Optical Radiance was invented by filmmakers Andy and Erin Schroeder, the director and producer of the indie film "DISTILLER" (2016), a feature length ghost story that's notable for the quality and high number of practical effects shots (created by the duo) for a low budget film.
While working as a broadcast engineer Andy became infatuated with three-strip Technicolor film's seeming ability to maintain a consistent look across a wider range of screens and devices than any other color/camera system; and doing so while maintaining better color values than available options as well.
Thus began a long period of research into the Technicolor corporation and the equipment and practices of their golden era. Thousands of frames from hundreds of films were scanned, studied and measured, as well as compared and contrasted with films of different eras and originating technologies.
Historic internal notes and memos from Technicolor's golden era were studied and interviews were conducted with film restoration technicians who have worked with three-strip materials for remastering.
The research was conducted side-by-side with different trials to recreate three-strip color on modern cameras. It became quickly apparent that digital color grading was inadequate for the job because (while powerful tools) the cameras filming the scenes weren't recording enough information to match the three-strip spectrum. Likewise, none of the film lights currently available came close to matching the custom lighting units that were used on productions shot in three-strip.
Prototypes were made and the short film "#NotAllGhosts" (now on PrimeVideo) was produced as a field test of Optical Radiance's equipment. After viewing dailies, Andy and Erin decided to apply for patents to protect their work before bringing "#NotAllGhosts" or Optical Radiance to the public eye.
While it was created to be used on Andy and Erin's films, after urging from advisors, they founded Optical Radiance as a service to provide better color for other productions as well.
