HP Signs Workstation Deal With LucasArts, LucasFilm

Officials from Hewlett Packard (HP) have announced a new three year contract with Star Wars creator LucasFilm to provide workstations for both the company’s visual effects business and its video game subsidiary LucasArts, which are becoming increasingly closely integrated in terms of production pipeline. The exact value of the three-year, multi-million dollar technology and marketing agreement has not been disclosed, but LucasFilm will use HP technology at its new Letterman Digital Arts Center in the Presidio of San Francisco and its operations in Singapore. This will result in the deployment of up to 1,000 high-performance HP workstations powered by Dual-Core AMD Opteron processors for the production of its visual effects and video games. HP will also provide high-end data-storage products and services to help run Lucasfilm's computer network. "HP clearly understands the nature of the entertainment business, and the need to capitalize on and manage change," said Cliff Plumer, chief technology officer, LucasFilm. "With this agreement we will continue expanding the quality of our entertainment offerings and meet the constantly rising expectations of consumers when it comes to movies and video games."