LOS ANGELES—The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) concluded the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat in mid-February with more than 800 industry leaders, technologists, creatives and executives on hand to attend more than 40 curated sessions.

A defining moment of the week was the presentation of the 2026 HPA Awards Innovation & Technology honors, the expanded evolution of the HPA Engineering Excellence Award.

The 2026 HPA Awards Innovation & Technology category winners are:

• Innovation in Pre-Production: Bria, GenAI Attribution Technology.
• Innovation in Production & Capture: Creamsource, Slyyd Lighting Control App.
• Innovation in VFX, Virtual Production & Animation: Nerfstudio and Industrial Light & Magic, Nerfstudio.
• Innovation in Post-Production: Flawless, TrueSync.
• Innovation in Distribution & Audience Experience: SyncWords, LiveCore + Kobe Muxer.

In addition to the category honors, HPA presented two special recognitions reflecting long-term industry impact and peer-selected excellence during the retreat.

The HPA Transformative Impact Award, recognizing the submission with the greatest potential to reshape the professional media content ecosystem, was awarded to Bria AI — GenAI Attribution Technology. The honor recognizes breakthrough innovation signaling a meaningful shift in how content is created, managed and delivered.

The HPA Tech Retreat Best in Show Award, selected by attendees as the most innovative technology exhibited in the Innovation Zone, was presented to Global Objects.

“I am deeply energized by the success of the 2026 HPA Awards Innovation & Technology honors,” said Renard Jenkins, president of the Hollywood Professional Association. “These honors reflect more than technical achievement. They represent the collaborative spirit and creative ingenuity that propel our industry forward. By recognizing the individuals and teams redefining how stories are imagined, crafted and experienced, HPA continues to champion progress across our global creative community.”

The 2027 HPA Tech Retreat will take place Feb. 14–18, 2027, at the La Quinta Resort & Club in La Quinta, Calif.

For more information, see James O’Neal’s TVTech story: “2026 HPA Tech Retreat Explores Latest Media Production Tools/Technologies.”

More information is available on the HPA website.

The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today unveiled the nominees for its 2026 HPA Awards Innovation & Technology—the evolution of its Engineering Excellence Award—recognizing exceptional contributions to entertainment technology.

The HPA Awards Innovation & Technology program honors advancements across multiple categories covering the entire production life cycle—from pre-production through distribution and audience experience.

The 2026 nominees are:

Innovation in Preproduction

• Bria AI—GenAI Attribution Technology
• RivetAI Inc.—RivetAI
• Yamdu—AI Script Breakdown and Management Add-On

Innovation in Production & Capture

• American Society of Cinematographers—Media Hash List
• Creamsource—Slyyd Lighting Control App
• Méduse Inc.—Safe Guns Phase-Synced Flash-Gun System

Innovation in VFX, Virtual Production & Animation

• Foundry—Nuke Stage
• Nerfstudio and Industrial Light & Magic—Nerfstudio
• Volinga and XGRIDS—Virtual Production Pipeline

Innovation in Post-Production

• Adobe—Generative Extend in Adobe Premiere
• Flawless—TrueSync
• Storj—Production Cloud

Innovation in Distribution & Audience Experience

• Cineverse—CINESEARCH
• SyncWords Inc.—LiveCore + Kobe Muxer
• V-Nova Studios—V-Nova PresenZ

Winners will be announced Feb. 18 at the 2026 HPA Retreat at the Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

The HPA Transformative Impact Award and the HPA Tech Retreat Best in Show Award will be presented Feb. 19, at the close of the retreat.

Judging criteria for the Innovation & Technology categories include innovation, current industry impact, technical merit and adoption readiness. Judging panels were curated by experts with deep technical expertise and hands-on knowledge.

More information about each nomination is available on the HPA website.

LOS ANGELES—The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today said it has begun accepting submissions for its expanded HPA Engineering Excellence Awards, which now honor innovation and technology.

The expanded program, called HPA Awards Innovation & Technology, reflects how innovation and disruptive technology are contributing to the rapid evolution of the media content industry and the broader M&E technology space, HPA said.

“The Engineering Excellence Award created a legacy we’re proud of. These new awards take that foundation and move us into the future,” said HPA Awards Innovation & Technology co-chair Joachim Zell.

For 20 years, the HPA Engineering Excellence Award has recognized engineering achievement. The HPA Awards Innovation & Technology introduces new categories that cover the entire production lifecycle from pre-production through distribution and audience experience.

The expanded awards recognize the impact of innovation and technology on the broader professional media and entertainment ecosystem, spanning film, television, streaming, advertising and branded content for lifestyle and retail experiences, it said.

The criteria for judging will include innovation, current industry impact, technical merit and adoption readiness.

Awards will be presented for:

• Innovation in pre-production
• Innovation in production and capture
• Innovation in VFX, virtual production and animation
• Innovation in post-production
• Innovation in distribution and audience experience

HPA is also launching two special awards, the HPA Transformative Impact Award and the HPA Tech Retreat Best in Show. The former recognizes the single idea in any given year with the most potential to transform the professional media content industry ecosystem. Any submissions for the listed categories are automatically eligible for consideration for the transformative impact award.

The latter special award will be selected by HPA Tech Retreat attendees at the most innovative technology exhibited in the Innovation Zone at the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat.

“We’re expanding recognition to spotlight practical innovations that teams can deploy today — while highlighting the ideas most likely to redefine tomorrow,” said co-chair Chuck Parker.

The HPA Awards Innovation & Technology will be presented at the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat on Feb. 18, 2026, at the Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

HPA also announced key awards date:

• Submission deadline: October 17, 2025.
• Nominations announced: January 2026.
• HPA Awards Innovation & Technology Ceremony: Feb. 18, 2026.
• HPA Special Awards Honors given: Feb. 19, 2026.

More information is available on the HPA website.

LOS ANGELES—The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) held its annual awards ceremony at the Television Academy’s Wolf Theatre Nov. 7, honoring trailblazing talent in the post production industry, celebrating standout achievements in color grading, sound, editing, restoration, and visual effects across theatrical features, commercials, and episodics.

The HPA’s Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation honored “Taylor Swift—The Eras Tour.”

“This prestigious recognition celebrates the profound impact on both live and filmed entertainment that defined ‘The Eras Tour,’ underscoring its exceptional impact on audiences and the industry,” the association said. The jury said: “Celebrated as the cultural phenomenon of 2023, ‘Taylor Swift—The Eras Tour’ set new records in box office sales, tour revenues, and attendance. The tour showcased exceptional artistry and innovation, making a profound impact on both live and filmed entertainment.”

This year, FotoKem was awarded the prestigious Charles S. Swartz Award for its role in supporting filmmakers, studios, cinematographers and artists across diverse film and media landscapes. Also celebrated were the previously announced recipients of the esteemed Engineering Excellence awards, recognizing the cutting-edge technology that fuels creative breakthroughs in post production.

A list of all nominees is available here.

The winners of the 2024 HPA Awards Creative Categories are:

Outstanding Color Grading—Live Action Theatrical Feature
(Sponsored by Blackmagic Design)
“Dune: Part Two”
David Cole/FotoKem

Outstanding Color Grading—Animated Theatrical Feature
(Sponsored by Blackmagic Design)
“Inside Out 2”
Mark Dinicola/Pixar Animation Studios

Outstanding Color Grading—Live Action Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature
(Sponsored by Blackmagic Design)
“Time Bandits—Kevin Haddock”
Damian McDonnell/The Rebel Fleet

Outstanding Color Grading—Animated Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature
(Sponsored by Blackmagic Design)
“Leo”
Keiran Lee/Feature Animation at Netflix

Outstanding Color Grading—Documentary
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design
“Trilogy: New Wave”
Alastor Pan Arnold/FotoKem

Outstanding Color Grading – Commercial
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design
Air Canada – “Ticket to Dream”
Wade Odlum/Alter Ego

Outstanding Editing—Theatrical Feature
“The Holdovers”
Kevin Tent, ACE

Outstanding Editing—Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature (30 Minutes and Under)
“Hacks—Better Late”
Rob Paglia

Outstanding Editing—Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature (Over 30 Minutes)
“Ahsoka—Part Six: Far, Far Away”
James D. Wilcox, ACE
“House of the Dragon – The Red Dragon and the Gold”
Katie Weiland, ACE

Outstanding Editing—Documentary
“Ren Faire – Daddy's Dyin,’ Who’s Got The Will?”
Max Allman, Nicholas Nazmi

Outstanding Sound—Theatrical Feature
“Dune: Part Two”
Richard King, Dave Whitehead, Martin Kwok, Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Andrew Bock/Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services

Outstanding Sound—Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature
“No One Will Save You”
Will Files, Chris Terhune, Ailene Roberts, James Miller, Matt "Smokey" Cloud/Pacific Standard Sound

Outstanding Sound—Documentary
“Porcelain War”
Robert Mackenzie, Sam Hayward, Jared Dwyer, Andrew Miller, Alex Francis, Karina Rezhevska/RMS

Outstanding Visual Effects—Live Action Feature
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
Erik Winquist, Danielle Immerman, Stephen Unterfranz, Phillip Leonhardt, Sean Noel Walker/Wētā FX

Outstanding Visual Effects—Animated Feature
“Ultraman: Rising”
Hayden Jones, Stefan Drury, Sean M. Murphy, Mathieu Vig, Kyle Winkelman/Industrial Light & Magic

Outstanding Visual Effects—Live Action Episode or Series Season
“House of the Dragon—The Red Dragon and the Gold”
Sven Martin, Fausto Tejeda, Mark Spindler, Matt Perrin, James Thompson // Pixomondo

Outstanding Visual Effects—Animated Episode or Series Season
“X-Men ’97—Season 1”
Chris Graf, Dan McNaughton, Husain Untoro, Quentin Cordonnier, Andrew Stadler // Marvel Animation Studios

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects—Episode or Series Season
“All The Light We Cannot See—Season 1”
Laurens Ehrmann, Harry Bardak, Elisa Perez, Julien Martins // The Yard VFX

Outstanding Achievement in Restoration
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937)
Disney

As previously announced, winners of the coveted Engineering Excellence Award include Adobe (Enhance Speech in Premiere Pro), Disguise and Cuebric (AI-Driven 2.5D Workflow), and Evercast (Evercast for Apple Vision Pro).

