By: Alyssa Heater
The 2024 HPA Tech Retreat, now in its 29th year, showcased a program chock full of presentations, panels, and roundtables spanning a wealth of topics. One primary area of focus at this year's conference was Artificial Intelligence and its impact on the future of production and post. While the topic is often polarizing, the AI-focused Supersession on Tuesday provided a deep dive into how these tools can help in the content creation process.
Corridor Digital co-founder Niko Pueringer, alongside Caleb and Shelby Ward of Curious Refuge, Tim Simmons of Theoretically Media, director/producer Ruby Bell, composer Isy Lauf, VFX producer/animator Shaman Marya, and virtual camera supervisor Jackson Hayes, all participated in Tuesday's Supersession. Each presenter an expert in their own niche fields of VFX, AI, animation, production, and beyond served as a representative of how these elements all tie together to create a stunning final product.
Over the past year, Pueringer has been researching and educating himself on AI tools for visual effects and filmmaking. To him, he saw it as another way of rendering that had the potential to revolutionize visual effects, much in the same way that CGI did in the 90s. So, when Seth Hallen, HPA President approached him to participate in the session, Pueringer jumped at the opportunity.
While Pueringer recognizes that many people feel concerned about the power of the technology, he explains that it is ultimately just another tool in the toolbox. Seeing this huge spectrum of reactions between fear and misconception, as well as the excitement, really motivated me to do this presentation at the HPA Tech Retreat. I really wanted to teach people the philosophies and techniques I've discovered, because online, there are a lot of people telling you what to think, and I just wanted to show the reality of it. I try to peel away all the hype and emotion and the way people build it up to sound super crazy. I want to get rid of all of that.
During the Supersession, Pueringer introduced audiences to concepts, pipelines, and even hitting on the challenges the tools can impose. He premiered Trapped in a Dream, an AI-generated animated short that served as a case study for how AI tools have incredible potential in aiding in content creation. His presentations helped to demystify many of the concerns people feel about utilizing this technology. He notes, Seeing that people were excited about what I was presenting was really gratifying. I look up to the people who attend the Tech Retreat. These professionals are truly at the top of their game. I felt a bit of imposter syndrome being a YouTube guy. Everything I do is very independent and I haven't really been a part of the studio system, so it felt very fulfilling to be recognized by those in that part of the industry.
Pueringer and his friend Sam Gorski started their production studio Corridor Digital because they, quite simply, enjoyed making short films. The shooting, production, and VFX skills they learned while making these shorts throughout junior high and high school helped prepare them for a move to Los Angeles to produce an independent monster movie. In 2010, they shifted their focus to producing ad-driven content with YouTube as their partner platform, and have been doing that ever since.
Since its inception, Corridor Digital has produced dozens of AI-generated animated videos. Their work has positioned Pueringer and Gorski as thought leaders in the evolution of the technology. When asked where he expects future developments and sees it most utilized, Pueringer explains AI, in its most general form, has been a visual effects and animation tool for many years. It's been used to clean up motion capture with an intelligent prediction system or use a camera to do a rough skeleton capture for motion capture. AI is a bit of a misnomer because it's a very broad term. What we're really talking about is just training a computer to give you a statistical result based on statistical data.
He elaborates that generative AI can be used for everything from simplifying the rotoscoping process to generating fully cohesive images. While many companies are pushing a one-size-fits-all generative AI model, it is limiting because these models can only reproduce what they have already seen before, then mix and match visual elements. If you're trying to create something that's truly new, not just a mashup of other elements, these tools won't serve you until you can train your own data in and use these models for yourself. And that's a step that I don't think people have realized is crucial and key. But we'll get there; generative and media-based AI is only about a year old. Over the next few years, people will learn the technology, it will be incorporated into production pipelines, and slowly become adopted.
With the industry shifting, Pueringer notes that what is most important for content creators is to embrace whatever tools help them realize their vision. An AI tool will only be useful to an artist if it enables them to create better. AI tools should not be doing the creativity, but rather, the tedious tasks. He states, At the end of the day, we're trying to deliver compelling movies, TV shows, and content. It's the writing, the creativity, the directing, the acting - all things that you don't use AI for.
Concludes Pueringer, I hope people feel encouraged to go out and create. It's becoming easier than it ever has been before. iPhones are starting to look amazing as video cameras. In the world of filmmaking, it might seem scary that there are thousands of different creators and channels for thousands of different niches and audiences. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. If we put aside the business aspect and just look at
Most recent headlines
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
Three 12-kilowatt Advanced Electric Propulsion System thrusters, supplied by L3Harris Technologies, form the core of Gateway's propulsion system. Pictured i...
16/12/2025
The challenge facing America's defense industrial base is not just about speed - its about rebuilding the foundation that makes speed possible. Our nations ...
