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Daniel Langlois OC CQ (6 April 1957 – 2023) was a Canadian businessman who was the president and founder of the Daniel Langlois Foundation, Ex-Centris, and Media Principia Inc.

He was founder and inaugural president of Softimage Inc., which is recognized in the fields of cinema and media creation for its digital technologies, in particular its 3-D computer animation techniques. Its software was used to create 3-D effects in such films as The Matrix, Titanic, Men in Black, Jurassic Park, and Terminator 2.

Early life and education

Langlois was born on 6 April 1957 in Jonquière, Quebec, Canada.

He earned a bachelor of design degree from the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Film career

Langlois worked for eight years as a film director and animator for private companies and the National Film Board of Canada. During this time, he made contributions to the film industry, especially to the field of computer graphics. He gained recognition for his work on Transitions, the first stereoscopic 3-D computer animation in IMAX format (presented at Expo 86). He also had a hand in the 1985 film Tony de Peltrie, which garnered several international awards.

Langlois also founded Softimage Inc., serving as its president and chief technology officer from November 1986 to July 1998. The company is recognized in the fields of cinema and media creation for its digital technologies, especially its 3-D computer animation techniques. Softimage software was used to create 3-D effects in such films as The Matrix, Titanic, Men in Black, Jurassic Park, and The Mask.

Langlois was president and founder of the Daniel Langlois Foundation, Ex-Centris, and Media Principia Inc.

Later career: sustainable development

In later years, Daniel Langlois was involved in sustainable development and research projects for the creation of self-sustainability for small communities and some industrial sectors such as the hospitality sector. Coulibri Ridge, which is part of this research process in Dominica, was awarded Gold and Platinum Winner as well as Grand Winner in the Hotel and Tourism Development category at the 15th Edition of the Grands Prix du Design 2022.

Recognition and honours

• 1994: Named by Ernst & Young as Canada's national entrepreneur of the year
• 1996: Honorary doctorate in administration, Université de Sherbrooke
• 1997: Scientific and Technical Oscar, from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
• 1999: Knight of the National Order of Quebec
• 2000: Officer of the Order of Canada
• 2002: Honorary doctorate, McGill University
• 2004: Great Montrealer
• 2004: Honorary doctorate, Concordia University
• 2005: Honorary doctorate, Université du Québec à Montréal
• 2008: Honorary doctorate, University of Ottawa
• 2016: Officer of the Order of Montreal

Death and investigation

On 1 December 2023, police in Dominica found a burnt out car near Galion containing the bodies of Langlois and his partner Dominique Marchand. According to Dominica News Online and other local sources, the couple had been missing for a few days. They reported that three people had been detained and were being questioned by police.

"For years, the two men had fought bitterly over use of a public road. In 2019, Dominica’s highest court ruled that the road was indeed public and Langlois’ workers and guests could use it."

On 6 December 2023, it was reported that in fact the police in Dominica had made four arrests in the case, and that two of the suspects, Jonathan Lehrer and Robert Snyder, had been charged with murder in a court in Roseau, Dominica's capital. Lehrer, a man from New Jersey, owns a property next to Langlois's and Marchand's luxurious eco-resort and had been involved in litigation with Langlois five years before the murders in a matter dealing with a public roadway.

Daniel Langlois Foundation

The Daniel Langlois Foundation is a non-profit, philanthropic organization endowed by Daniel Langlois and chartered in 1997 with the mission to support artistic and scientific projects and research dedicated to further general human awareness as well as the understanding of human relation with its natural and technological environment.

The purpose of the foundation is to further artistic and scientific knowledge by fostering the meeting of art and science in the field of technologies and the environment. The Foundation seeks to nurture a critical awareness of technology's implications for human beings and their natural and cultural environments, and to promote the exploration of aesthetics suited to evolving human environments. The Foundation Centre for Research and Documentation (CR+D) seeks to document history, artworks and practices associated with electronic and digital media arts and to make this information available to researchers in an innovative manner through data communications.