Sponsors for the HPA Awards include Blackmagic Design, Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services Worldwide, Deluxe, Fotokem, Kodak, Pixelogic, Avid, Colorist Society, Compton and Company, Sohonet, Tech Align Group, Veritone and Dolby.

HPA said it “extends gratitude to its industry partners, including the American Society of Cinematographers, American Cinema Editors, and Cinema Audio Society for their collaboration on craft categories, as well as its judging facility hosts FotoKem, Pixelogic and Deluxe Digital Cinema.”

The Hollywood Professional Association Monday tapped a host of creative teams from high-profile projects as Creative Category Nominees in the 2024 HPA Awards, with ceremonies set for Nov. 7 at The Television Academy’s Wolf Theatre in Hollywood.

The 19th annual HPA Awards are intended to celebrate the exceptional contributions of creative teams and individuals to entertainment content, spotlighting the work of artists and technologists. The postproduction-focused awards recognize work in color grading editing, sound and visual effects across episodic TV shows, feature films, documentaries and commercials. There’s also a category recognizing excellence in the restoration of classic films.

This year’s nominees are:

• Outstanding Color Grading—Live Action Theatrical Feature: “Blink Twice,” Damien Vandercruyssen/Harbor; “The Creator,” David Cole/FotoKem; “Dune: Part Two,” David Cole/ FotoKem; “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” Eric Whipp/Alter Ego; “Immaculate,” Andrea Chlebak/Harbor
• Outstanding Color Grading—Animated Theatrical Feature: “Inside Out 2,” Mark Dinicola/Pixar Animation Studios; “Ultraman: Rising,” Maxine Gervais/Picture Shop
• Outstanding Color Grading—Live Action Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature: “Eric – Episode 1,” Toby Tomkins/Harbor; “Loki—Glorious Purpose,” Matt Watson/Marvel Studios Finishing; “Masters of the Air—Part 5,” Steven Bodner/Picture Shop; “Shōgun – Anjin,” Élodie Ichter/The Mill; “Star Trek Discovery—Red Directive,” Todd Bochner/Harbor; “Time Bandits—Kevin Haddock,” Damian McDonnell/The Rebel Fleet
• Outstanding Color Grading—Animated Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature: “Hit-Monkey—History Lessons,” Patrick Woodard, Point.360; “Leo,” Keiran Lee/Feature Animation at Netflix; “Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie,” Alastor Pan Arnold/Keep Me Posted; “Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—Night of the Mechazoids,” Ara Thomassian/Keep Me Posted; “War Is Over!” David Cole/FotoKem
• Outstanding Color Grading—Documentary: “American Symphony,” Seth Ricart/RCO; “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes,” Nat Jencks/PostWorks; “Living with Leopards,” Dan Gil/Picture Shop; “Queens —Tiny Jungle Queens,” Blair Wallace/Evolutions Bristol; “Trilogy: New Wave,” Alastor Pan Arnold/FotoKem
• Outstanding Color Grading—Commercial: Air Canada, “Ticket to Dream,” Wade Odlum/Alter Ego; Miu Miu, “2024 Wander and Arcadie Bag Collection,” Yibin Su/Gloss Studio; Palo Alto, “Origin,” Eric Whipp/Alter Ego; Subway, “Globally Inspired,” Wade Odlum/Alter Ego; Taco Bell, “Taco TwosDay,” Quinn Alvarez/Apache Digital
• Outstanding Editing—Theatrical Feature: “Dune: Part Two,” Joe Walker, ACE; “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” Eliot Knapman, Margaret Sixel, ACE; “The Holdovers,” Kevin Tent, ACE; “Inside Out 2,” Maurissa Horwitz; “Twisters,” Terilyn A. Shropshire, ACE
• Outstanding Editing—Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature (30 Minutes and Under): “Bookie—The Super Bowl: God’s Gift To Bookies,” Tracey Wadmore-Smith, ACE; “Hacks— Better Late,” Rob Paglia; “Hacks—Bulletproof,” Jon Philpot; “Hacks—The Deborah Vance Christmas Spectacular,” Jess Brunetto, ACE; “Hacks—Just for Laughs,” Janet Weinberg, ACE
• Outstanding Editing—Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature (Over 30 Minutes): “Ahsoka – Part Four: Fallen Jedi,” Dana E. Glauberman, ACE; “Ahsoka—Part 6: Far, Far Away,” James D. Wilcox, ACE; “House of the Dragon—The Red Dragon and the Gold,” Katie Weiland, ACE; “House of the Dragon—A Son for a Son,” Frances Parker, ACE; “Tokyo Vice—Illness of the Trade,” Gary Levy; “True Detective – Night Country: Part 5,” Mags Arnold
• Outstanding Editing—Documentary: “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life,” Bob Joyce; “The Commandant's Shadow,” Claire Guillon; “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes,” Tal Ben-David; “Porcelain War,” Brendan Bellomo, Aniela Sidorska; “Ren Faire—Daddy's Dyin', Who's Got The Will?,” Max Allman, Nicholas Nazmi
• Outstanding Sound—Theatrical Feature: “Alien: Romulus,” Will Files, Lee Gilmore, Mark Paterson, Polly McKinnon, David Butler, Chris Terhune/Pacific Standard Sound; “Civil War,” Glenn Freemantle, Howard Bargroff, Adam Scrivener, Ben Barker, Gillian Dodders/Formosa Group UK; “The Creator,” Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn, Malte Bieler, David Bach/E² Sound; Tom Ozanich, Dean A. Zupancic/Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services; “Dune: Part Two,” Richard King, Dave Whitehead, Martin Kwok, Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Andrew Bock/Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services; “Música,” Christopher S. Aud, Aaron Glascock, Eliza Pollack Zebert, Mitch Osias, Rob Young, Jennifer Barak/Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services
• Outstanding Sound—Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature: “All The Light We Cannot See—Episode 4,” Craig Henighan, Ryan Cole, Jill Purdy, Emma Present, David Grimaldi, Mark Paterson/Pacific Standard Sound; “Fallout—The Head,” Keith Rogers, Steve Bucino, Susan Cahill, Jane Boegel-Koch, Daniel Colman, Christopher Kaller/NBCUniversal; “Interview with the Vampire—And That's the End of It. There's Nothing Else,” Howard Bargroff, Harry Barnes, Jamie Caple, Mark Timms, Adam Armitage, Michael Holubec/Formosa Group; “No One Will Save You,” Will Files, Chris Terhune, Ailene Roberts, James Miller, Matt "Smokey" Cloud/Pacific Standard Sound; “True Detective – Night Country: Part 6,” Howard Bargroff, Mark Timms/Formosa Group UK, Martín Hernández, Stephen Griffiths, Andy Shelley, Michele Woods
• Outstanding Sound—Documentary: “Chimp Crazy—Monkey Love,” Roberto Fernandez/Harbor; “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes,” Tom Paul, Eric Offin, Ben Whitver, Peter Russell, Kristin Catuogno/Tom Paul Studios; “Kiss the Future,” Samir Foco, Ron Bartlett, Bryan Parker, William Harp, Taylor Jackson/Formosa Group; “Porcelain War,” Robert Mackenzie, Sam Hayward, Jared Dwyer, Andrew Miller, Alex Francis, Karina Rezhevska/RMS; “To Kill a Tiger,” Lou Solakofski, Jonathan Goldsmith, Ed Douglas, Elma Bellow, Jordan Kawai, Anita Kushwaha/Formosa Group
• Outstanding Visual Effects—Live Action Feature: “Alien: Romulus,” Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Ale' Melendez, Sebastian Ravagnani, Nicolas Caillier, Steven Denyer/Industrial Light & Magic; “The Creator,”James Clyne, Trevor Hazel, Keith Anthony-Brown, Danielle Legovich, David Dally/Industrial Light & Magic; “Deadpool & Wolverine,” Vincent Papaix, Georg Kaltenbrunner, Alexander Poei, Ziad Shureih, Russell Lum/Industrial Light & Magic; “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” Erik Winquist, Danielle Immerman, Stephen Unterfranz, Phillip Leonhardt, Sean Noel Walker/Wētā FX; “A Quiet Place: Day One,” Malcolm Humphreys, Jordan Harding, Charmaine Chan, Michael Lum, Steve Hardy/Industrial Light & Magic
• Outstanding Visual Effects—Animated Feature: “Inside Out 2,” Shaun Galinak, Toan-Vinh Le, Alyssa Lee, Enrique Vila, Jae Jun Yi/Pixar Animation Studios; “Ultraman: Rising,” Hayden Jones, Stefan Drury, Sean M. Murphy, Mathieu Vig, Kyle Winkelman/Industrial Light & Magic
• Outstanding Visual Effects—Live Action Episode or Series Season: “House of the Dragon —The Red Dragon and the Gold,” Sven Martin, Fausto Tejeda, Mark Spindler, Matt Perrin, James Thompson/Pixomondo; “House of the Dragon – Season 2,” Wayne Stables, Marcus Goodwin, Jason Snyman, Mark J. Julien/Wētā FX; Martin Pelletier/Rodeo FX; “Loki—Season 2,” Steve Moncur, Christian Waite, Jeremy Sawyer, Ben Aickin, Pieter Warmington // Industrial Light & Magic; “Percy Jackson and the Olympians—Season 1,” Erik Henry, Matt Robken, Jeff White, Jose Burgos, Donny Rausch/Industrial Light & Magic; “Star Trek: Discovery – Season 5,” Aleksandra Kochoska Dekovic, Brian Tatosky, Charles Collyer, Chelsea Wynne, Shawn Ewashko/CBS Studios
• Outstanding Visual Effects—Animated Episode or Series Season: “Ark: The Animated Series – Element 5,” James Baldanzi, Patrick Flanagan, David Hartman, Jon Terada/Lex + Otis Studios, Jeremy Stieglitz/Lost Continent Entertainment; “X-Men '97—Season 1,” Chris Graf, Dan McNaughton, Husain Untoro, Quentin Cordonnier, Andrew Stadler/Marvel Animation Studios
• Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects—Episode or Series Season: “All The Light We Cannot See—Season 1,” Laurens Ehrmann, Harry Bardak, Elisa Perez, Julien Martins/The Yard VFX; “Sunny—Mmmm, Hinoki,” David Lebensfeld, Tina Torunian, Francesca Orrach, Pablo Izaguirre, Edgar Pina/Ingenuity Studios; “The Sympathizer—Death Wish,” Chad Wanstreet, Daniel J. Lombardo/HBO/A24, Andrew Orloff/Zoic, Lawson Deming/Barnstorm VFX, Hallana Barbosa/Ingenuity Studios
• Outstanding Achievement in Restoration: “The Day of the Locust” (1975), Paramount; “Planet of the Apes” (1968), 20th Century Studios; “The Searchers” (1956), Warner Bros.; “Snow White” (1937), Disney; “The Sugarland Express” (1974), Universal Pictures

