16 February 2016. As per the Academy, these set of awards are bestowed upon individuals who have contributed significantly over time (and not necessarily in the past year) to the

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

industry.News. (2016).
Oscar for Indian-origin actor, producer Rahul Thakkar in technical category. Keyur Seta. ''Times News Network,

''. Retrieved 2 February 2016. Thakkar commented in a January 2016 interview to ''India-West'', "It is quite humbling to be recognized by AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) with a technical achievement award... It’s a wonderful feeling to know that the work we did two decades ago was still in use by the film industry. I am honored to be sharing this award with Richard Chuang, a mentor and pioneer in visual effects." He further revealed that he was excited about attending the award ceremony, additionally commenting that he expected more Indians to be featured in the Academy Awards winners' lists in the coming years. The award presenters noted Thakkar and Chuang's pioneer contributions in enabling stereoscopic 3D viewing for movies and especially over the film ''Shrek.''News. (2002).
3 NRIs’ role in Oscar-winning film. ''

Indo-Asian News Service Indo-Asian News Service or IANS is a private Indian news agency. It was founded in 1986 by Indian American publisher Gopal Raju as the "India Abroad News Service" and later renamed. Their main offices are located in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The se ...

''. Retrieved 12 February 2016. The Academy's award citation praised the DreamWork Animation Media Review System's film review capabilities, mentioning that the technology "continues to provide artist-driven, integrated, consistent and highly scalable studio-wide playback and interactive reviews."

Notes

References

External links