The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) is set to embark on an extraordinary journey as it reveals the dynamic and expansive program for its much-anticipated 2024 Tech Retreat. Now in its 29th year, the HPA Tech Retreat is known for its in-depth and inventive approach to covering the critical topics facing the media creation industry over 4-plus days of sessions, roundtable discussions, and technology demonstrations.The 2024 HPA Tech Retreat will be held from February 18 to 22, 2024, at the Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, California. Registration is open now and is expected to reach capacity quickly. Attendance is strictly capped to foster an atmosphere that promotes discussion, debate, and connection.
The HPA Tech Retreat is composed of carefully curated days: TR-X (Monday) which will focus on Extreme Production, the Supersession (Tuesday) which will be announced at a later date, and the main conference program (Wednesday and Thursday).
Mark Schubin, who has guided the main conference program for over 20 years commented: Each year we get many more outstanding submissions than time allows in the program but this year was unprecedented. There wasn't a dud in the bunch; it was really hard to choose the most important ones. We've ended up with presentations that run the gamut from a graduate student to a major C-level executive to top creatives in the field.
Sessions for this year's Main Program include the following:
WEDNESDAY - February 21, 2024
What CES 2024 Means for the Media Industry - Mark Harrison, DPP
Quantum Dots and Color Imaging - Charles Poynton
The Death of Analog: Why Right Now Is the Time to Digitize Your Archive
Moderated by Carin Forman, Amazon; with Heidi Shakespeare, Memnon; Andrea Kalas, Paramount
New Developments in Open Source Software for the Motion Picture Industry - David Morin, Academy Software Foundation
Revolutionizing Media Production: AI's Role from Conceptualization to Final Cut
Setting the Stage for AI
AI & Frontier Technologies in the Age of Disruption: A Foundation in Embracing Change for Progress - Daniel Doll-Steinberg, EdenBase
AI for Media: What does good look like? - Mark Harrison, DPP
The Computable Studio: A Vision for 2025 and Beyond - Yves Bergquist, Entertainment Technology Center, University of Southern California
Setting the Stage for AI Discussion and Q&A
AI and Creativity
AI and the Future of Cinematic Storytelling - Barbara Ford Grant
Studio Perspective: AI and Content Creation - Tony Guarino, Paramount
Using GenAI as a Screenwriting Partner and Preproduction Assistant - Christian Cantrell, Concept.art
OK, We Have AI Tools and AI Content. What About the Business? Bringing It All Together for Successful Future State - Caleb Ward, Curious Refuge
AI and Creativity Discussion and Q&A
AI in the Workflows
Enhancing Creative Decisions with AI Generated Content Recommendations - David Colantuoni, Avid
Multi-Language Generation of Movie Content - Siegfried F el, Fraunhofer-Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS
Demystifying AI in the Supply Chain - Pinar Seyhan Demirdag, Cuebric
AI in the Workflows discussion and Q&A
Thursday - February 22, 2024
MovieLabs 2030 Update
The State of the Vision
Where Are We on the Path to 2030? - Mark Turner, MovieLabs
Bringing the Studio in the Cloud to Fruition - Mark Turner, MovieLabs; Richard Duke, Avid
Implementing the MovieLabs Ontology for Media Creation-How & Why - Mark Turner, MovieLabs; Guillaume Rachez, Perfect Memory
Workflows Based on 2030 Vision - Mark Turner, MovieLabs; Aki Seino, Imagica Entertainment Media Services
Metadata Mania: Can We Create a Common Source of Truth?
Introduction: The Challenges of Metadata - Jim Helman, MovieLabs
Our Flag Means Death Season 2 - Utilizing MovieLabs OMC for Metadata - Mike Urban, The Rebel Fleet
OpenMetadataIO, an Open Standards Initiative - Jim Helman, MovieLabs; Toby Scales, Google; Dalia Spingarn, Paramount Global
Interoperability: A Key to the Creative Benefits of the 2030 Vision
Interoperability 101 - Jim Helman, MovieLabs
Interoperability panel - Moderator: Jim Helman, MovieLabs; Panelists to be added
2030 Vision Q&A
Stepping Up to Color Managed On-set HDR/SDR Workflows - Moderator: Michael Chambliss, International Cinematographers Guild; Greg Smokler, Small HD
Responsible Innovation in the Age of Generative AI - Ely Greenfield, Adobe
Color Appearance Models and the future of Color Management: How the industry Working Group for the new Developer Release of ACES 2.0 investigated, debated and ultimately embraced CAMs for its new output transform - Alex Forsythe, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
NeRFs for Nerds: Another Future for Creativity - Erik Weaver, Entertainment Technology Center at USC; Eric Pohl, Singularity Imaging; Alex Porter, Mod Tech Labs; Addy Ghani, disguise
Building the Studio of Tomorrow, Today! - Mary Palmer, Amazon
Let's Have an Honest Conversation about Sound - Nuno Fonseca, Sound Particles
Untwisting the Rope of Character Identification - Holly Beavon, Fielding Graduate University
Extreme Production - TR-X
As previously announced, the Tech Retreat will get an extreme kick-off this year with a program built to showcase various forms of Extreme Production. From IMAX at Its Limits to Extreme Sports to the Perils of On-Site Reporting, this year's TR-X offers a taste of some of the most challenging angles of production and the innovation that's making it possible.
BREAKFAST ROUNDTABLES
Tuesday through Thursday mornings at HPA Tech Retreat begins with the popular Breakfast Roundtables (over 75 and more being added) led by industry thought leaders who shepherd discussions on a broad variety of topics of interest. For a list of roundtables, visit HPATechRetreat.com.
INNOVATION ZONE
Attendees can explore the latest techn