In addition to these categories, the HPA will honor postproduction facility FotoKem with the Charles S. Swartz Award for its lasting impact on the industry. The Engineering Excellence Awards, announced earlier this year, will include such honorees as as Adobe (Enhance Speech in Premiere Pro); Disguise and Cuebric (AI-Driven 2.5D Workflow); and Evercast (Evercast for Apple Vision Pro).

For information on event tickets, visit hpaonline.com.

LOS ANGELES—The Hollywood Professional Association has announced that submissions for the 2024 HPA Engineering Excellence Awards are now being accepted. This renowned accolade recognizes and celebrates innovation and outstanding technical and creative ingenuity within content creation, distribution and development. 

The submission deadline for the 2024 HPA Engineering Excellence Awards is June 14, 2024.  There will be an online judging session and winners will be announced in August 2024. The awards will be presented during the 2024 HPA Awards gala on November 7th at the Television Academy’s Wolf Theater in North Hollywood, Calf.

Joachim Zell, chair of the HPA Engineering Excellence Awards, explained that "Our industry is in a revolutionary phase of development and change, as it often is. Every year, we see the most incredible work, showcasing the very best of what is being developed. I urge you to enter and show what you’ve been working on. Your work is what drives the industry forward, and we are excited to see it.”

The HPA Engineering Excellence awards acknowledge demonstrated excellence in the design, development, or implementation of products or workflows that improve the user experience of professional content creators, artists, or operators. Submissions can be hardware, software, cloud-based offerings, or technological developments and production processes. Individuals, groups, organizations and companies are eligible to submit, provided that submissions were introduced and commercially available prior to the submission deadline. 

Once again, a distinguished panel of industry experts known for their innovation, creativity, technical excellence and overall contribution to the industry will be convened to judge the submissions.

Awardees of the 2023 Engineering Excellence Award included Adobe for Adobe Premiere Pro Text-Based Editing, Flanders Scientific for XMP550, and Kino Flo for Mimik 120.  StypeLandXR received an Honorable Mention.

The HPA Awards are sponsored by Avid, Black Magic Design, Dolby, and Sohonet. 

To submit an entry or learn more about the HPA Engineering Excellence Award, visit hpaonline.com.

The organization has also announced that the HPA NET Roundtables are returning on July 18 and that HPA is accepting proposals for a roundtable between now and May 1, 2024 here. 

HPA NET fosters education and candid conversations in the media and entertainment industry, which is why the group is seeking moderators like you to lead insightful roundtable discussions about how our industry is evolving all around us. 

HPA also has announced that “in order to sustain the quality and expansion of our offerings, we will be implementing a $20 increase in membership fees, effective May 1st, 2024.”

The group noted that if members “sign up for autopay, you'll lock in the current rate of $125 for your membership going forward. If you'd like to take advantage of autopay, send us a message before May 1st, and we'll sort out your renewal.”

For more information call (818) 273-1482 or send an email to membership@hpaonline.com.

LOS ANGELES—The HPA Awards on November 28 turned the spotlight on the exemplary contributions of the post production industry tonight, honoring work in color grading, sound, editing, restoration, and visual effects for theatrical features, commercials, and episodics. 

Held at the Television Academy’s Wolf Theatre, additional honors included the HPA Judges’ Award for Creativity and Innovation presented to Sphere, the Las Vegas venue being heralded as the future of entertainment. In addition, the previously announced winners of the coveted Engineering Excellence awards were honored.

To acknowledge the heart, spirit and difficulties of the past year the evening included an HPA-produced short film, “Tribute to Post;” a salute to the resilient members of the post production community. 

Directed by Clyde Bessey of Origin Point, the short featured commentary from industry luminaries Wendy Aylsworth; Jill Bogdanowicz; Mike Brodersen; Larry Chernoff; Michael Cioni; Carolyn Giardina; Seth Hallen; Nikki Jee; Rob Legato, ASC; Loren Nielsen; Sabrina Plisco, ACE; Leon Silverman and Mandy Walker, ASC-ACS.

The winners of the 2023 HPA Awards Creative Categories are:

Outstanding Color Grading – Live Action Theatrical Feature

- “Barbie” // Yvan Lucas // Company 3

- “The Fabelmans” // Michael Hatzer // Picture Shop

- “Asteroid City”// Gareth Spensley // Company 3

- “Oppenheimer” // Kostas Theodosiou, Kristen Zimmerman // FotoKem (WINNER)

- “Tár” // Tim Masick // Company 3

Outstanding Color Grading – Animated Theatrical Feature

- “Elemental” // Susan Brunig // Pixar Animation Studios

- “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” // Jason Hanel // Company 3

- “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” // Natasha Leonnet // Picture Shop (WINNER)

- “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”// Mitch Paulson // Company 3

Outstanding Color Grading – Live Action Episode Or Non-Theatrical Feature

- “Swarm – Stung”// Alastor Pan Arnold // Keep Me Posted

- “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty – One Ring Don't Make a Dynasty” // Walter Volpatto // Company 3 (WINNER)

- “American Gigolo – Pilot”// Shane Harris // Picture Shop

- “Great Expectations – Episode 2”// Toby Tomkins // Harbor

- “Wednesday – Wednesday's Child Is Full of Woe”// Siggy Ferstl// Company 3

Outstanding Color Grading – Documentary

- “Descendant” // Sam Daley // Light Iron

- “Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming with Dave Letterman”//Taylor Black // Apache

- “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie”// Stefan Sonnenfeld, Adam Nazarenko // Company 3

- “Chimp Empire – Paradise” // Blair Wallace // Evolutions Post Production (WINNER)

- “Shaq – From Shaquille to Shaq” // Taylor Black // Apache

Outstanding Color Grading – Commercial

- Zara – “Man SS23 Studio Collection” // Tim Masick // Company 3

- Levi’s – “One Fair Exchange in the Greatest Story Ever Worn” // Sofie Borup // Company 3

- Expedia – “Wisdom & Obi” // Mark Gethin // Trafik (WINNER)

