Alan E. Bell

Alan Edward Bell was a technologist who played a central role in developing the universal DVD format and the DVD copy protection system. He worked at RCA, IBM, Warner Bros. Studios, and Paramount Pictures before co-founding WR Entertainment.

Background, Education, and Death

Alan Bell was born in Brixton, south London, around 1949. His parents, Ivy (nee Smith) and Ted were a factory worker and a printer, respectively. The family moved to Crawley, West Sussex, in 1957 where Bell attended Thomas Bennett comprehensive school. He then received a Sarnoff Fellowship to visit RCA Laboratories at Princeton, N.J. as a postdoctoral researcher working, for nine months, on liquid crystals using optical Raman scattering to determine the molecular ordering of the nematic phase.

Bell served as a Senior Scientist for Exxon’s Central Research Laboratory. The method and format were agreed between IBM, Intel, Matsushita, and Toshiba.

In 2000, Bell was named Executive Vice President of Technology at Warner Bros., Technical Operations.

In 2007, Bell became Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Paramount Pictures.

In September 2009, Bell co-founded WR Entertainment with six other founders James F. Cardwell, Ryan Wiik, Duane M. Eberlein, Øyvind Holm-Johnsen, Steinar Larsen and Michael Joseph Smith.

Alan Bell is most recognized for his role in the unification of the DVD format, and also led the negotiations that led to the development of DVD copy protection, without which the major studios would not have released content to DVD.

Awards and recognition

In 1975, Bell received an RCA Laboratories Achievement Award.

In 2001, Bell became a fellow of the IEEE "for developments in optical data storage applications and technology".