The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers(R) (SMPTE(R)), the worldwide leader in motion-imaging standards and education for the communications, media, entertainment, and technology industries, today announced that it has granted SMPTE Fellow membership status to eight industry leaders. This honor is conferred on individuals who have, through their proficiency and contributions to the industries, attained an outstanding rank among members of the Society.New SMPTE Fellows will be inducted on Wednesday, Oct. 22, during the Fellows Luncheon, and further recognized on Thursday, Oct. 23, at the SMPTE Honors and Awards Ceremony. Both events will be held in conjunction with the SMPTE 2014 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition (SMPTE 2014) at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles. The Fellows Luncheon will feature a keynote by SMPTE Fellow Darcy Antonellis, who serves as chief executive officer at Vubiquity.
2014 SMPTE Fellows
Hanno Basse, chief technology officer (CTO) at 20th Century Fox Film Corp., oversees technology strategy and engineering, including home entertainment, theatrical distribution, and postproduction. He earlier spent more than 14 years at DirecTV, ultimately as senior vice president of broadcast systems engineering, with accomplishments including the 2005 launch of the largest HD channel rollout to date and the 2009 implementation of DirecTVs video-on-demand infrastructure, as well as significant contributions to DirecTVs broadcast infrastructure and construction of its Los Angeles Broadcast Center. Basse began his career in 1991 as a scientist-engineer at the Institut fr Rundfunktechnik GmbH (IRT) in Munich, Germany, and worked as a systems engineer at ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. He has been awarded 18 patents.
Thomas G. Edwards, vice president of engineering and development at Fox Networks Engineering & Operations, works on advanced technology projects such as mobile digital television, 3D, and the Fox network satellite distribution system. Before joining Fox, he was senior manager of interconnection engineering at PBS, where he was responsible for the engineering planning of the PBS Next Generation Interconnection System. He was also involved in streaming media production and delivery at the Internet service provider DIGEX and the IP-over-satellite company Cidera. Edwards has contributed to the Report of the SMPTE Study Group on Media Production System Network Architecture, the Report of the SMPTE Task Force on 3D to the Home, and the National Association of Broadcasters Engineering Handbook. In addition to SMPTE, he is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Joseph J. Kane Jr. specializes in the sciences of electronic imaging and accurate reproduction of video signals on display devices, both of which are the focus of his company, Joe Kane Productions, founded in 1982. Kane has a long history of participating in standardization of the canvas on which electronic art is created and making it possible for a mass audience to be able to see that art as it was intended to be seen. He is currently working with higher-definition formats and the concept of a new video system based on the capability of current and future display technologies. Kane is also a manager of the SMPTE Hollywood Section.
John McCoskey is the SMPTE Eastern region governor and executive vice president and CTO at the Motion Picture Association of American (MPAA), where he is responsible for development and execution of MPAAs global technology strategy. Previously McCoskey served as the first CTO at PBS, where he was responsible for all technology strategy, development, operations, and infrastructure serving more than 350 full-power public television stations. He earlier was vice president of product development at Comcast; CTO and co-founder at Brief Original Broadcasts; and senior vice president of technology and CTO at Discovery Communications. McCoskey is an inventor with more than 40 issued or pending U.S. utility patents related to technology and media.
Andrew Quested joined the BBC as a trainee engineer in 1978 and became a video editor working across the BBCs output, including all episodes of the "Keeping Up Appearances program. In his tenure as a BBC editor, Quested introduced nonlinear editing, as well as stereo and widescreen production; oversaw the introduction of end-to-end tapeless production; served as the technical lead on the BBCs first HD channel; and lead HD pilot projects such as overseeing the workflow for the series "Planet Earth. Quested currently chairs the Strategic Programme on Quality Control (QC) for the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), authors the BBC technical standards for international exchange, and is part of the U.K.s Digital Production Partnership (DPP), which is responsible for the AS-11 DPP Compliance and Certification Programme. Quested has chaired International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Rapporteur Groups for 3D, image dynamic range, IP contribution, and quality control. As a manager of the SMPTE U.K. Section, he focuses on career development and education of new graduates and the U.K.s new apprenticeship schemes.
Vince Roberts is executive vice president of global operations and CTO at Disney/ABC Television Group. He was a founding employee of Disney Channel in 1983 and ultimately led development of server-based broadcast operations. He established Disneys first international broadcast operation, Walt Disney Television Singapore, and oversaw the launches of more than 90 entertainment channels and/or channel feeds in more than 160 countries and 30 languages. Prior to joining Disney, Roberts was in videodisc research and development with MCA and JVC/EMI/GE, earning a patent for a specialized quality control process device. During his two years at Color Systems Technology Inc. as senior vice president of producti