- Duracell x Williams Racing – “Scream” // Tyler Roth // Company 3

- Belvedere – “Daniel Craig” // Matthieu Toullet // Company 3

Outstanding Editing – Theatrical Feature -Sponsored By Blackmagic Design

- “Barbie” // Nick Houy, ACE

- “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” // Eddie Hamilton, ACE

- “Oppenheimer” // Jennifer Lame, ACE (WINNER)

- “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” // Michael Andrews, ACE

- “Tár” // Monika Willi

Outstanding Editing – Episode Or Non-Theatrical Feature (30 Minutes And Under) Sponsored By Blackmagic Design

- “The Righteous Gemstones – Burn for Burn, Wound for Wound, Stripe for Stripe” // Justin Bourret, ACE

- “Barry – it takes a psycho” // Franky Guttman, ACE

- “What We Do in the Shadows – Local News” // A.J. Dickerson, ACE, Thomas Calderón

- “Barry – a nice meal” // Ali Greer, ACE (WINNER)

- “How To With John Wilson – How To Watch Birds” // Cori Wapnowska

Outstanding Editing – Episode Or Non-Theatrical Feature (Over 30 Minutes) 

Sponsored by Blackmagic Design

- “The Last of Us – Endure and Survive”// Timothy A. Good, ACE, Emily Mendez

- “White House Plumbers – The Beverly Hills Burglary” // Erick Fefferman, Roger Nygard

- “Succession – With Open Eyes” // Ken Eluto, ACE

- “The White Lotus – Arrivederci” // John M. Valerio, ACE (WINNER)

- “White House Plumbers – True Believers” // Grady Cooper, Jon Merchen

Outstanding Editing – Documentary Sponsored By Blackmagic Design

- “100 Foot Wave –Lost at Sea” // Alex Keipper, Alex Bayer

- “A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting” // Eric Schuman

- “Being Mary Tyler Moore” // Mariah Rehmet

- “Branson – Episode 2, Atlantic” // Paul Trewartha

- “Moonage Daydream” // Brett Morgen (WINNER)

Outstanding Sound – Theatrical Feature

- “Barbie” // Ai-Ling Lee, Kevin O'Connell, Dan Kenyon // Warner Bros. Post Production Services

- “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” // Scott Gershin, Chris Richardson, Masanobu 'Tomi' Tomita, Andrew Vernon, Dan Gamache // Sound Lab a Keywords Studio

- “Creed III” // Aaron Glascock, Tom Ozanich, Walter Spencer, Curt Schulkey // Warner Bros. Post Production Services

- “John Wick: Chapter 4” // Mark Stoeckinger, Andy Koyama, Casey Genton, Alan Rankin, Manfred Banach // Formosa Group (WINNER)

- “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” // Jason W. Jennings, Julian Slater, Greg P. Russell, Paul Pirola, Ken McGill, Mia Stewart // Warner Bros. Post Production Services

Outstanding Sound – Episode Or Non-Theatrical Feature

- “Star Trek: Picard – The Last Generation” // Matthew E. Taylor, Michael Schapiro, Todd Grace, Ed Carr III, Ian Shedd // Warner Bros. Post Production Services

- “The Last of Us – Infected” // Michael Benavente, Marc Fishman, Kevin Roache, Chris Terhune, Chris Battaglia // Formosa Group (WINNER)

- “Barry – it takes a psycho” // Sean Heissinger, Matthew E. Taylor, John Creed, Rickley Dumm: Warner Bros. Post Production Services // Elmo Ponsdomenech, Teddy Salas: Sony Pictures Entertainment

- “Wednesday – A Murder of Woes” // Mike Baskerville, Jamie Sulek, John Loranger, Alastair Gray, Dan Sexton // Company 3

- “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Hegemony” // Matthew E. Taylor, Michael Schapiro, Todd Grace, Ed Carr III, Sean Heissinger // Warner Bros. Post Production Services

Outstanding Sound – Documentary

- “32 Sounds” // Mark Mangini, Robert Kellough, Eliza Paley, Joanna Fang, Blake Collins // Formosa Group

- “A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting” // Daniel Timmons // Harbor Sound

- “Good Night Oppy” // Mark Mangini, Dave Whitehead, Tim Walston, Dave Bach, Angela Claverie // Formosa Group

- “If These Walls Could Sing” // George Foulgham, Philip Moroz, Alex Gibson, Tom Verstappen, Miles Sullivan // George Foulgham Soundscapes Ltd. (WINNER)

- “Moonage Daydream”// Nina Hartstone, David Giammarco, John Warhurst, Paul Massey // Public Road Productions

Outstanding Visual Effects – Live Action Feature

- “Avatar: The Way of Water” // Christopher Egden, Nick Epstein, Wayne Stables, Pavani Rao Boddapati, Sergei Nevshupov // Wētā FX (WINNER)

- “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” // Aaron Weintraub, Jeffrey Schaper, Cameron Carson, Emma Gorbey, Warren Lawtey // MPC

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”// Guy Williams, Daniel Macarin, Mike Cozens, Mark Smith, Marvyn Young // Wētā FX

- “Avatar: The Way of Water” // David Vickery, Lee Briggs, Jan Maroske, Steve Ellis, Miguel Perez-Senent // Industrial Light & Magic

-“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” // Matt Aitken, Mike Perry, Aaron Cowan, Kevin Estey, Jong Jin Choi // Wētā FX

Outstanding Visual Effects – Live Action Episode Or Series Season

- “Andor – Season One” // Mohen Leo, Scott Pritchard: Industrial Light & Magic// TJ Falls: Lucasfilm // Joseph Kasparian: Hybride // Jelmer Boskma: Scanline 

- “House of the Dragon – The Heirs of the Dragon” // Angus Bickerton, Nikeah Forde, Mike Bell: MPC // Sven Martin, Mark Spindler: Pixomondo (WINNER)

- “The Last of Us – Season One” // Simon Jung, Aaron Cowan, David Hampton, Dennis Yoo, Ben Roberts // Wētā FX

- “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Season One” Ron Ames, Jason Smith, Jesse Kobayashi, Ryan Tudhope, Sam Scott // Amazon Studios

- “The Mandalorian – Season Three” Grady Cofer, Abbigail Keller, Paul Kavanagh, Delio Tramontozzi: Industrial Light & Magic // Bobo Skipper: Important Looking Pirates

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects – Episode Or Series Season

- “Barry – Season Four” Justin Ball, Laura Hill, Andrew Kalicki, David Lopez, Manuel Guizar // Crafty Apes

- “Citadel – Secrets in Night Need Early Rains” // Aladino Debert, Greg Teegarden, James Reid, Mathew Rotman, Viv Jim // Digital Domain (WINNER)

- “Interview with the Vampire – Is My Very Nature That of a Devil” // Ted Rae, Tavis Larkham, Matthew Harris, Hugo Leveille, J.V. Pike // FuseFX

- “The Night Agent – Season One” // Grant Miller, Hallana Barbosa, Pierceon Bellemare, Mariia Osanova, Ben Stommes  // Ingenuity Studios

- “The Righteous Gemstones – Season Three” // Bruce Branit, Valeri Pfahning: Rough House // Fred Ruff: Refuge VFX //        Ed Bruce: Screen Scene Studios // David Lebensfeld: Ingenuity Studios

Outstanding Achievement In Restoration

- “Casablanca” (1942) // Warner Bros.

- “Cinderella” (1950) // Disney

- “Cimarron” (1931) // Warner Bros

.“The Godfather” (1972) // Paramount Pictures (WINNER)

- “Winds of Chance” (1925) // First National Pictures and Christopher Gray Post Production 

As previously announced, winners of the coveted Engineering Excellence Award include Adobe for Adobe Premiere Pro Text-Based Editing, Flanders Scientific for  XMP550, and Kino Flo for Mimik 120, with StypeLandXR receiving an Honorable Mention.

The HPA Awards are made possible through the generous support of diamond title sponsor Blackmagic Design; dessert sponsors Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services Worldwide; Xytech, event sponsors Deluxe, FotoKem, and Pixelogic; supporting sponsors Adobe, AVID, Colorist Society, Sohonet and The Sound Lab a Keywords Studio.

LOS ANGELES—The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced that Vicky Colf, Alison Hoffman, and Kim Snyder will receive HPA League Honors.

The League Honors were created to recognize diverse members of the media and entertainment community who shine as examples of accomplishment, innovation and leadership.   

“These outstanding individuals operate at the vanguard of change," said HPA president Seth Hallen. "They are the people that up-and-coming leaders can aspire to emulate, while leading organizations and illuminating a path to the future.  We are delighted to honor their accomplishments.”

Vicky Colf, former CTO at Warner Bros., will receive the Excelsior Honor, which recognizes a leader who runs a business or finance team in the M&E industry (either manufacturer, service provider, or end-user) and who shows impressive business acumen and outstanding leadership while achieving remarkable business growth as well as a commitment to service in our community.  

Alison Hoffman, president of STARZ Domestic Networks, will receive the Rainmaker Honor, recognizing a leader who deployed intelligent tactics & ensured their company or organization achieved its sales and marketing goals and revenue targets. The award honors excellence in creative marketing, financial performance and business growth, as well as commitment to serving the community.  

