Myles' Story – IMAX Film Maker

Hi there, my name is Myles Connolly and this is my Mac story.

I have worked steadily as a filmmaker since studying film at UCSB in the mid 80’s.  I’ve been focused on IMAX documentaries since 1991 and have been involved in more than 25 exciting projects.  A couple of these have been nominated for Academy Awards® and a few have been $100 million hits at the box office.  In the course of my work, I’ve been lucky to work with people and film amazing things in Europe, Africa, South America, the Caribbean, Asia and other really cool locations.  My favorite thing about what I do is bringing unique experiences and stories to audiences from places they’d probably never get to go.  Seeing these films on the giant screen makes audiences feel like they’re actually there in the picture!  It’s an amazing experience and the thing that keeps me motivated when the work gets hard.

I make my living using Mac computers and don’t know what I’d do without them.  From budgeting and scheduling (using Entertainment Partners Budgeting and Scheduling software) to editing both sound and picture (with Final Cut Studio) to motion graphics (After Effects) and creating DVDs (iDVD,) Macs are at the heart of what I do.

Currently, I have a dual processor G5 with twin 30” Cinema displays that I use for editing and graphics work.  The big displays are a huge advantage when you’re looking at images that will ultimately play on a screen 70’ x 95’!  Because of the nature of my work, I have acquired over 2 terabytes of memory to keep my video clean and smooth running.  Most of this is configured in a RAID array, but I’ve got a couple of ProMax firewire drives that are really handy.

The G4 Powerbook has been a real workhorse for me on location.  In 2003, we were shooting the Tour de France for an IMAX film called WIRED TO WIN:  Surviving the Tour De France.  I had the Powerbook with me for the entire three-week ordeal.  After shooting the race during the day, I was able to sit with the director at night and, using Final Cut Pro, edit the day’s footage together in a rough assembly.  This allowed us to check off what we’d captured and determine what we still needed to make the movie.  This was a huge advantage and saved us time and money.

Editing Wired To Win:  Surving The Tour De France in Final Cut Pro.

Tour de France 2003.


Last year, I was able to shoot in Morocco and Egypt for a project called Mummies:  Secrets of the Pharaohs.  Macs aren’t very popular in either of these locations and I was a bit worried that I might have some compatibility issues.  But thanks to Microsoft Office for Mac, I was able to generate and work with documents that the local team generated and didn’t lose any time at all.  In my business, time equals money, so being able to step in to a foreign location seamlessly counts for a lot.

Shooting the death ceremony of Rameses the Great, Ouarzazate, Morocco.


These days, one of the key things I try to find when going on location is high-speed internet.  You’d think that this would be key for business, but in fact it’s a personal need!  With the advent of iChat and the small webcams, most of my crew wants to connect with their families on a daily basis.  It’s amazing how dependent we’ve become on this technology.  I know I’ll hear about it when we go somewhere that doesn’t have a good internet connection!

People ask me for Mac tips a lot and I find that the basic tricks are often the most valuable.  One of my favorites is the Apple+Tab key combination.  I use this all the time to switch between programs running simultaneously.  I can even quit programs from here, which comes in handy.

So, there you have it.  Mac computers have changed my life and I’m constantly amazed at what I can do and how easy it is!  I hope you enjoy your Mac experience and look forward to hearing from you. 

For more info on my projects, visit wiredtowinthemovie.com or mummiesfilm.com.   My personal website (created in 2 hours on iWeb!) is 360-Media.com. 

Good luck!

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