
--
SMPTE , the organization that is defining the future of storytelling, today announced the group of industry leaders and innovators who will be honored at this years SMPTE Awards Gala. Scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 24, the gala and afterparty will serve as the concluding events of the SMPTE 2019 Annual Conference at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in downtown Los Angeles. SMPTE Fellow elevations will be conferred at the SMPTE 2019 Fellows Luncheon on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
Cristina Gomila Torres to receive SMPTEs highest award, the Progress Medal
The SMPTE Awards Gala is a significant annual event because it recognizes industry leaders of the past, present, and future, said SMPTE President Patrick Griffis, vice president of technology in the Office of the CTO at Dolby Laboratories. Every person who will be honored at the gala has in some way made a substantial contribution to the ongoing advancement of media and entertainment technology. Its always exciting to share the room with such a remarkable and accomplished group of individuals.
Sponsorships for both the Awards Gala and Fellows Luncheon are available. More information is available at https://2019.smpte.org/home/sponsorship.
Awards Gala guests will receive red carpet treatment as they make their way to the reception, which will be followed by dinner and the awards presentation in the California Ballroom. Of these awards, Honorary Membership is the Societys highest accolade. It recognizes individuals who have performed distinguished service in the advancement of engineering in motion pictures, television, or the allied arts and sciences.
This year, SMPTE will bestow two such honors. The Society will recognize Paul Kellar for being the leading inventor of a wide range of technologies and products in the areas of digital video processing, digital image storage, electronic graphics creation, still-image storage and processing, and image manipulation. SMPTE also will recognize Roderick Snell for his contributions and leadership, with more than 40 years as an author, broadcast engineer, and international consultant.
The Progress Medal is the most prestigious SMPTE award, and it recognizes outstanding technical contributions to the progress of the engineering phases of the motion-picture, television, or motion-imaging industries. SMPTE will present the 2019 Progress Medal to Cristina Gomila Torres for her leadership and ongoing contributions to the motion-picture and media industry.
The Camera Origination and Imaging Medal recognizes significant technical achievements related to inventions or advances in imaging technology, including sensors, imaging processing electronics, and the overall embodiment and application of image-capture devices. Paul K. Weimer will be recognized for his career, which spanned modern electronic imaging and sensor development.
The David Sarnoff Medal, sponsored by SRI International, recognizes outstanding contributions to the development of new techniques or equipment that have improved the engineering phases of television technology, including large-venue presentations. The award will be presented to Michelle Munson for the co-invention and development of the Fast and Secure Protocol (FASP) technology for media acceleration, which has greatly affected the distribution and transmission of digital media through high-speed file transfer.
The Excellence in Education Medal, sponsored by William C. Miller and Ellen Sontag-Miller, recognizes outstanding contributions to new or unique educational programs that teach the technologies of motion pictures, television, or other imaging sciences, including emerging media technology. Elizabeth Daley will receive the award in recognition of her three decades of pioneering leadership as dean of the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.
The Digital Processing Medal recognizes significant technical achievements related to the development of digital processing of content for cinema, television, games, or other related media. Gary J. Sullivan will receive the award in recognition of his innovation and industry leadership in image and video compression.
The James A. Lindner Archival Technology Medal, sponsored by James A. Lindner, recognizes significant technical advancements or contributions related to the invention or development of technology, techniques, workflows, or infrastructure for the long-term storage, archive, or preservation of media content essence. The 2019 award will be presented to Ralph Sargent in recognition of his more than four decades of contributions to the preservation of motion pictures.
The Samuel L. Warner Memorial Medal, sponsored by Warner Bros., recognizes outstanding contributions in the design and development of new and improved methods and/or apparatus for motion-picture sound, at any step in the process. The award will be presented to Walter Murch in recognition of the meticulous level of research and development that he brings to the science of human perception, enabling his art to take full experiential advantage of new technology.
The Workflow Systems Medal, sponsored by Leon D. Silverman, recognizes outstanding contributions related to the development and integration of workflows, such as integrated processes, end-to-end systems, or industry ecosystem innovations that enhance creativity, collaboration, and efficiency, or novel approaches to the production, postproduction, or distribution process. The award will be presented to Anne Aaron in recognition of her leadership, research, and pioneering work in the field of cloud-based video coding for streaming.
The Journal Award is presented to the author of the most outstanding paper originally published in the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal during the preceding calendar year. This years award will be presented to Elizabeth Pieri and Jaclyn Pytlarz for their arti
North America Stories
16/11/2025
L3Harris to deliver advanced electronic warfare systems quickly for worldwide F-16 programs...
16/11/2025
Upgrading your Apogee Symphony MKII from TB2 to TB3: Need to Knows Upgrading your Apogee interface to Thunderbolt 3 isn't difficult - but it's not a cas...
16/11/2025
Apogee Electronics Acquired by Dirk Ulrich's Rockforce Tech Holding, Parent ...
15/11/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The Walt Disney Company and YouTube TV have reached a new multi-year distribution agreement, ending a carriage dispute that had blacked out ABC,...
15/11/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wis. A group of about 20 TV technology vendors supporting NextGen TV are wrapping up their ATSC 3.0 Interop here at Heartland Video Systems headquarte...
15/11/2025
NEW YORK NBCUniversal has announced that it will be launching NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), a 24/7 linear network featuring a wide range of marquee sporting event...
15/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released an updated agenda for its Open Meeting on Thursday, November 20, 2025, which is scheduled to comme...
15/11/2025
JERSEY CITY, N.J. OpenVault has released new data showing that DOCSIS 3.1 and higher services are driving significant across-the-board increases in speed and co...