Kim Snyder, CEO of Panavision, will be recognized as the Alchemist. This honor recognizes a leader who spearheads the innovation of noteworthy technology, bringing tangible benefits to the industry in production, post or workflow, as well as a commitment to serving the community. 

Previous recipients of the League Honors include Annie Chang, Vice President, Creative Technologies, Universal Pictures (The Catalyst); Tammy Garnes, Vice President of Education & Understanding, ARRAY (The Excelsior); Patricia Keighley, Chief Quality Guru, IMAX Corp. (The Rainmaker); Charles D. King, Founder & CEO, MACRO (The Star); and Iris Wu, Founder, Ambidio (The Alchemist).

Recipients of the HPA League Honors are determined by a jury of industry leaders, with the enthusiastic support of the HPA Board of Directors. For more information about HPA and the HPA League Honors, visit hpaonline.com.

LOS ANGELES—The 2023 Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) Awards has opened its call for entries in the creative categories and announced that submissions will be accepted until July 28, 2023.  

Changes in this year’s awards include additional recognition for Outstanding Restoration, as well as refinement in honors for animation in VFX and color grading for feature films and episodic non-theatrical work.  

“As the HPA Awards have matured, we have seen the need to differentiate documentary work from scripted,” explained Seth Hallen, HPA president and a founding member of the HPA Awards Committee. “These new categories are in direct response to an industry trend, but also to our audience of creatives, who have submitted and promoted this category over the years. At the same time, we see such tremendous work being done in the field of restoration and preservation, and the value of that work to our industry is undeniable. It’s thrilling to announce these additional awards as I open the call for entries for creative categories for the 2023 HPA Awards. I look forward to gathering again in November to honor, connect, and enjoy what I’m sure will be yet another spectacular event.”  

The HPA Awards encompass the breadth of talent behind the beauty and spectacle of media and entertainment in a single event. Judged by experts and artists at the top of their careers, submissions for the HPA Awards include the most compelling and beautifully executed work from around the world, the group said. 

Submissions are being accepted in the following competitive categories:

• Outstanding Color Grading – Live Action Theatrical Feature
• Outstanding Color Grading – Animated Theatrical Feature
• Outstanding Color Grading – Live Action Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature
• Outstanding Color Grading – Animated Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature
• Outstanding Color Grading – Documentary
• Outstanding Color Grading – Commercial
• Outstanding Editing – Theatrical Feature
• Outstanding Editing – Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature (30 Minutes and Under)
• Outstanding Editing – Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature (Over 30 minutes)
• Outstanding Editing – Documentary
• Outstanding Sound (Design, Editing, Mixing) – Theatrical Feature
• Outstanding Sound (Design, Editing, Mixing) – Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature
• Outstanding Sound (Design, Editing, Mixing) – Documentary
• Outstanding Visual Effects – Live Action Feature
• Outstanding Visual Effects – Animated Feature
• Outstanding Visual Effects – Live Action Episode or Series Season
• Outstanding Visual Effects – Animated Episode or Series Season
• Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects – Episode or Series Season
• Outstanding Achievement in Restoration

The Restoration category launched during the 2022 Awards cycle as a juried (non-submittable) award. In consideration of this award’s status change, entries that were publicly released during the 2022 period of eligibility will be eligible for Awards consideration during the 2023 call for entries. Entries that were publicly released between September 8, 2021 and September 4, 2023 may be submitted. 

For all other creative categories, to be considered eligible, work must have debuted domestically and/or internationally between September 7, 2022 and September 4, 2023. Membership in the Hollywood Professional Association is not required for submission, and work from outside of the United States is encouraged.

The call for entries for the HPA Engineering Excellence Award, honoring products and processes representing outstanding technical and creative ingenuity in media, content production, finishing, distribution, and archive, opened last month and submissions will be accepted until June 16, 2023.  

The HPA Awards gala will return to the Hollywood Legion Theatre on November 9. 

The HPA Awards are made possible through the generous sponsorship of diamond title sponsor Blackmagic Design as well as foundation members Avid, Dolby and Sohonet. 

For sponsorship or program advertising opportunities, contact Joyce Cataldo at jcataldo@hpaonline.com. Complete rules, guidelines and entry information for the creative categories and all of the HPA Awards, as well as a list of previous winners, are available at hpaonline.com.

HPA is now accepting nominations for the Engineering Excellence Awards, which will be handed out at the HPA Awards Gala at the Hollywood Legion Theater in Los Angeles, Nov. 9

Creative Categories include Color Grading, Editing, Sound and Visual Effects in Film, Television, Documentary/Nonfiction and Commercials. Special Awards may also be presented, including Engineering Excellence, Outstanding Achievement in Restoration, the HPA Judges Award for Creativity & Innovation, Charles S. Swartz Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The timeline is as follows:

April 16: Engineering Excellence Call for Entries opens

June 1: Creative Categories Call for Entries opens

June 16: Engineering Excellence Call for Entries closes

July 10-24: Engineering Excellence judging

July 27: Engineering Excellence live Q&A

July 28: Creative Categories Call for Entries closes

November 9: HPA Awards Gala

Click here to enter.

BURBANK, Calif.—The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) Awards Committee has announced that director David France and visual effects supervisor Ryan Laney will receive the organization’s prestigious Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation for 2021 for their work on “Welcome to Chechnya.”

The award will be bestowed on November 18, 2021 at the HPA Awards gala at the Hollywood Legion.

The Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation was conceived to recognize companies and individuals who have demonstrated excellence in the development of processes or projects that support creative storytelling. The award is not bestowed every year, but rather at the discretion of the jury and is reserved for truly important work.  

Co-chaired by Carolyn Giardina and Joachim Zell, jury members include cinematographer Markus Förderer, ASC; Paramount Pictures SVP Asset Management Andrea Kalas; Legendary Pictures VP, Post Production Technology JoAnne Kim; and Cinema Audio Society president Karol Urban. 

"Welcome to Chechnya" is an eye-opening documentary about activists who risk unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ persecution in the Russian republic of Chechnya. The film follows the activists as they work undercover to rescue victims, get them into safe houses, and help them obtain visas to escape persecution. 

The filmmakers shadowed activists to document the ongoing pogrom against LGBTQ people in Chechnya, where leader Ramzan Kadyrov continues his campaign to detain, torture, and execute his own people.  

Director David France ("How to Survive a Plague") and VFX supervisor Ryan Laney ("The Day After Tomorrow" and "Spider-Man 3") used cutting-edge machine-learning to automate face replacements and provide anonymity to the people on the ground, telling the story of an extraordinary group of individuals endangering their own lives to challenge the evil.

To help witnesses avoid punishment for speaking out, the victims were given a digital “disguise” by the VFX team. 

“The film lives in the harrowing stories of these individuals, and keeping them safe was a critical priority. We wanted to capture the physicality of the people and show their emotional journeys without putting them at risk. We had tried several ways to hide their identities, but it was Ryan who solved it,” said France. 

Helming the VFX team for the first documentary ever to be included on the Academy’s VFX shortlist was Laney, who describes the technique as “transferring the style of one person’s face onto the movements of the other person’s. We call it a ‘veil’ because it is a bit like make-up, where the new face is painted over the original.  Machine learning decouples identity from movement so we ended up with 100 percent the original person’s motion, but their identity is veiled and undetectable.” 

The filmmakers recruited mostly queer activists to be the face doubles for the witnesses. “I asked them if they would lend their faces as a human shield to protect the identities of the folks I’d filmed. And they signed on as an act of activism,” said France. “We [digitally] captured the likeness of these people in all the lighting environments found in the film,” Laney says, adding that once they had this material, they worked on the individual shots by effectively combining machine-learning, automation, and traditional, artist-driven visual effects techniques.  

BURBANK, Calif.—The Hollywood Professional Association has issued its calls for submissions for the 2021 HPA Engineering Excellence Award. The submission deadline has been set for June 18.

The Engineering Excellence Award honors products and processes that help transform artists’ ability to realize their creative vision, per HPA. The HPA has recognized breakthroughs in media, content production, finishing, distribution and archive with past Engineering Excellence Awards.

HPA has announced that it will continue with virtual judging of all Engineering Excellence Award submissions in 2021 after what it says was a successful 2020 process. Joachim Zell, chair of the HPA Engineering Excellence Award Committee and HPA board member, said virtual judging expanded the organization’s ability to judge technologies and products from around the world.

There is a two-step process for entry: First, submission of written elements and a brief pre-recorded presentation; then a live, virtual Q&A with a panel of judges.

Information on the creative categories will be announced in the coming weeks.

Other updated rules, procedures and entry processes and available on HPA’s website.

“Shining a spotlight on the incredible talent and persistence of our industry is at HPA’s core,” said Seth Hallen, president of HPA. “Especially given the extraordinary advances of technology through the events of the past year, we are excited to celebrate the engineering and technology communities that have been absolutely crucial in the ability for us to continue working. We look forward to cheering the companies and the individuals who will be participating in the Engineering Excellence award.”

The recipients of the Engineering Excellence Award, as well as the Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation, will be announced in advance of the awards gala, which will take place in person and online in mid-November.

