Cottalango Leon (born 1971)Alum Profile. (2016).
Mr. Cottalango(1992 BE-CSE), an Alumnus of PSG College of Technology getting Award from OSCAR Academy. PSG College of Technology. Retrieved 12 February 2016. is an Indian-American

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images and art with the aid of computers. Computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, digital art, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. ...

technician who won the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for scientific and technical achievement jointly with Sam Richards and J. Robert Ray in 2016.News. (2016).
Techie, born in T.N., wins Academy Award. M. Soundarya Preetha. ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

''. Retrieved 8 Feb 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 in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

''. Retrieved 8 February 2016. Leon won the Academy Award for "the design, engineering and continuous development" of

Sony Pictures Imageworks Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. (simply known as Imageworks) is a visual effects and computer animation studio headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia and Montreal, Quebec, with an additional office on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver C ...

itView technology, a

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

3D film review

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

.Imageworks Library (2007).
itView annotation tools (3.6.3.4). Sony Pictures Animation, Inc. ''Surf's Up: The making of an animated documentary''. Retrieved 10 February 2016.News. (2016).
Academy Honors 33 Individuals With Scientific and Technical Awards. Dave McNary, Film Reporter. '' Variety''. Retrieved 8 February 2016. Leon worked on the itView technology for eight years as the chief contributor. Schooled in India, Leon is an

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

alumnus. He has worked at Sony Pictures Imageworks since 1996, and has contributed to the making of several commercially successful films, including the '' Spider-Man film series'' and the '' Men In Black film series''.

Early life and family

Leon was born at his mother's family residence in

Thoothukudi Thoothukudi (formerly called Tuticorin) is a port city, port industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It lies on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. The city is capital and headquarters of the di ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

in 1971. Both his parents – mother Rajam Mariasingam and father Loorthu – were primary school teachers. When Leon was young, his parents moved from the south of

Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

.Interview. (2016).
Of Indian origin, Oscar winner Cottalango Leon says opportunities in India are better than ever. Keyur Seta. Times News Network. ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

''. Retrieved 9 February 2016.Indians Abroad News. (2016).
Indian-Origin Technician Cottalango Leon Wins Oscar. J Sam Daniel Stalin. ''

NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. It was founded in 1984 by economist Prannoy Roy and journalist Radhika Roy. NDTV began as a production house for news segments, ...

''. Retrieved 8 February 2016. Leon's early years were spent in this city – a place he still visits every two years.Entertainment News. (2016).
Tamilian Wins Oscar for Science and Technology. Anushree Madhavan. ''

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naidu ...

''. Retrieved 9 February 2016. Leon attended the Government High School at Kallapalayam, a village in the Sultanpet Block of Coimbatore.Government map. (undated).
Taluk Information. Coimbatore: Sultanpet Block. TWAD Board. ''

Government of Tamil Nadu The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the governance of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary. Under the Const ...

maps''. Retrieved 10 February 2016. After studying here till grade VII, he studied from grade VIII to grade XII at Kadri Mills High School in Coimbatore.News. (2013).
The famous five. Akila Kannadasan. ''

''. Retrieved 10 February 2016.Current Affairs. (2016).
Cottalango Leon selected for 2016 Technical Achievement Award of Academy of Motion Pictures. ''Jagran Josh''. Retrieved 9 February 2016. During his childhood, Leon became interested in the subjects of

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

, and also developed, as per him, a keen interest in "the visual aspect of movies". Subsequently, Leon attended college at the PSG College of Technology from 1988 till 1992, completing his

Bachelor of Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a college graduate majoring in an engineering discipline at a higher education institution. In the United Kingdom, a Ba ...

degree in

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

. He completed his

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

in computer science from

in 1996, specialising in

. Leon married Roopa in 2001. Roopa also belongs to southern Tamil Nadu, having lived there till her marriage to Leon. The couple have a daughter Shruthi and live in Culver City.News. (2016).
Cottalango Leon, another Indian-origin technician, wins Oscar. Keyur Seta. Times News Network. ''

''. Retrieved 8 February 2016.

Career

After graduating, Leon joined the

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

firm Softek LLC and worked with them for two years till 1994. As per Leon, during this time, he became inspired by ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton, centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of De-extinction#Cloning, cloned dinosaurs. It bega ...

'' after watching the film and decided to pursue his career in the technologies used in its making. After completing the master's degree at Arizona State University in 1996, Leon worked for a short time as a

video game programmer A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebases for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines, all of which fall ...

with DreamWorks Interactive, before joining Sony Pictures Imageworks in 1996, where he continues working to date, currently holding the position of Principal Software Engineer. At Imageworks, as per Leon, he was asked to develop an improved digital film review software as an alternative to a then existing software. Leon released the initial version within two months of having been assigned the job; after receiving positive feedback from the artists using the software, Leon kept updating various functionalities of the software over the years. This digital 3D film review software, itView, led Leon to get an Academy Award in 2016. Leon mentions working alone on the project for many years, and that he was over time given a team when the project achieved significant growth. In a 2016 media interview, Leon says that he worked on the itView technology for eight years as the chief contributor. To date, Leon has worked on several commercially successful films, including ''

Stuart Little ''Stuart Little'' is a 1945 American children's novel by E. B. White. It was White's first children's book, and became recognized as a classic in children's literature. ''Stuart Little'' was illustrated by the artist Garth Williams, also his f ...

'', the '' Spider-Man film series'', the '' Men In Black film series'', ''

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ''Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs'' is a children's book written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett. It was first published in 1978 by Atheneum Books, followed by a 1982 trade paperback edition from sister company Aladdin Pap ...

'', ''

The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (; ) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was created and introduced as a series of comic characters by ...

'', '' Hotel Transylvania'', and '' Open Season''.

2016 Academy Award

Leon, at the age of 44, won the 2016 Academy Award for scientific and technical achievement for "the design, engineering and continuous development" of

itView technology. 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 ha ...

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

, Leon received the Academy Award jointly with Sam Richards and J. Robert Ray.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 known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

industry.

Richard Edlund Richard Edlund, (born December 6, 1940) is an American visual effects artist and inventor. He was a founding member of Industrial Light & Magic, having already founded Pignose amplifiers, and later co-founded Boss Film Studios and DuMonde V ...

, Chair of the Scientific and Technical Awards Committee at the

praised the "outstanding, innovative work" of awardees, adding that their contributions "have further expanded filmmakers’ creative opportunities..." The Academy's award citation praised itView's

API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...

plugin and varied functionalities, mentioning that "itView provides an intuitive and flexible creative review environment that can be deployed globally for highly efficient collaboration." Leon said that "the award was not totally unexpected" but that it felt "good to be recognised by the Academy and the wider industry."

Notes

References

External links