
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE ), a leader in motion-imaging standards and education for the communications, media, entertainment, and technology industries, today announced that the SMPTE Board of Governors has named the Societys 2016 directors and has appointed two new governors-at-large.
Chris Fetner of Netflix and Leon Silverman of Disney Digital Studio Services were named SMPTE governors-at-large. Alan Lambshead, SMPTE standards vice president, has reappointed Bob Edge and Paul Treleaven to serve as standards directors along with the newly appointed Dave Schnuelle. Patrick Griffis, SMPTE education vice president, has reappointed Michael DeValue, V. Michael Bove, Peter Putman, and Al Kovalick as education directors. Peter Weitzel has been reappointed as international membership director, and Karl Joseph Kuhn was reappointed to serve as the North American membership director by William Miller, membership vice president.
The Society couldnt be in better hands as we move forward into the next 100 years of SMPTE, said Robert Seidel, SMPTE president and vice president of engineering and advanced technology at CBS. The 2016 directors and governors have the experience and vision to guide SMPTEs continuing success in developing standards that shape the motion-imaging industry and in providing the educational and professional resources that support engagement in this robust and dynamic field.
SMPTE 2016 Newly Appointed Officers and Directors: Profiles
Chris Fetner, SMPTE Governor-at-Large
Fetner began his career as an operations manager at a local Public Broadcasting Systems (PBS) affiliate in Washington, D.C., and went on to serve as a producer for television programs including the award-winning show Frontiers of Medicine. He next served as a postproduction and operations executive at Discovery Communications, guiding the companys migration to an all-digital workflow. Later, as vice president of postproduction and technical services at the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) Worldwide in New York, he oversaw all technical operations supporting both the cable network BBC America and its distribution to electronic sell-through (EST), video-on-demand (VOD), and subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) customers. At Netflix, he and his team deploy tools, processes, and knowledge that allow content owners and service vendors to deliver high-quality content to Netflix simply and with efficiency.
Leon Silverman, SMPTE Governor-at-Large
Silverman is general manager of digital studio for The Walt Disney Studios, where he oversees a team that provides on-lot digital infrastructure, postproduction, digital platform distribution services, and workflow expertise. Before Disney, Silverman spent more than two decades at LaserPacific helping to introduce new postproduction technology, services, and workflows to Hollywoods creative and studio community. With Kodaks acquisition of the LaserPacific, Silverman became president and simultaneously served in executive positions at Kodak. In 2002, he spearheaded a coalition of postproduction executives to help launch the HPA , and he has served as its president since its inception. Silverman has received six Disney Inventor Awards for patent pending inventions relating to the theatrical motion-picture workflow. He is a SMPTE Fellow, an associate member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), an affiliate member of American Cinema Editors (ACE), and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Silverman received the HPA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.
Bob Edge, SMPTE Standards Director
Edge, who is president of Bob Edge TV Consulting, has been active in television-standards work for more than 20 years. He participates in projects with SMPTE, IEEE, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the European Broadcast Union (EBU), Video Services Forum (VSF), and the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), among other organizations. Edge has served as a technology committee chair, is a SMPTE Life Fellow, and has contributed to the development of 19 SMPTE standards and registered disclosure documents (RDD). He also is the author of numerous technical papers describing the application of information technology and data networking for television production. In 2012, Edge received the SMPTE Excellence in Standards Award.
Paul Treleaven, SMPTE Standards Director
Treleaven is secretary of the SMPTE 30MR TC, having chaired this and other SMPTE standards groups. He is a member of the International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers (IABM) Technical Task Group, representing the IABM within the SMPTE Standards Community, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) standards meetings, and EBU technology committee meetings. Treleaven is also a member of the U.K.s National Standards Body for International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Technical Committee 100. He has served as SMPTE international region governor and is a SMPTE Fellow. He was a co-founder of Avitel, a company dedicated to designing and manufacturing video, audio, and timecode distribution and processing equipment, and served as the companys technical director until 2001.
Dave Schnuelle, SMPTE Standards Director
Schnuelle is senior director of image technology for Dolby Laboratories, where he is responsible for guidance and outreach in Dolbys efforts in both the digital cinema and consumer imaging areas. He earlier was director of technology for Lucasfilm Ltd.s THX Division, where his accomplishments included establishing the THX Digital Mastering Program and the international digital cinema exhibition of the Star Wars movies - Episode 1 and Episode 2. Schnuelle has received four patents for his work during that period, and he is active in image-technology research and applications. He has participated in SMPTE standards committees for more
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