For more information, visit www.hpaawards.com.  

BURBANK, Calif.—The 15th edition of the HPA Awards were handed out on Nov. 19, recognizing outstanding contributions for episodic TV, commercials and theatrical features in craft categories, including color grading, sound, editing and visual effects.

HBO’s “Watchmen” and “Insecure,” as well as BBC’s “Seven Worlds, One Planet,” were the most nominated episodic programs, with three each. Each show ended up taking home one award.

Here is the full list of episodic winners:

Outstanding Color Grading—Episodic or Non-Theatrical Feature: “Watchmen—It’s Summer and We’re Running Out of Ice,” Todd Bochner, Sim International

Outstanding Editing—Episodic or Non-Theatrical Feature (30 Minutes and Under): “Insecure—Lowkey Trying,” Nena Erb, ACE

Outstanding Editing—Episodic or Non-Theatrical Feature (Over 30 Minutes): “Seven Worlds, One Planet: Asia,” Angela Maddick, BBC Studios Natural History Unit

Outstanding Sound—Episodic or Non-Theatrical Feature: “Star Trek: Picard—Et in Arcadia Ego Part 2,” Matthew E. Taylor, Todd Grace, Ed Carr, Tim Farrell, Sean Heissinger and Peter Devlin / Warner Bros.

Outstanding Visual Effects—Episodic (Under 13 Episodes) or Non-Theatrical Feature: “Lost in Space—Shipwrecked,” Aladino Debert, Suzanne Foster, Victor Grant, Paul Chapman and Frankie Stellato / Digital Domain

Outstanding Visual Effects—Episodic (Over 13 Episodes): “9-1-1—Sink or Swim,” Jon Massey, Tony Pirzadeh, Bryant Reif, Brandon Criswell and David Rand / Fuse FX

In addition, special awards were presented during the ceremony, including the HPA Engineering Excellence Award to Eizo for the Prominence CG3146 31.1-inch HDR monitor; Eluvio for Eluvio Content Fabric; Moxion for Immediates; and Carl Zeiss SBE for Zeiss eXtended Data. The HPA Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation was presented to Global Citizen for “One World: Together at Home.”

The full list of winners and nominees, including for theatrical features and commercials, can be found at www.hpaonline.com. 

BURBANK, Calif.—The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) Awards Committee announced EIZO, Eluvio, Moxion and Carl Zeiss SBE are the winners of the 2020 HPA Awards for Engineering Excellence.  

The HPA Engineering Excellence Award honors outstanding technical and creative ingenuity in media, content production, finishing, distribution and archive.

EIZO is being recognized for its Prominence CG3146 31.1-inch HDR monitor with built-in calibration sensor. New technologies were invented to include advanced brightness and color uniformity correction that allows calibration to occur at the top of the monitor and a stable XYZ glass type sensor that resists temperature. 

New algorithms were needed for one sensor in both low brightness areas with higher noise and high bright areas with more light saturation. Machine learning display stabilization and custom ASIC technologies were implemented to improve image stability and increase the available colors of the LCD panel by more than 22%.

Eluvio is being honored for its pioneering work on a novel video distribution platform to service content providers around the globe. The Eluvio Content Fabric provides an efficient, secure and cost-effective means to deliver ultra-low latency video globally just-in-time without CDNs, cloud transcoding or databases. 

As a single backend for distribution, the platform links media, metadata and programmable code and serves high quality streaming video to the viewer without intermediaries, separate file copies or static versions. Content is personalized dynamically and rights-controlled via software blockchain contracts. 

Moxion is being recognized for its Immediates, the result of multiple innovations enabling post and production to share and review each other’s footage securely within minutes of creation.

Immediates footage, complete with camera, action and VFX wranglers’ metadata, flows from the QTAKE video assist into the Moxion cloud, where it can be reviewed and logged before flowing into editorial or VFX workflows. Conversely, footage created in post can be sent via the Moxion Cloud back to the set, security, the video assist for playback on on-set monitors or to any on-set iOS device.

Carl Zeiss SBE is being honored for its eXtended Data lens metadata technology that amplifies and increases the accuracy of the image capture and processing workflow. Zeiss eXtended Data unifies two data sets: key lens data based on the Cooke and i-Technology and the ZEISS distortion and shading lens data.

After recording on set together with the video files, the data can be applied in post-production for more accurate compositing and editing by using the suite of Zeiss-developed lens plugins.

Frame.io and Sohonet received honorable mention for their Camera-to-Cloud and ClearView Flex technologies, respectively.

This year’s judging was adapted to adhere to restrictions imposed on the industry by the COVID-19 pandemic, HPA said.

Now in their 15th year, the HPA Awards, including the HPA Award for Engineering Excellence, will be bestowed Nov. 19 during a virtual gala.

More information is available on the HPA website. 

BURBANK, Calif.—The Hollywood Professional Association is now accepting entries for the creative categories of the 2020 HPA Awards, which is now in its 15th year.

The HPA Awards honor the work of the HPA community, specifically color grading, editing, sound and visual effects. 

Individual awards will be handed out for outstanding color grading  and outstanding sound (design, editing, mixing) for theatrical features, episode or non-theatrical features and commercials. There will also be awards for outstanding editing and outstanding visual effects for theatrical feature, episode or non-theatrical feature (30 minutes and under) and episode or non-theatrical feature (over 30 minutes).

For works to be eligible, they must have debuted domestically and/or internationally between Sept. 4, 2019, and Sept. 9, 2020. Entrants do not need to be members of HPA or working in the U.S. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, HPA has also instituted temporary modifications to its eligibility rules and entry procedures, including reduced entry fees.

Submissions can be made from now until Aug. 21. Winners will be recognized during an online virtual gala on Nov. 19.

The 2020 HPA Awards virtual gala will also feature the HPA Engineering Excellence Award, which is also currently open for entries.

For more information, visit www.hpaonline.com.  

BURBANK, Calif.—The Hollywood Professional Association today issued a call for entries for its 2020 Engineering Excellence Award and announced it will produce its 15th Anniversary HPA Awards presentation Nov. 19 as an online show that is open to all at no cost rather than as an in-person gala.

The association is working to make the 2020 HPA Awards accessible to more members while supporting its mission of honoring individuals and companies that serve the industry in indispensable ways, it said. 

HPA is making the submission process easier, extending the entry period and lowering entry fees, it added.

The HPA Engineering Excellence Award call for entries will close July 31. Entries for the award may include products or processes and must represent a significant step forward for the industry. A remote judging process will take place through August, HPA said.

“This year as always, we encourage the submission of your significant technological achievements. What we see at the HPA Engineering Excellence Award judging sessions are important ideas that lead the growth and stability of the industry. Critical, game changing products have been presented here. The atmosphere is competitive, collegial and passionate,” said Joachim Zell, chair of the HPA Engineering Excellence Award Committee and HPA Board member. “I expect that this year’s entries will be as compelling as in the past, if not even more so, given our circumstances. I am looking forward to seeing what our industry has to present.” 

This year’s application and presentation process for the engineering honors will take place in two parts. The first step is submission of written and video elements. The second is a live, virtual Q&A with judges on the blue ribbon panel.

The recipients of the Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation and the Engineering Excellence Award will both be announced in advance of the awards and presented during the online show.

Last year’s winners of the HPA Engineering Excellence Award were Adobe, Epic Games, Pixelworks, Portrait Displays and LG Electronics.

More information is available on the HPA website. 

The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) Awards Committee has announced that the organization’s prestigious Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation will honor the documentary film They Shall Not Grow Old. The award, whose recipient is selected by a distinguished jury of industry luminaries, was conceived to recognize companies and individuals who have demonstrated excellence, whether in the development of workflow, process or project to support creative storytelling, or in technical innovation. The coveted distinction will be bestowed on November 21, 2019 at the 14th annual HPA Awards gala at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) is a documentary film directed and produced by Peter Jackson through WingNut Films. Imperial War Museum (IWM) Director General Diane Lees approached Jackson to help shine a light on overlooked footage from the first World War. Alongside his collaborators at WingNut Films and Park Road Post Production, Jackson spent several months considering how to proceed, finally coming to the decision that they would use the words of the British soldiers. The team listened to over 600 hours of audio interviews conducted decades earlier to pull together the common experience of a soldier at war. The film was created using original, mostly unseen footage of World War I gathered from the IWM archive, and audio from BBC and IWM interviews of British soldiers who fought in the War. Comprising footage that is now 100 years old, They Shall Not Grow Old is an emotional and enlightening vision of the experiences of the soldiers who fought. 

Jackson went to great lengths to ensure every sound heard in the film was as accurate as possible – from the roar of gunfire to the subtle sounds that webbing makes as it rubs against the body. Wherever possible, the actual items, whether original or replica, were used for Foley and dubbing. Footage shot in 1914 – 1919 was silent, so to give the onscreen soldiers a voice, forensic lip readers reconstructed the dialogue and actors were hired for ADR who spoke with the same accents and dialects as those in the footage, regionally identified by their uniform badges. Jackson’s skillful use of archival elements has created not just an emotionally powerful film, but a new storytelling approach to archival footage.

