David Keighley, the first chief quality officer for Imax and a veteran of the large-format cinema platform for more than 50 years, has died. He was 77.

Keighley died Thursday in New York City after a battle with cancer.

During his career, he helped Imax migrate from showing mainly institutional movies to digitally reformatting Hollywood titles for the local multiplex and fanboy audiences.

“David was as close to the human embodiment of Imax as there has ever been, relentless in his drive to deliver awe-inspiring images to audiences around the globe. He was incredibly energized and proud of his work on the upcoming The Odyssey, completing his review of the dailies just days before his death in a bittersweet but fitting capstone to a remarkable career. We extend our deepest condolences to David’s wife, Patricia, and his family and our enduring gratitude to David for everything he’s done for Imax and the art of filmmaking,” Imax CEO Richard Gelfond said in a statement.

Keighley oversaw post-production on over 500 Imax films, from Hollywood tentpoles to pioneering nature documentaries. His career in the giant screen industry started in 1972 when he and his wife and business partner, Patricia, after watching Imax’s North of Superior founded the large-format post-production company DKP 70MM.

Also that year, the Keighleys co-directed the Imax film Catch the Sun and went on to work on every Imax release to follow, with no Imax film print leaving the lab without Keighley’s inspection. In 1988, the Keighleys’ company was acquired by Imax as the business duo formally joined the company.

For the last 15 years, Keighley served as Imax’s first-ever chief quality officer where he worked alongside Hollywood directors who increasingly embraced Imax proprietary cameras and the giant screen platform and its promise of visual and sound quality.

“David Keighley was my friend and Imax mentor for over 20 years. His expertise and collaborative spirit put Imax cameras into my hands for the first time and opened Hollywood’s eyes to the power of the format, starting with The Dark Knight,” Christopher Nolan said in a statement ahead of the release of his upcoming adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey.

Three weeks ago, Keighley completed work reviewing the dailies for The Odyssey, which will be the first theatrical release ever shot entirely with Imax film cameras. Nolan also praised Keighley for alerting filmmakers and major studios to the existential threat faced by the traditional film medium in the face of digital production.

“No filmmaker would be able to shoot or screen film of any format today if not for David Keighley — our entire industry owes him a massive debt. The last film he completed work on was Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, and while it breaks my heart to know that we will not be finishing The Odyssey together, I take comfort knowing that he personally supervised the processing and printing of everything we shot. I miss him as a collaborator and as a friend,” Nolan added.

Sinners director Ryan Coogler was introduced to Keighley by Nolan. “It was clear from that conversation that David meant the world to Chris. I immediately spoke with our DP Autumn Arkapaw and discovered that David had already been reviewing every frame of our test footage and had been writing detailed reports even before we were officially greenlit. He was already looking after our film,” Coogler recalled in his own statement.

“I’ll miss our talks about the science of film exposure as well as hearing his stories about falling in love with the format as a young man in Canada. I’ll miss his tours. And will miss hearing his callouts in our quality control reviews. Anyone who’s ever had their mind blown by the images in an Imax theatrical presentation has David to thank for it. It’s on us now, both filmmakers and film goers, to keep the format alive and pushing forward as he intended,” Coogler added.

Fellow Hollywood director James Cameron, whose Avatar sci-fi epic franchise has played big on Imax screens over the years, said of Keighley: “I remember so vividly working closely with David on many projects, starting over 25 years ago when I started exploring digital 3D for Imax. He was a strong ally and a true believer in creating the ultimate cinema experience for audiences around the world. He will be deeply missed.”

Denis Villeneuve, whose upcoming Dune 3 tentpole was shot using Imax cameras, also lauded Keighley for their collaboration to ensure the best visual and sound quality on the giant screen: “Some people are irreplaceable. David Keighley is one of them. Cinema is mourning one of its most brilliant technical masters. My sincere condolences to his family.”

Keighley was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and participated in its science and technology awards committee. He was also a member of the American Society of Cinematographers and received the Giant Screen Theater Association’s inaugural Special Achievement in Film Award.

Keighley is survived by his wife, Patricia; their three children, Geoff, Chris and Jennifer; and two grandchildren, Sam and Eli.