16/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/12/2025
SEVILLE, Spain Canal Sur, the public broadcasting service for Andalusia, Spain, has completed a total technology refresh based on Pebble's resilient, softwa...
16/12/2025
NEW YORK Teleprompting hardware provider Telescript International has acquired all software code and intellectual property previously owned by Telescript West. ...
16/12/2025
As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed lea...
16/12/2025
Apple has announced a major upgrade to the Apple TV app for device owners outside the Apple ecosystem with news that the Apple TV app for Android now supports G...
16/12/2025
Space42 grows Direct-to-Device partner ecosystem through a Memorandum of Underst...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Emma Appleton, Fares Fares, Frida Gustavsson and Jakob Oftebro...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Docu-reality My Korean Boyfriend Gets a Trailer and Premiere D...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
16/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December.
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
16/12/2025
Singer -songwriter Brian Kennedy has been announced as the final celebrity dance...
15/12/2025
Harlem Globetrotters Celebrate 100th Anniversary With New Brand Campaign From Th...
15/12/2025
Top L-R: La Tierra Del Valor (The Home of the Brave), Mangittatuarjuk (The Gnawe...
15/12/2025
L3Harris will leverage 15 years of experience supporting the E-4B Nightwatch and...
15/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the loss of federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and operational changes, the statewide pub...
15/12/2025
BOULDER, Colo. Public Media Venture Group (PMVG), Venture Technologies Group (VTG), and WQED have completed a multipart agreement that they say will significant...
15/12/2025
Cape Town, November 13, 2025 - SES and International artist and humanitarian, Fo...
15/12/2025
Luxembourg, December 15, 2025 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Abra Group launched fast and reliable multi-orbit inflight connectivity service on t...
15/12/2025
How Rivian s Design Puts Drivers First-And Why That Matters Published on Dec 15, 2025 Categories: Business Solutions
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Sha...
15/12/2025
Space42 and Cobham Satcom completed the full range of advanced terminals for the...
15/12/2025
15 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan Delivers First Starlink Direct to Cel...
15/12/2025
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor finds himself the topic of year's cracker jokes
Oasis, David Harbour, Celebrity Traitors and Angela Rayner all feature in this y...
15/12/2025
Comscore Expands Cross-Platform Campaign Measurement to Include Audio and Social New capabilities strengthen cross-platform campaign reporting suite; CCR rebran...
15/12/2025
NVIDIA today announced it has acquired SchedMD - the leading developer of Slurm, an open-source workload management system for high-performance computing (HPC) ...
15/12/2025
RT .ie has reached one billion page views this year and is on track to finish 2025 2% ahead of last year. Average time spent on the site is up 3% on 2024, with ...
15/12/2025
Modern workflows showcase the endless possibilities of generative and agentic AI on PCs.
Of many, some examples include tuning a chatbot to handle product-supp...
13/12/2025
Powering Client Growth: Horizon Deepens Nielsen Partnership, Enabling More Effic...
13/12/2025
In a move that will help it offer more flexible and less costly programming options, YouTube TV has announced that it will be launching YouTube TV Plans with mo...
13/12/2025
SINGAPORE Magna Systems has designed, built and completed what is believed to be the first full UHD and IP-based OB truck in Southeast Asia for a Singapore medi...
12/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Everything You Need to Know for Next Week's Big Sho...
12/12/2025
Hailey Gates at the Atropia premiere (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
12/12/2025
Last month, Spotify announced a new collaboration with the ATP Tour, the global governing body of men's professional tennis, aimed at bringing the next gene...
12/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the elimination of Federal federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and changes in the way they...
12/12/2025
Wisycom and DPA Microphones announce the appointment of Ren Moerch as Group Product Director, Wireless, a strategic leadership role that will guide the combine...
12/12/2025
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, in conjuncture with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Entertainment Technolog...
12/12/2025
Keepit, the vendor-independent, cloud-native data protection provider, today announced a strategic go-to-market relationship in Poland with Ingram Micro, a lead...
12/12/2025
Atomos announced the immediate availability of a new firmware update for its Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX monitor-recorders, unlocking Open Gate 48P RAW recording w...
12/12/2025
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) once again played a critical role in delivering flawless wireless coordination and support at the 2025 Latin Grammy Awards a...
12/12/2025
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), together with the Video Services Forum (VSF), the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the European Broadc...
12/12/2025
DHD audio will demonstrate the latest additions to its range of digital audio production solutions on Booth 321 in Hall B6 at Hamburg Open 2026. The show will b...
12/12/2025
Chaos today announces the release of V-Ray for Blender, update 2, bringing its award-winning rendering technology to even more Blender users by adding support f...
12/12/2025
Lighting specialist UltraLEDs has launched Precision LED Tape, a high-CRI lighting solution designed specifically for professional film, TV, and studio use.
P...
By: Alyssa Heater