Peter Jackson commented, “I am thrilled that the HPA has honoured They Shall Not Grow Old with the Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation. This project was a labour of love for all involved. We set out to find a way to let soldiers of the Great War speak directly to audiences 100 years later - and it’s been very satisfying to see that so many people have listened to them. This global conflict is not ancient history, and there are numerous lessons to be learnt from it, especially today.”

The Creativity & Innovation jury, helmed by co-chairs Carolyn Giardina and Joachim Zell, issued a statement saying, “The Jury felt that unique creative and technical innovation was applied to the production, to bring the brutality of war, as well as communicate the strength of the human spirit, to modern audiences. The work involved respectful use of historical material while finding new audiences for these archives.” In addition to Giardina and Zell, jury members included Scott Gershin, Andrea Kalas, JoAnne Kim, and Kees van Oostrum, ASC.

In addition to the Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation, the HPA Awards will recognize excellence in 12 craft categories including color grading, editing, sound and visual effects during the gala on November 21, 2019. As announced earlier, the HPA Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Robert Legato and the winners of the HPA Engineering Excellence Awards will be recognized.

The HPA Awards gala ceremony is a sold-out affair and early ticket purchase is encouraged. Tickets for the HPA Awards are on sale now, online at www.hpaonline.com or by calling +1 (818) 273-1482. For sponsorship information, contact Joyce Cataldo at jcataldo@hpaonline.com.

More information about the HPA Awards and the Hollywood Professional Association can be found at www.hpaonline.com. The HPA Awards take place with the support of diamond title sponsor Blackmagic Design, platinum sponsor IMAX; bronze sponsor Fox Post Production Services; supporting sponsors DTS, EFilm, FuseFX, Picture Shop, and Pixelogic; and star sponsor Signiant. 

The HPA Awards Committee has announced the nominees for the creative categories for the 2019 HPA Awards. A standard bearer for creative excellence and technical innovation, the HPA Awards honor outstanding achievement and artistic excellence by the individuals and teams who help bring stories to life.

Launched in 2006, the HPA Awards recognize outstanding achievement in color grading, editing, sound, and visual effects for work in episodic, spots, and feature films. The winners of the 14 Annual HPA Awards will be announced at a gala ceremony on the 21 of November 2019 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, CA.

The 2019 HPA Awards Creative Category Nominees are:

Outstanding Color Grading – Theatrical Feature

“First Man”
Natasha Leonnet // EFILM

“Roma”
Steven J. Scott // Technicolor

“Green Book”
Walter Volpatto // FotoKem

“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms”
Tom Poole // Company 3

“Us”
Michael Hatzer // Technicolor

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”
Natasha Leonnet // EFILM

Outstanding Color Grading – Episodic or Non-theatrical Feature

“The Handmaid’s Tale – Liars”
Bill Ferwerda // Deluxe Toronto

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Vote for Kennedy, Vote for Kennedy"
Steven Bodner // Light Iron

“Game of Thrones – Winterfell”
Joe Finley // Sim, Los Angeles

“I am the Night – Pilot”
Stefan Sonnenfeld // Company 3

“Gotham – Legend of the Dark Knight: The Trial of Jim Gordon”
Paul Westerbeck // Picture Shop

“The Man in The High Castle – Jahr Null”
Roy Vasich // Technicolor

Outstanding Color Grading – Commercial

Zara – "Woman Campaign Spring Summer 2019"
Tim Masick // Company 3

Tiffany & Co. – “Believe in Dreams: A Tiffany Holiday”
James Tillett // Moving Picture Company

Hennessy X.O. – "The Seven Worlds"
Stephen Nakamura // Company 3

Palms Casino – "Unstatus Quo"
Ricky Gausis // Moving Picture Company

Audi – "Cashew"
Tom Poole // Company 3

Outstanding Editing – Theatrical Feature
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design

“Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood”
Fred Raskin, ACE

“Green Book”
Patrick J. Don Vito, ACE

“Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese”
David Tedeschi, Damian Rodriguez

“The Other Side of the Wind”
Orson Welles, Bob Murawski, ACE

“A Star Is Born”
Jay Cassidy, ACE

Outstanding Editing – Episodic or Non-theatrical Feature (30 Minutes and Under)
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design

“Russian Doll – The Way Out”
Todd Downing

“Homecoming – Redwood”
Rosanne Tan, ACE

“VEEP – Pledge”
Roger Nygard, ACE

“Withorwithout”
Jake Shaver, Shannon Albrink // Therapy Studios

“Russian Doll – Ariadne”
Laura Weinberg

Outstanding Editing – Episodic or Non-theatrical Feature (Over 30 Minutes)
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design

“Stranger Things – Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt”
Dean Zimmerman, ACE, Katheryn Naranjo

“Chernobyl – Vichnaya Pamyat”
Simon Smith, Jinx Godfrey // Sister Pictures

“Game of Thrones – The Iron Throne”
Katie Weiland, ACE

“Game of Thrones – The Long Night”
Tim Porter, ACE

“The Bodyguard – Episode One"
Steve Singleton

Outstanding Sound – Theatrical Feature
Sponsored by DTS

“Godzilla: King of Monsters”
Tim LeBlanc, Tom Ozanich, MPSE // Warner Bros.
Erik Aadahl, MPSE, Nancy Nugent, MPSE, Jason W. Jennings // E Squared

“Shazam!”
Michael Keller, Kevin O’Connell // Warner Bros.
Bill R. Dean, MPSE, Erick Ocampo, Kelly Oxford, MPSE // Technicolor

“Smallfoot”
Michael Babcock, David E. Fluhr, CAS, Jeff Sawyer, Chris Diebold, Harrison Meyle // Warner Bros.

“Roma”
Skip Lievsay, Sergio Diaz, Craig Henighan, Carlos Honc, Ruy Garcia, MPSE, Caleb Townsend

“Aquaman”
Tim LeBlanc // Warner Bros.
Peter Brown, Joe Dzuban, Stephen P. Robinson, MPSE, Eliot Connors, MPSE // Formosa Group

Outstanding Sound – Episodic or Non-theatrical Feature
Sponsored by DTS

“Chernobyl – 1:23:45”
Stefan Henrix, Stuart Hilliker, Joe Beal, Michael Maroussas, Harry Barnes // Boom Post

“Deadwood: The Movie”
John W. Cook II, Bill Freesh, Mandell Winter, MPSE, Daniel Colman, MPSE, Ben Cook, MPSE, Micha Liberman // NBC Universal

“Game of Thrones – The Bells”
Tim Kimmel, MPSE, Onnalee Blank, CAS, Mathew Waters, CAS, Paula Fairfield, David Klotz

“The Haunting of Hill House - Two Storms”
Trevor Gates, MPSE, Jason Dotts, Jonathan Wales, Paul Knox, Walter Spencer // Formosa Group

“Homecoming – Protocol”
John W. Cook II, Bill Freesh, Kevin Buchholz, Jeff A. Pitts, Ben Zales, Polly McKinnon // NBC Universal

Outstanding Sound – Commercial
Sponsored by DTS

John Lewis & Partners – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Mark Hills, Anthony Moore // Factory

Audi – “Life”
Doobie White // Therapy Studios

Leonard Cheshire Disability – “Together Unstoppable”
Mark Hills // Factory

New York Times – “The Truth Is Worth It: Fearlessness”
Aaron Reynolds // Wave Studios NY

John Lewis & Partners – “The Boy and the Piano”
Anthony Moore // Factory

Outstanding Visual Effects – Theatrical Feature

“Avengers: Endgame”
Matt Aitken, Marvyn Young, Sidney Kombo-Kintombo, Sean Walker, David Conley // Weta Digital

“Spider-Man: Far From Home”
Alexis Wajsbrot, Sylvain Degrotte, Nathan McConnel, Stephen Kennedy, Jonathan Opgenhaffen // Framestore

“The Lion King”
Robert Legato
Andrew R. Jones
Adam Valdez, Elliot Newman, Audrey Ferrara // MPC Film
Tom Peitzman // T&C Productions

“Alita: Battle Angel”
Eric Saindon, Michael Cozens, Dejan Momcilovic, Mark Haenga, Kevin Sherwood // Weta Digital

“Pokemon Detective Pikachu”
Jonathan Fawkner, Carlos Monzon, Gavin Mckenzie, Fabio Zangla, Dale Newton // Framestore

Outstanding Visual Effects – Episodic (Under 13 Episodes) or Non-theatrical Feature

“Game of Thrones – The Long Night”
Martin Hill, Nicky Muir, Mike Perry, Mark Richardson, Darren Christie // Weta Digital

“The Umbrella Academy – The White Violin”
Everett Burrell, Misato Shinohara, Chris White, Jeff Campbell, Sebastien Bergeron

“The Man in the High Castle – Jahr Null”
Lawson Deming, Cory Jamieson, Casi Blume, Nick Chamberlain, William Parker, Saber Jlassi, Chris Parks // Barnstorm VFX

“Chernobyl – 1:23:45”
Lindsay McFarlane
Max Dennison, Clare Cheetham, Steven Godfrey, Luke Letkey // DNEG

