
By Debra Kaufman
One month into 2023, HPA is already fully engaged in evolving its programs and initiatives to meet the community's interests and needs. President Seth Hallen points to unprecedented growth in 2022 as foundational to HPA's current dynamism. Last year's growth would have been hard to predict in 2021 when the world was in the grip of COVID-19 and most face-to-face activity was on hold. We looked for a way to keep the HPA community together in a dark time and the community responded with tremendous support for what we were trying to do, says Hallen. In retrospect, one of the most important things we did was to create and deliver the virtual Tech Retreat Event in 2021. It really kept the community together during a time when that was most needed.
That led to last year, when the HPA community's pent-up demand to meet in person resulted in the biggest attendance ever at the Tech Retreat and the 17th HPA Awards. We didn't spare any effort, money or energy to make sure that people were going to be as safe as possible at these events, Hallen says. At the HPA Tech Retreat, we created the bubble to make sure everyone was tested and masked. At the Awards, testing and masking was mandatory. Secondly, we wanted to make sure that people felt safe. We recognized those two factors had to work together. The result, he adds, was no known COVID exposures at either event. Growth at the 2022 HPA Awards also included the number of submissions. In previous years, we would typically receive about 300 submissions, and in 2022, we broke 400 for the first time, says Hallen. We had the most engineering excellence and creative submissions, ever. That's a testament to the value of this award.
Throughout 2022, HPA programs Women in Post (WIP), Networking Education Technology (NET) and the Young Entertainment Professionals (YEP) were busy. There was a slate of events that included NET conversations with the post teams from Ted Lasso and a joint WIP-SMPTE event featuring the Woman King cinematographer Polly Morgan, ASC, BSC and its director, Gina Prince-Bythewood. The events were all very successful, says Hallen. The committees behind these initiatives are active and passionate and they bring incomparable value to our audience. He added that there is still conversation on the balance of in-person and remote events and what best serves the HPA community going forward.
HPA Tech Retreat 2023 is set to be another groundbreaking event. The 500 rooms at the Westin sold out months before we normally do, says Hallen. We had more submissions for Mark Schubin's main program than ever before. Mark called it an embarrassment of riches. We're thrilled that the community understands the value in the event. He hints that more exciting announcements are coming.
Hallen reveals that the NET program in 2023 is also on track to be powerful. Pointing to the 2022 case study on popular Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso, he adds that, we're going to continue to do these case study luncheons that focus on unique and interesting workflows.
HPA's Young Entertainment Professional identifies, nurtures and supports a talented group of the up and coming professionals. YEP is about to unveil its 2023 class. We're heartened by the caliber of every group of new YEPs, says Hallen. This year, there's another group of truly impressive future leaders. He noted that the YEP program leadership, which started off in the hands of board members, has now shifted to graduates of the YEP program. It's been taken over by the people it's intended for, he says. And they are full of great ideas.
HPA is intent on deepening the value of the organization to its members with highly engaging events, non-marketing-centric education (which is a very rare commodity) and mentorship, says Hallen. The HPA Board has always been deeply involved in the vision for HPA and, in 2023, new members will be added. Most recently announced is new Board member Bettina Fisher, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' senior director of early career talent development.
HPA will always be focused on powerful networking, Hallen says. The Board and HPA staff are reviewing every committee, event and membership offering to make sure we are powering value. Another focus in 2023 will be strengthening the committees and the dedicated group of active volunteers. We continue to enroll volunteer leaders, says Hallen. It's always been run by people with terrible cases of volunteer-itis. He jokes that, Leon [Silverman] infected me years ago, and stressed that, we still need new, fresh and diverse voices with numerous interests in our community. HPA participation is not exclusive at all, he added. You don't have to be invited to participate - just raise your hand and join.
Hallen continues, with regard to diversity, there will also be more to come from HPA in 2023, and that focus will be woven into everything we do. Our board members are focused on continuing to foster and support diversity, equity and inclusion across the organization, its events and its community, he says.
The overall goal for the new year, says Hallen is, continuing to remain relevant and focusing on what the community needs.
As the industry and HPA continues to evolve so rapidly, we're examining how HPA can continue to play a leading role in bringing value to the community, he concludes. We want to make sure everyone has a seat at the table.
More from Hollywood Post Alliance
01/06/2023
The 2023 Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) Awards call for entries for creative categories opened today. Submissions will be accepted until July 28, 2023...
25/05/2023
Blackmagic Design announced that the world's top daily downloaded podcast, The Adam Carolla Show, is using a full Blackmagic Design workflow. The show, al...
25/05/2023
The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Board of Governors has elected a new slate of officers, with Shelly Johnson being chosen to lead as the organizat...
25/05/2023
Text-Based Editing was officially released in the latest version of Adobe Premiere Pro. This new workflow makes editing video as simple as copying and pasting t...
25/05/2023
Like Minded Labs, a groundbreaking technological subsidiary of Like Minded Media...
25/05/2023
Ateliere Creative Technologies, an innovative cloud-native content supply chain ...
25/05/2023
By Debra Kaufman
Is ChatGPT taking over Hollywood? AI inroads into M&E was the focus of discussion at HPA NET's May 2 gathering at the Universal Sheraton. ...
