Coeur d'Alene couple built IMAX camera used in Nolan's Odyssey

Marty and Barb Mueller of Coeur d’Alene built the IMAX camera Christopher Nolan used for The Odyssey, and they learned it had made it into the film when they went to see the movie in Spokane on Friday.

The camera was part of the same IMAX system Nolan used on Oppenheimer, a setup built to solve a stubborn problem in large-format filmmaking: camera noise. IMAX says its Keighley Film Camera was developed over two years with leading directors and combines the image quality of its existing film cameras with digital functionality. Variety reported in 2025 that Nolan wanted equipment that could be placed a foot from an actor’s face and still allow usable sound, and Matt Damon later described filming with the IMAX cameras as “like a Cuisinart in your face.”

That technical need helps explain why the Mueller build mattered. CBS News said on May 17, 2026 that The Odyssey was the first feature shot entirely on IMAX film, and ABC7 New York described it as a large global IMAX shoot. BetaKit added that the new cameras for the production were designed in Canada, placing the Coeur d’Alene couple’s work inside a wider cross-border manufacturing effort.

The Coeur d’Alene Press published photos July 25 showing Marty Mueller working on a 3D rig at the couple’s shop in Coeur d’Alene. The rig can hold two cameras, a reminder that the work behind a Hollywood-scale production often starts with specialized mechanical jobs far from the set.

Another photo showed Marty and Barb Mueller holding their Academy Award, with the caption noting that the award was given in 1996. For Kootenai County, the connection is not just a local novelty. It is a glimpse of the kind of high-skill, low-visibility businesses that can matter to major film production: precision builds, custom rigs and technical problem-solving that end up on screens watched far beyond Idaho.