World-leading Innovator of Creative Technologies Receives the 2020 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award

The Pearcey Foundation today announced Grant Petty, founder and CEO of Blackmagic Design, as the recipient of the 2020 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award. The award, in its 22nd year, was presented by Dr Elaine Saunders (the 2011 recipient of the award and the Deputy Chair of the Victorian Pearcey Committee), as part of an online event which also featured the 2020 Pearcey Oration from John Blackburn AO, Air Vice-Marshal (Ret’d) and Chair of The Institute for Integrated Economic Research (IIER).

Grant founded Blackmagic Design in 2001 with a clear goal to empower creativity in film and television by making video production technology accessible, affordable and easy to use for every creative professional. His company progressed from re-engineering components and modules to integrating with established providers and then building a complete solution ecosystem that is the envy of the world. Blackmagic is the only company in the Southern Hemisphere to have built its own operating system from the ground up. That was a necessary step to deliver the capabilities and outcomes that users actually need but wouldn’t otherwise be able to access in affordable and scalable equipment.

Grant is a former television industry post-production engineer with a passion to keep finding and solving new problems for his customers and the industry. With design and manufacturing headquartered in Melbourne for an international market, Grant and Blackmagic Design have reshaped the global film and television industry. A huge proportion of the films, TV shows, commercials, music videos and live concerts watched around the world have been created with his products. Prominent examples include Star Wars - The Last Jedi, Game of Thrones, NCIS, John Wick 3, Madam Secretary, The Big Bang Theory, Elton John’s performance tours and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concerts. More importantly, Blackmagic Design’s products are accessible for everybody from Oscar-winning production companies and cinematographers to educational institutions and 15-year-old high school students.

Blackmagic Design now creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, colour correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci colour correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. (DaVinci assets were acquired by Blackmagic Design in 2009.) Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Blackmagic Design turns over more than $500 million in annual revenue and has 1,000 staff (including 375 in Port Melbourne) with offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. Recent product releases include the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K camera and the ATEM Mini Pro ISO production switcher.

“Grant is a worthy recipient of this year’s Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award. He has made brave decisions all along the way, sticking to his values and his independence to forge an individual path; a model for success that should inspire many other Australian entrepreneurs,” said Jordan Green, Victorian Chair, Pearcey Foundation.

“Grant’s vision and his passion for technology has made Blackmagic Design one of the best advanced technology businesses anywhere in the world – based right here in Port Melbourne. Grant’s commitment to his team and a drive for ethical success has enabled him to build a loyal and dedicated global workforce. This award recognises outstanding individuals for whom they are and how they have lived their lives to make a difference to others. Grant epitomises the values of the Pearcey Award,” said Wayne Fitzsimmons, Chair, Pearcey Foundation.

The Pearcey Oration and Victorian awards event is supported by the Victorian Government and is one of eight Pearcey events featuring as part of this year’s Digital Innovation Festival (DIF2020) program. DIF2020 runs over two weeks from 21 August to 4 September and is a unique initiative to develop, demonstrate and promote technology innovation across every sector of the economy and society.

For more information about the Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Awards, go to https://pearcey.org.au/vic.

Other State Awards

ACT: planning for ACT awards event is nearly complete and judging is currently underway. Given the uncertainty around the pandemic and public gatherings, we will announce details on the award ceremony during September 2020. See further https://pearcey.org.au/act.

NSW: to be presented on 13 October at the NSW Startup Hub. Nominations are still open. For more information, go to https://pearcey.org.au/nsw. It will follow the Pearcey Conversation entitled "Celebrating Women's contribution to Australia's computing industry" - to be held on Ada Lovelace Day, Tuesday 13 October 2020; 1.00pm - 5.00pm AEST with the support of the Tech Girls Movement Foundation. Speakers include: Ann Moffatt; Alison Harcourt; Helen Vorrath and Judithe Sheard. More details on this event coming soon.

QLD: to be held on 6 October at St Lucia Golf Club, Hillstone – event sponsored by ICEMEDIA and TechnologyOne. Nominations are now open. See further https://pearcey.org.au/qld.

SA: nominations are now open for the 2020 South Australian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award. Event details to be finalised shortly. See further https://pearcey.org.au/sa. 

TAS: nominations are now open for the 2020 Tasmanian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award. Event details to be finalised shortly. See further https://pearcey.org.au/tas.

WA: to be presented as part of the 2020 Lateral INCITE Honorary Awards in late October. Nominations are now open. The INCITE Awards are Western Australia's premier awards event in the ICT industry. The awards, aiming to showcase ICT brilliance are powered by the Western Australian Information Technology and Telecommunications Alliance (WAITTA). For more information on the WA Prearcey Awards, see https://pearcey.org.au/wa.

National Pearcey Awards

2020 Pearcey Medal, Hall of Fame and National Entrepreneur of the Year Awards will be presented on Thursday 19 November 2020; 6:00pm - 9:30pm. More details on the event are still to be confirmed. See further https://pearcey.org.au/national-awards.

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About the Pearcey Foundation
The Pearcey Foundation Inc. is a non-profit organisation established in 1998 to raise the profile of the Australian Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry and profession. It was created in the memory of one of the greatest pioneers of the Australian ICT industry, Dr Trevor Pearcey. By celebrating the heroes in our industry, past present and future, the Foundation is looking to attract and encourage young Australians into this most exciting of global high technology sectors of our nation.

Web: www.pearcey.org.au

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