15/11/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has concluded an agreement with the Ohio Valley Conference ( OVC ) to broadcast OVC college basketball games across 20 Gray markets in five s...
15/11/2025
NEW BERN, N.C. Wheatstone has named company veteran Darrin Paley vice president of business accounts, effective immediately....
15/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Serves Up the Trailer for Dining with the Kapoors'...
14/11/2025
Op-Ed: The Automation Imperative - Why AI Is the Only Scalable Defense Against L...
14/11/2025
FutureSPORT 2025: Caretta Research on why streaming won't save broadcasters By Jo Ruddock
Monday, November 10, 2025 - 14:37
Print This Story
Caretta R...
14/11/2025
Daneysse Daniels, Emmy-Winning Production Manager and Beloved Teammate at TNT Sp...
14/11/2025
The NBA 2K League Returns as an Immersive Entertainment Ecosystem' With Non...
14/11/2025
Inaugural SVG LIVE! Conference Brings 250 Top Sports and Entertainment Producti...
14/11/2025
(L-R) Suzette Quintanilla, Isabel Castro, and Chris P rez attend the 2025 Sundan...
14/11/2025
Boston Conservatory Orchestra to Perform at Carnegie Hall for United Nations Gen...
14/11/2025
Berklee Alum Lewis Pickett Wins Record of the Year at Latin Grammy Awards Pickett, a 2009 graduate, was nominated six times across three categories at this ye...
14/11/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wisc. A group of about 20 TV technology vendors supporting NextGen TV are wrapping up their ATSC 3.0 Interop here at Heartland Video Services headquar...
14/11/2025
What if your idle operations centers, inactive cloud time, staff or you as a freelancer could start generating revenue tomorrow?
NECF Corporation today announc...
14/11/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, today announced that it has been recognized as a Major Player in the IDC MarketS...
14/11/2025
The recent ADAC RAVENOL 24h Race at Germany's legendary N rburgring circuit marked a milestone for live broadcast production, and Clear-Com played a pivota...
14/11/2025
Streaming tech companies M2A Media and Unified Streaming provided key software components that enabled the world's leading sports entertainment platform, DA...
14/11/2025
Lightware, an industry leader in signal management solutions, is strengthening its commitment to sustainability through a series of people-focused ESG (Environm...
14/11/2025
WASHINGTON As the federal government shut down comes to an end, the Federal Communications Commission has further extended some filing deadlines and issued some...
14/11/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. In the run-up to being spun off from Comcast, Versant has announced that USA Sports will be the new brand and division name for the company'...
14/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the Trailer of City of Shadows
Entertainment
14 November 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
PREMIERING ON NETFLIX ...
14/11/2025
Today's AI workloads are data-intensive, requiring more scalable and afforda...
14/11/2025
Scripps Research study reveals how uterine contractions are regulated by stretch and pressure during childbirth Molecular insights could lead to improved labor ...
13/11/2025
Versant Announces USA Sports as New Brand for Sports PortfolioBy SVG Staff
Thursday, November 13, 2025 - 6:15 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highli...
13/11/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Mike Szlamowicz, Assistant Athletics Director, Sport an...
13/11/2025
REMI Realities: Finding Success in Switching, Replay, Graphics, Commentary, and ...
13/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: E1's Laurence Boyd Shares the Tech Challenges of the 2025 Race...
13/11/2025
Versant's USA Sports Inks Five-Year Rights Deal With New Pac-12 ConferencePac-12 Enterprises will produce all USA Network games in partnership with USA Spor...
13/11/2025
NBCU To Launch New NBC Sports Network on Nov. 17By SVG Staff
Thursday, November 13, 2025 - 10:40 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
NBCUniv...
13/11/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Glenn Adamo, Artist of StorytellingBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Thursday, November 13, 2025 - 11:29 am
Pri...
13/11/2025
(L-R) Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen, Ryan White, Megan Falley, and A...
13/11/2025
By Roni Jo Draper
My father was born and raised in the Yurok village of Weitpus, in what is now considered Northern California. There at the fork of the Klamat...
13/11/2025
NASA and L3Harris conducted a full-duration RS-25 hot fire test Nov. 12 on the Fred Haise Test Stand at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, ma...
13/11/2025
A groundbreaking new study by the BBC and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has found serious problems with news summaries generated by AI assistants....
13/11/2025
NASHVILLE, Tenn. Field & Stream and Outdoor America have formed a strategic partnership to launch Field & Stream TV, rebranding Outdoor America's free ad-su...
13/11/2025
PHOENIX, Ariz. Silicondust has announced it is now an ATSC 3.0 Certificate Authority for NextGen TV and said that it is offering an Online Certificate Status Pr...
13/11/2025
NEW YORK Nielsen has announced that Peter Naylor, an ad sales executive who has worked at some of the largest media companies in the world, will be its first ch...
13/11/2025
PHILADELPHIA After more than 20 years at CBS Philadelphia and an award-winning career spanning nearly four decades, Jim Donovan, anchor of CBS News Philadelphia...
13/11/2025
BOSTON Frontline, PBS's investigative documentary series produced at GBH in Boston, has announced the newest class of partners for its Local Journalism Init...
13/11/2025
A groundbreaking new study by the BBC and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has found serious problems with news summaries generated by AI assistants....
13/11/2025
Back to All News
Made in Pennsylvania: How Netflix House Philadelphia Is Openin...
13/11/2025
Editor's note: This post is part of the AI On blog series, which explores the latest techniques and real-world applications of agentic AI, chatbots and copi...
13/11/2025
Black Friday Sale: Save Up to 25% on All Ivory 3 Products!*
From November 13th through December 1st, enjoy our biggest savings of the year on Ivory 3 Products!...