HP and DreamWorks Give Innovation a Starring Role in "Shrek 2"

HP and DreamWorks Give Innovation a Starring Role in "Shrek 2"
Movie-making magic enhanced with utility computing power and global
collaboration tools


LAS VEGAS, NAB2004, April 19, 2004 ? HP and DreamWorks today marked the
latest chapter in their alliance by unveiling innovative, new technologies
for off-site animation rendering and remote collaboration ? next-generation
solutions that are enabling DreamWorks Animation to shape the future of
digital filmmaking.


Built on a technology partnership that began in 2001, the collaboration
provides DreamWorks Animation with state-of-the-art technology solutions
from HP, which are being used to bring to life some of the most advanced
animated images and characters. These will be seen in soon-to-be released
feature films "Shrek 2," "Shark Tale" and "Madagascar" and the NBC
computer-animated TV series, "Father of the Pride," debuting this fall.

HP's Utility Rendering Service (URS), developed by HP in close
collaboration with DreamWorks, addresses a very real and expensive problem
in creating digital animation. URS provides a simple, flexible and scalable
solution to manage the enormous amount of computational power that is
needed to render high-quality film animation.

Working closely with HP, DreamWorks developed the Virtual Studio
Collaboration (VSC) project to address the need to connect geographically
dispersed teams and provide an unprecedented level of collaboration
capabilities. The next generation of the VSC is now under development by HP
and promises even more capabilities when enhanced by HP technology.

Combined, the URS and VSC are allowing DreamWorks to quickly upscale its
production ambition and utilize artistic talent from several locations
simultaneously.

With the new solutions, HP effectively serves as an infrastructure
extension of a premier Hollywood animation studio, providing peak compute
power at crucial stages in the production process and enhancing the
creative process across a geographically dispersed organization.

"Through our partnership, we are changing what is possible in animation.
With HP we are breaking down technological barriers and achieving great
results," said Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks co-founder. "HP enables us to
realize our current ambitions, and to feel more confident about dreaming
even bigger for the future."

"As a partner to DreamWorks, HP's goal is to deliver technologies like the
URS that enhance DreamWorks technologies and like VSC, which free the
artistic spirit, improve the collaborative process and cut production
costs," said Shane Robison, chief strategy and technology officer, HP.
"Together, the two companies will continue to evaluate technology synergies
to enhance DreamWorks' reputation as one of world's leading animation
studios."

HP Utility Rendering Service: Adaptive technology helps improve
cost-effectiveness
The HP URS was built by researchers at HP Labs in Palo Alto using a
1,000-processor compute farm built on industry-standard systems, including
HP ProLiant DL360 servers running Linux and HP ProCurve network switches.
It is linked via a secure, high-speed network to DreamWorks Animation
studios to provide an extension of DreamWorks' internal data center. This
gives the studio a pooled set of resources that can be tapped as needed
without having to make a major capital investment.

A highly adaptive enterprise environment, the HP URS allowed DreamWorks the
flexibility to add significant peak capacity for the final stages of
rendering "Shrek 2," which will be released May 21. To date, more than a
half million individual frames have been processed on the HP URS. This may
be the first time a major film animation company has gone outside its gates
for a significant share of the critical digital rendering process that adds
color, texture, lighting and special effects to 3D character models and
scenes.

HP Labs researchers developed advanced capabilities for service
configuration and management and put comprehensive instrumentation in place
to collect many terabytes of system data that are used to optimize
performance and reliability. The URS data center is a high-density
installation that employs HP's unique "smart" cooling and "smart" power
solutions to provide the maximum compute capability in a small and
cost-efficient footprint.

As a key element of the HP Adaptive Enterprise strategy, utility computing
services like the URS represent a new economic model for the entertainment
industry with the potential for unprecedented levels of flexibility,
performance, reliability and cost-effectiveness.

"Shrek 2" created using VSC real-time collaboration system
HP also partnered with DreamWorks to launch the Virtual Studio
Conferencing, which creates a virtual collaboration center for producers,
directors, and animators working in different locations around the world.

Using HP Remote 3D software and DreamWorks' high-resolution imaging
technology, VSC links all creative elements together, enabling real-time
communication and the efficient exchange of storyboarding, content review,
editing, creative consulting and other vital production information.

HP is exploring ways to offer this innovative technology to other customers
outside of the entertainment industry, such as aerospace, biotech, consumer
electronics and other industries where remote and sometimes disparate
groups need to have a real-time exchange of information and ideas.

HP and DreamWorks: The power of the brands
The alliance between HP and DreamWorks also has been extended to include
co- branding and joint consumer marketing initiatives around the premier of
"Shrek 2." As the world's largest consumer IT company, HP brings a new
dimension to DreamWorks' business by opening up new channels to reach
consumers for cross-marketing promotions and merchandising opportunities.

For example, HP will be launching regional sweepstakes timed to the release
of "Shrek 2." Winning consumers will have their likeness animated on a copy
of the DVD release of DreamWorks' next animated film, "Shark Tale." HP also
will unveil a 30-second TV ad based on "Shrek 2" during the finale of NBC's
"Friends" on Thursday, May 6.

HP and DreamWorks first partnered in 2001 on the creation of the original
"Shrek," which won the first Academy Award® for Best Animated Film.
DreamWorks gets its computing power from Linux-based HP workstations and HP
ProLiant servers, which accelerate the delivery of key computer graphic
elements such as smoke, magic, liquid effects, clothing and textures.

About HP
HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and
institutions globally. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure,
personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and
printing. For the last four fiscal quarters, HP revenue totaled $74.7
billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at
www.hp.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks
and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they never materialize
or prove incorrect, could cause the results of HP and its consolidated
subsidiaries to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of
historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking
statements, including any projections of earnings, revenues, or other
financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies, and objectives of
management for future operations; any statements concerning proposed new
services or developments; any statements regarding future economic
conditions or performance; statements of belief and any statement of
assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. The risks, uncertainties and
assumptions referred to above include employee management issues; the
timely development, production and acceptance of services and their feature
sets; the challenge of managing asset levels, including inventory; the
difficulty of keeping expense growth at modest levels while increasing
revenues; and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended Jan. 31, 2004, and HP's
other Securities and Exchange Commission reports filed after HP's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2003. HP assumes no
obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

Samantha Saephan
Burson-Marsteller
303 2nd Street
8th Floor - South Tower
San Francisco, CA 94107
Phone (415) 591-4023
Fax (415) 591-4030
samantha_saephan@sfo.bm.com



===============================================
This transmission is confidential and intended
solely for the person or organization to whom
it is addressed.  It may contain privileged and
confidential information.  If you are not the
intended recipient, you should not copy,
distribute or take any action in reliance on it.

If you have received this transmission in error,
please notify the sender at the e-mail address above.
================================================