'Avatar' producer Landau touts the power of technology

BARCELONA, Spain--Proclaiming "Mobile has a bright future ahead," Hollywood producer Jon Landau celebrated technology's impact on filmmaking across multiple platforms during his appearance at the Mobile Entertainment & Lifestyle keynote here at the 2010 Mobile World Congress. Landau--currently riding high thanks to his work co-producing director James Cameron's megahit Avatar--said the mobile ecosystem poses an enormous opportunity to deliver content to new viewers. "The film industry has the ability to reach millions," Landau said. "The mobile industry has the ability to reach billions."

Landau celebrated technology's impact on the filmmaking process--he said Cameron first conceived the idea behind Avatar more than a decade ago, but was forced to delay production until advances in computer-generated imaging made the project possible. "Technology is an enabling device," Landau said. "It allows us to do things we couldn't do in the past."

Landau said that 3D technology heralds the next breakthrough in cinema as well also across the web and mobile screens. "Mobile phones are actually the easiest to bring into the 3D world," he added. "You only have to deal with a single viewer."

Prior to Avatar, Landau teamed with Cameron for the blockbuster Titanic, earning an Academy Award for his efforts. He previously served as executive vice president of feature film production at Twentieth Century Fox.