In 2005, the foundation initiated the development of DOCAM (Documentation and Conservation of the Media Arts Heritage). This international research alliance's primary objective is to develop new methodologies and tools to address the issues of preserving and documenting technological and electronic works of art.

The Daniel Langlois Foundation, DOCAM, and its Centre for Research and Documentation are located in Montreal. In 2011, the entire collection of the foundation was donated to the Cinémathèque québécoise.

Resilient Dominica (RezDM.org) is a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) formed in 2018 shortly after Hurricane Maria by the Daniel Langlois Foundation in an attempt to rebuild and strengthen resilience in Dominica in the communities of Soufriere, Scotts Head, and Gallion.

References

1. Vérroneau, Pierre; McIntosh, Andrew (7 December 2023) . "Daniel Langlois". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
2. ^ "Daniel Langlois biography". Daniel Langlois Foundation. 2022. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023. Daniel Langlois and his partner Dominique Marchand died in tragic circumstances on December 1, 2023 in Dominica near their Coulibri Ridge resort.
3. ^ "L'entrepreneur québécois Daniel Langlois retrouvé mort dans les Caraïbes" [Quebec entrepreneur Daniel Langlois found dead in the Caribbean]. Radio-Canada (in French). 3 December 2023. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
4. Crask, Paul (2020). "Coulibri Ridge: Realising a vision of sustainability" (PDF). Dominica Geographic. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
5. "Coulibri Ridge Grands Prix du Design 2022". INT. Design. 2022. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
6. "Daniel Langlois" (in French). Université de Sherbrooke. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
7. "Daniel Langlois". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
8. "Daniel Langlois (1957 – 2023)". Ordre National du Québec (in French). Government of Quebec. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
9. "Mr. Daniel Langlois". Governor General of Canada. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
10. "The Oscars of academia?". McGill University. 1 July 2013 . Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
11. ^ "Daniel Langlois". City of Montreal. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
12. Jackson, Christopher (December 2004). "Honorary degree citation - Daniel Langlois". Concordia University. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
13. "Doctorat honoris causa" (in French). Université du Québec à Montréal. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
14. "Langlois, Daniel". University of Ottawa. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
15. Amidi, Amid (5 December 2023). "Multiple People In Custody After Softimage Founder And Computer Graphics Pioneer Daniel Langlois Found Dead In Dominica". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
16. "Softimage Founder Daniel Langlois, Partner Dominique Marchand Found Dead in Dominica". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
17. Hunter, Brad (11 December 2023). "Why was suspect in Dominica murder of Canadians sprung from jail?". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 20 October 2024. Lehrer is now back behind bars
18. MacFarlane, John (6 December 2023). "2 charged in Dominica killings of Daniel Langlois and Dominique Marchand". CBC News. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
19. Amidi, Amid (6 December 2023). "Two American Men Charged With Homicides Of Computer Animation Pioneer Daniel Langlois And Partner". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
20. Road to Ruin - The Fifth Estate: Season 50, Episode 2 via: YouTube
21. "Daniel Langlois Foundation". Cinémathèque québécoise. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
22. "Coral Relief Strike Team: On A Mission To Save Dominica's Coral Reefs". The Sun. 18 May 2022. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.

External links

• Softimage company website
• Daniel Langlois Foundation
• DOCAM
• Resilient Dominica (RezDM)
• Coulibri Ridge

• 1957 births
• 2023 deaths
• Artists from Montreal
• Businesspeople from Montreal
• Canadian animated film directors
• Canadian animated film producers
• Canadian company founders
• Canadian media executives
• Chief technology officers
• Film directors from Montreal
• Film festival founders
• Knights of the National Order of Quebec
• National Film Board of Canada people
• Officers of the Order of Canada
• Technology company founders
• Université du Québec à Montréal alumni