SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- When the 19th Olympic
Winter Games began in Salt Lake City, a new era in Olympic documentaries also
began -- the high definition (HD) era.
    The seven-time Emmy Award winner Bud Greenspan and his independent
production company, Cappy Productions, will capture the official Salt Lake
2002 Olympic Winter Games documentary on its VariCam(TM) variable-frame-rate
HD cameras, marking the first time the Games' documentary will be captured in
high-resolution HD video.
    Under the direction of Mr. Greenspan, Cappy Productions will equip eight
crews with Panasonic AJ-HDC27 VariCam HD cameras to acquire the moving and
inspirational footage of the Games to create a unique documentary.  Mr.
Greenspan's Olympic documentaries are renowned for their intricate
storytelling with sharp emotional insight.
    Celebrating his 50th year of Olympic Games' coverage, Mr. Greenspan, the
preeminent master of sports films, said he looks forward to using the advanced
technology in Panasonic's VariCam HD cameras. "We trust Panasonic and its
camera technology and we want to be ahead of the technology curve in utilizing
high definition video in an Olympic documentary," said Mr. Greenspan.  The
official video record of the 19th Olympic Winter Games will be his seventh
Olympic documentary.
    "Panasonic is delighted to provide the High-Definition technology to Bud
Greenspan that will allow him to capture the excitement and action of the
Olympic Winter Games," said Don Iwatani, chairman and CEO of Matsushita
Electric Corporation of America, which is best known by its Panasonic brand.
"For millions of people around the world, Bud is the most respected chronicler
of the modern Games, and Panasonic is very pleased to be working with him."
    Cappy Productions crews will be working tirelessly from February 7th
through February 25th to acquire exclusive footage that tells the positive,
human side of the competitors in the Salt Lake Games, focusing on many
athletes that mainstream media coverage will probably miss.
    "At least 90 percentage of my documentaries' contents have never been seen
before," said Mr. Greenspan, one of the world's leading sports historians.
"Many of my most famous stories are about the athlete that came in last or
well behind the winner. It's exclusive to us; we try to bring new insight into
people's knowledge of the Games."
    Mr. Greenspan explained that his staff spends six months extensively
researching the countries and athletes participating in the Games, but only
20 percent of the official documentary is known in advance. "I'm a storyteller
and the stories evolve over the two weeks of the games," he noted.
    Greenspan added that Utah provides a highly compelling backdrop for this
documentary.  "When people think of Salt Lake, they think of the Mormons, the
Tabernacle Choir and the Great Salt Lake, but people don't see the other
fascinating dimensions of this place.   Utah offers stunning natural beauty
and 10,000 years of history."
    The official Olympic documentary will have its premiere in Salt Lake City,
and will then be distributed around the world. On U.S. television, the
Showtime cable network will air the documentary in Fall 2002.
    The AJ-HDC27 Varicam DVCPRO HD camcorder provides excellent economy, long
recording times and a refreshing ease of use. The camcorder offers both
60-frame- per-second capture for high-speed action and 24-frame-per-second,
progressive-scan capture for acquisition of exquisite film-style images. Its
variable frame rates capabilities allows the user to "overcrank" and
"undercrank" the camera to achieve fast or slow-motion effects.
    Panasonic DVCPRO HD VTRs -- the portable AJ-HD130 and AJ-HD150 studio
editing VTR -- will also be used by Cappy Productions in the production.

    About Panasonic
    Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. ("Panasonic") (NYSE: MC) -- an
international leader in the development of technologies for and the production
of electronics and electric products for consumer, business and industrial use
-- has been a worldwide Olympic sponsor since the Seoul and Calgary Games in
1988.  In Salt Lake City, the company will deploy some of the most
sophisticated video, audio and broadcast equipment to enhance the viewing
experience of spectators at the Games and those watching on television. A full
range of digital broadcast products, including over 250 DVCPRO50 recorders,
the Games' official digital recording format, will be used at the
International Broadcast Center. Panasonic has also supplied 17 Astrovision
giant video screens for use at Olympic venues and public areas around Salt
Lake City and Park City, Utah so that spectators and those on the street not
attending an event can view Olympic action.  The company has also supplied the
U.S. Luge team with a variety of digital electronic products to be used at the
team's training facilities, and as they travel, compete and train for the
Games.

Link to this page: