The Intersection of IT and the Academy Awards

“I can’t deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!” That's a tiny snippet of what movie star Sally Field had to say in 1985 after winning the Best Actress Oscar for Places in the Heart. And it's characteristic of the need almost all of have to be valued and affirmed. Famous actors may be a little more prone than the average person to crave the admiration and approval of their peers, but who doesn't appreciate being recognized for a job well done?

This weekend, we will hear praise heaped upon many hard-working professionals of the film industry, including those who labor in front of the camera, behind the camera and far away from the camera in editing and recording rooms. There are a number of key contributors however, who will not be mentioned at the big broadcast of 88th Academy Awards. These contributors were recognized a couple of weeks ago, outside of the high-wattage glow of Oscar's big night. Like Sally Field, they too have a desire for their work to be admired and appreciated. They are the STEM professionals whose innovative ideas have made the movie industry what it is today

On Feb. 13, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held the Sci-Tech awards for men, women and companies whose discoveries and innovations have significantly contributed to the making of motion pictures. These STEM professionals deserve to be recognized for their hard work. Here are some of the winners of the Technical Achievement Awards:

• Trevor Davies, Thomas Wan, Jon Scott Miller, Jared Smith and Matthew Robinson for the development of the Dolby Laboratories PRM Series Reference Color Monitors. The PRM’s design allows the stable, accurate representation of images with the entire color range used in contemporary theater presentation.

• Jim Hourihan, Alan Trombla and Seth Rosenthal for the design and development of the Tweak Software RV system, a highly extensible media player system. RV’s multi-platform tools for review and playback have allowed studios of all sizes to take advantage of a state-of-the-art workflow that has been adopted by most of the motion picture industry.

• Keith Goldfarb, Steve Linn, Brian Green and Raymond Chih for the development of the Rhythm & Hues Global DDR System. This production database-backed review system enables a recordable workflow and a collaborative content review process across multiple sites and time zones.

Here's a complete list of the winners.

It's often said within the IT certification realm, that IT touches everything. Your certified skills can land you a job in almost any industry in the world. Who can say? A CompTIA or Cisco certification today could lead to Oscar glory tomorrow. With that, we offer a hearty congratulations to each of the honorees who made movies better by contributing to this year's Oscar-winning IT projects. For these achievements, you can be assured that we like you — right now, we like you

About the Author — Jake Slater is the social media manager for GoCertify and a graduate of Brigham Young University. He has never won an Oscar, but his million-dollar smile and buttery blond hair would certainly look good under the lights.