- The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) announced that the SMPTE 2014 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition (SMPTE 2014) will feature a pre-conference event — the SMPTE 2014 Symposium, hosted by the Hollywood Post Alliance (HPA) and titled "Making Do With More." The daylong event is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 20 at the historic El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California.
- "As we consider how technological advances will improve the entertainment experience, we must also address the workflow challenges that will arise," said Pat Griffis, SMPTE education vice president. "Each area of potential enhancement — higher resolution, greater contrast and color, higher brightness, more frames, and more objects associated with sound — brings with it new demands on workflow. Sessions within the SMPTE 2014 Symposium will address these and other next-generation workflow concerns from both a technical and creative standpoint."
- The SMPTE 2014 Symposium is among the first joint efforts of SMPTE and HPA as they move forward with plans for full consolidation by May 2015, and it highlights the strengths of both organizations. HPA is known for facilitating dialog among all disciplines in the entertainment industry, and for its contributions to SMPTE educational events such as SMPTE 2014 that enrich and expand the larger conversation about key topics shaping the industry.
- HPA is well-known for the annual HPA Tech Retreat, which brings technologists and filmmakers together to address many controversial topics influencing the industry.
- In developing the SMPTE 2014 Symposium as a "filmmaker's symposium," HPA is orchestrating sessions that take an in-depth look at advanced technologies that bring new tools to storytelling. The symposium will include creative sessions from renowned cinematographers, visual effects specialists, colorists, and other filmmakers discussing what they hope to do with enhanced pictures and frame rates.
- Additional sessions will offer a look at immersive sound, its impact, and how it's being applied today; changing models for delivery of content to the consumer — including theatrical, broadcast, physical media, and digital distribution — across TV sets, computers, and mobile devices; and the standards and practices being developed to address the changing content life cycle.
- "By connecting the creative community and its supporters with the technical community at the SMPTE 2014 Symposium, SMPTE and HPA are creating an opportunity for all participants to gain a richer and deeper understanding of technology's impact on the creative process," said Leon Silverman, HPA president.
- "The new displays and distribution approaches being proposed by technology companies need to be understood in the context of how the creative community will use this extended tool kit. It is also critical that we examine the standards and workflow approaches that will be necessary to deliver something more to consumers than a higher numbers of pixels."
- SMPTE 2014 is the premier annual event for motion-imaging and media technology, production, operations, and the allied arts and sciences. Each year the event draws elite and world-renowned technology thought-leaders from motion picture studios, broadcast and distribution networks, production and postproduction communities, software companies, systems integrators, manufacturers, display technologies, distribution providers, over-the-top providers, and others leading the evolving motion-imaging industry.