25/05/2023
SMPTE Hollywood will delve into the intricacies of remastering classic films for modern theaters equipped with immersive sound systems at its May meeting. Sony ...
25/05/2023
Wasabi Technologies has released the findings of its global cloud storage index,...
25/05/2023
When the lights go down and the music comes up at the Hollywood Legion on November 9, the room will be full of the artists and companies that comprise the very ...
27/04/2023
Convergent and Evercast jointly announced the completion of the first TPN Gold S...
27/04/2023
The Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship is a year-long group mentorship program for documentary assistant, associate and emerging editors from historically un...
27/04/2023
Strategic integration of Telstra Broadcast Services' Master Control, Dalet F...
27/04/2023
Convergent has announced the completion of its first wave of vendor security assessments through the new TPN+ Platform (Trusted Partner Network). The TPN Platfo...
27/04/2023
The SMPTE call for technical paper proposals is now open. This year's Media Technology Summit will take place at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Hollywood from...
27/04/2023
The Trusted Partner Network (TPN), a global, industry-wide content security init...
27/04/2023
Denver-born Tashi Trieu already had a boat-load of post-production credits, incl...
27/04/2023
Picture Shop, Streamland Media's picture division, has expanded and extensively renovated its Sunset and Seward picture post production facilities, both loc...
27/04/2023
The HPA Awards Committee has announced the opening call for submissions for the ...
30/03/2023
Kindai University, one of the largest universities in western Japan, has installed a number of Blackmagic Design products in its esports facility. The new setup...
30/03/2023
The Motion Picture Sound Editors presented the 70th Annual MPSE Golden Reel Awards in a live ceremony held at the historic Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angele...
30/03/2023
The Cinema Audio Society has announced their newly elected CAS Board of Directors. Taking the helm as CAS President is Peter Kurland CAS. Re-elected to their ex...
30/03/2023
Web exclusive: DP Jay Hunter and his Guild camera team customized a new visual language for season 2 of NBC's American Auto.
Read about it here....
30/03/2023
Sohonet announced it has acquired 5th Kind, a leading cloud-based video collabor...
30/03/2023
HP announced new features for HP Anyware, the digital workspaces solution based ...
30/03/2023
Autodesk today introduced Moxion Rooms, a cloud tool that enables creative teams in production and post-production to share livestreams and review uploaded asse...
30/03/2023
First immersive resource with Bing AI Guidebook offered by Miss Excel via NFT
Miss Excel's new Web3 educational platform powered by Eluvio Content Blockc...
30/03/2023
HPA is pleased to support the upcoming Devoncroft Executive Summit on April 15, 2023. All HPA members can use the promotion code DESML23 to receive a 20% discou...
30/03/2023
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) announced that SM...
30/03/2023
Every year Mark Schubin's incisive commentary on the past year in technology puts the Tech Retreat presentations into a larger context....
30/03/2023
By Debra Kaufman
Avatar: The Way of Water was the focus of the HPA Tech Retreat Supersession; over 700 attendees enjoyed a deep dive into the challenges in mak...
23/02/2023
Spectra Logic, a leader in data management and data storage solutions, has annou...
23/02/2023
The Sally Menke Editing Fellowship is entering its lucky 13th year and their app...
23/02/2023
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) is proud to announce the HPA Young ...
17/02/2023
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) Tech Retreat has announced details for the 2023 Supersession, which will present an original, immersive look at the...
26/01/2023
Picture Shop, Streamland Media's picture division, has announced that renowned artist Natasha Leonnet has joined its talent roster as a senior colorist. Leo...
26/01/2023
Blackmagic Design has announced that the EuroHockey Indoor Championships relied on an acquisition, control and delivery workflow based on Blackmagic Design hard...
26/01/2023
The Cinema Audio Society has announced its nominees in seven categories for the ...
26/01/2023
By Christine Bunish
Most of us strive to achieve balance in our professional and personal lives, and Ali Greer appears to have succeeded balancing her inside ...
26/01/2023
By Debra Kaufman
One month into 2023, HPA is already fully engaged in evolving its programs and initiatives to meet the community's interests and needs. Pr...
26/01/2023
The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) has announced Outstanding Achievement Award nominees in feature film, documentary and television categories. Winn...
26/01/2023
The Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) has announced that Tom Cruise will be am...
23/01/2023
Details, speakers and a keynote for the first day of the HPA Tech Retreat, Monday's TR-X, have been unveiled. TR-X is a focused exploration of topics of par...
22/12/2022
Wasabi Technologies introduced Wasabi Cloud Sync Manager, the industry's mos...
22/12/2022
Picture Shop, Streamland Media's picture division, has officially opened the doors of its new, 4,000 square-foot dailies facility on the historic Pinewood S...
22/12/2022
The Visual Effects Society (VES), the industry's global professional honorary society, has announced Nancy Ward has been selected as the Society's new E...
22/12/2022
Wendy Aylsworth has spent over 30 years in entertainment technology, bringing emerging technologies into production and distribution usage. A Lifetime Fellow, f...
22/12/2022
The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) will recognize Oscar Award-winni...
22/12/2022
SMPTE has collaborated with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and MovieLabs...
22/12/2022
Colorfront (colorfront.com) - the multi-award-winning developer of high-performa...