Atomos passes Apple screen test

One of Australia’s great untold technology stories is finally getting its big screen moment.

Jeromy Young, centre, with Chris Tait, left, and CFO James Cody in Atomos’s Melbourne office. Picture: David Geraghty

One of Australia’s great untold tech stories is finally getting its big screen moment, with Melbourne video manufacturer Atomos landing a deal with Apple to be the first company globally to support the new Apple ProRes RAW production format.

The new video standard, announced yesterday, is the end result of Apple working with Atomos behind the scenes for years. Subsequently Atomos is the only video monitor firm, at least initially, to support the new high-quality format and it is ­expecting videomakers to adopt it in droves.

Apple is counting on that, too, with its Final Cut Pro X software losing support from video professionals in recent years, forcing the tech giant to add features and regain lost momentum.

The collaboration between Atomos and Apple dates back more than a decade, when Atomos founder Jeromy Young had 20 minutes with then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Young said he managed to wow Jobs initially not because of Atomos’s camera monitors, but its packaging.

“If you see cameramen, they’re always carrying stuff around in the boot of their car, the whole thing is a real effort and you feel tired just watching them,” Young told The Weekend Australian.

“I took inspiration from the iPod in redefining how packaging was done, fitting everything into a neat little box. And when I showed Jobs he was like, ‘I really like the case’.

“Meeting him was a major highlight. He complimented our product and he gave us the licence to use the Apple ProRes codec.”

Atomos has evolved now to what it says is a highly profitable company doing $30 million in turnover, pumping millions of dollars into research and development. It now boasts 80-plus people spread out across eight ­locations, with offices in Melbourne, Tokyo and Frankfurt, and is planning to land on the ASX next year.

The firm’s video monitor line-up, including the Shogun and Ninja, is well known among enthusiasts who swear by the company’s ability to turn $1000 cameras into professional powerhouses. Atomos devices sit on top of cameras and overcome their limitations with a touchscreen panel that records video in better quality.

Young’s journey in the video production started almost by accident — he was working at BHP after high school, and was sent to Japan on a cadetship for a year.

“I decided to take a year off, and I was teaching the president of a Japanese video company English,” he said. “After nine months I told him I was going home, and he said, ‘no you’re not, you’re coming to work for me’.”

After a stint working in Japan, Young moved back to Australia, founding Atomos in 2012.

Atomos chairman Chris Tait, a principal at advisory firm Henslow, is preparing the company for an IPO next year. He said it was hard to believe there was a company tucked away in Port Melbourne doing the things it is doing on the global stage.

“We’re busy now giving it the hygiene factor it needs to go to the public markets,” he said.

“We’ve built a strong board, bringing on people like (Seek chairman) Neil Chatfield, and ex-Imagination Technologies CEO Hossein Yassaie.

“Atomos is on its way to becoming a great Aussie success story.”