“Game of Thrones – The Bells”
Steve Kullback, Joe Bauer, Ted Rae
Mohsen Mousavi // Scanline
Thomas Schelesny // Image Engine

Outstanding Visual Effects – Episodic (Over 13 Episodes)

“Hawaii Five-O – Ke iho mai nei ko luna”
Thomas Connors, Anthony Davis, Chad Schott, Gary Lopez, Adam Avitabile // Picture Shop

“9-1-1 – 7.1”
Jon Massey, Tony Pizadeh, Brigitte Bourque, Gavin Whelan, Kwon Choi // FuseFX

“Star Trek: Discovery – Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2”
Jason Zimmerman, Ante Dekovic, Aleksandra Kochoska, Charles Collyer, Alexander Wood // CBS Television Studios

“The Flash – King Shark vs. Gorilla Grodd”
Armen V. Kevorkian, Joshua Spivack, Andranik Taranyan, Shirak Agresta, Jason Shulman // Encore VFX

“The Orville – Identity: Part II”
Tommy Tran, Kevin Lingenfelser, Joseph Vincent Pike // FuseFX
Brandon Fayette, Brooke Noska // Twentieth Century FOX TV

In addition to the nominations announced today, the HPA Awards present a small number of special awards. As announced earlier, legendary visual effects supervisor and renowned creative Robert Legato (The Lion King, The Aviator, Hugo, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Titanic, Avatar) will receive the HPA Award for Lifetime Achievement. Winners of the coveted Engineering Excellence Award were announced earlier and include Adobe, Epic Games, Pixelworks, Portrait Displays, Inc. and LG Electronics. The recipient of the Judges Award for Creativity and Engineering, a juried honor, will be announced in the coming weeks. All awards will be bestowed at the HPA Awards gala.

The HPA Awards gala ceremony is a sold-out affair and early ticket purchase is encouraged. Tickets for the HPA Awards are on sale now, online at www.hpaonline.com or by calling +1 (818) 273-1482. For sponsorship information, contact Joyce Cataldo at jcataldo@hpaonline.com.

More information about the HPA Awards and the Hollywood Professional Association can be found at www.hpaonline.com. The HPA Awards take place with the support of diamond title sponsor Blackmagic Design, platinum sponsor IMAX; bronze sponsor Fox Post Production Services; supporting sponsors DTS, EFilm, FuseFX, Picture Shop, and Pixelogic; and star sponsor Signiant.

BURBANK, CA—The awards committee of the Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) this week announced the winners of the 2019 HPA Engineering Excellence Awards.

The winners include:

• Adobe–Content-Aware Fill for Video in Adobe After Effects;
• Epic Games—Unreal Engine 4;
• Pixelworks—TrueCut Motion; and
• Portrait Displays Inc. and LG Electronics—CalMAN LUT-based Auto-Calibration with LG OLED TVs.

“Every year, it is an absolute pleasure and a privilege to witness the innovative work that is brewing in our industry,” said HPA Awards Engineering Committee chair Joachim Zell. “Judging by the number of entries, which was our largest ever, there is genuine excitement within our community to push our capabilities to the next level.

“It was a close race and shows us that the future is being plotted by the brilliance that we see in the Engineering Excellence Awards. Congratulations to the winners, and all the entrants, for impressive and inspiring work.”

A blue-ribbon judging panel selected the winners after a session held at IMAX on June 22. Winners will be honored Nov. 21 at the 14th Annual HPA Awards Gala at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

Honorable Mentions were awarded to:

• Ambidio for Ambidio Looking Glass;
• Grass Valley, a Belden brand for Creative Grading; and
• Netflix for Photon.

The HPA Awards were founded in 2005. They recognize creative artistry and innovation in the professional media industry. Tickets for the 14th Annual HPA Awards will be available later this summer, HPA said.

The Engineering Excellence Award honors outstanding technical and creative ingenuity in media, content production, finishing, distribution and archive.

More information is available on the HPA website.

BURBANK, Calif.—Creatives in the feature film, episodic and commercial arenas are now able to submit entries for consideration for the 14th HPA Awards presented by the Hollywood Professional Association. The awards are recognition for the behind-the-scenes work of industry professionals who support and collaborate with the vision of filmmakers.

Awards will be handed recognizing Outstanding Color Grading for theatrical feature, episode or non-theatrical feature and commercial; Outstanding editing for theatrical feature, episode or non-theatrical feature (30 minutes and under) and episode or non-theatrical feature (over 30 minutes); Outstanding Sound (Design, Editing, Mixing) for theatrical feature, episode or non-theatrical feature and commercial; and Outstanding Visual Effects for theatrical feature, episode or non-theatrical (13 episodes and fewers) and episode or non-theatrical (over 13 episodes).

Submissions will be accepted from now until July 12. Early bird entries, which offer a reduced entry fee, are open until June 10. For work to be eligible it must have debuted domestically and/or internationally between Sept. 5, 2018, to Sept. 3, 2019. Entrants do not need to be members of the HPA or working in the U.S. The complete guidelines for submitting an entry are available at www.hpaawards.net.

The 14th HPA Awards will take place at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles on Nov. 21.

The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has opened its call for entries in creative categories for the HPA Awards. The Awards, now in their 14 year, are considered important recognition for groundbreaking work and artistic excellence, acknowledging creative artistry in color grading, editing, sound, and visual effects in feature film, episodic, and commercials. The 14th HPA Awards gala will be returning to the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, California on the evening of Thursday, November 21, 2019.

The HPA Awards were conceived to draw attention to the talent and innovation that fuels the professional media content industry. Celebrating the behind the scene collaborators who support the vision of filmmakers remains the focus of the HPA Awards.

Submissions are now being accepted in the following competitive categories:

• Outstanding Color Grading - Theatrical Feature
• Outstanding Color Grading - Episode or Non-theatrical Feature
• Outstanding Color Grading - Commercial
• Outstanding Editing - Theatrical Feature
• Outstanding Editing - Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature (30 Minutes and Under)
• Outstanding Editing - Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature (Over 30 minutes)
• Outstanding Sound (Design, Editing, Mixing) - Theatrical Feature
• Outstanding Sound (Design, Editing, Mixing) - Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature
• Outstanding Sound (Design, Editing, Mixing) - Commercial
• Outstanding Visual Effects - Theatrical Feature
• Outstanding Visual Effects - Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature (13 Episodes and Fewer)
• Outstanding Visual Effects - Episode (Over 13 Episodes)

Complete rules, guidelines and entry information for the creative categories and all of the HPA Awards are available at: www.hpaawards.net.

Submissions for consideration in the creative categories will be accepted between May 13 and July 12, 2019. Early Bird entries (at a reduced entry fee for the creative categories) will be accepted through June 10, 2019. To be considered eligible, work must have debuted domestically and/or internationally during the eligibility period, September 5, 2018 through September 3, 2019. Entrants do not need to be members of the Hollywood Professional Association or working in the U.S.

Seth Hallen, president of the HPA and a founding member of the HPA Awards Committee, commented, “The HPA Awards represent so much of what the HPA itself is about, which is giving well-deserved recognition to the artistry, ingenuity, and flat-out brilliance of the community of creative people who help realize filmmakers’ creative visions. As our industry evolves, what remains constant is the HPA’s true passion for honoring and celebrating the talent behind the talent.”

The HPA Awards recognize an entire spectrum of the creativity behind the scenes. The call for entries for the HPA Engineering Excellence Award opened last month and submissions will be accepted until May 24, 2019. The Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation, a juried award, will be announced in advance of the gala. The recipient of the HPA Lifetime Achievement Award will be announced in the coming weeks.

The HPA Awards are made possible through the generous sponsorship of Awards Title Diamond Sponsor Blackmagic Design, Platinum Sponsor IMAX, and Foundation Members Avid, Co3, Deluxe, Dolby, EFILM, and Encore. For sponsorship or program advertising opportunities, contact Joyce Cataldo at jcataldo@hpaonline.com. Announcement of ticket sales will be made in June.

For a list of the previous years' winners, click here.

BURBANK, Calif.—The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) this week issued a call for entries for its 2019 Engineering Excellence Award.

The award, in its 14th year, honors the companies and individuals who draw upon their technical and creative ingenuity to develop breakthrough technologies, HPA said. Submissions close on May 24.

“True success in our field lies in making it possible for filmmakers to realize their artistic visions. It is that goal that drives the development of technical and engineering processes that bring that vision to life,” said Joachim Zell, VP of Technology for EFILM and chair of the HPA Engineering Excellence Award Committee.

“The Engineering Excellence Award is a highly competitive honor, judged and awarded by tried-and-tested leaders in the field, and the past winners have changed the course of entertainment technology,” added Zell.

Last year’s winners were Blackmagic Design, Canon, Cinnafilm and IBM Aspera and Telestream.

Rules of the peer-judged award are available online. Applicants present to a blue-ribbon industry panel June 22 at the IMAX facility in Los Angeles. Winners will be honored during the HPA Awards Gala, Nov. 21, 2019, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

Next month, HPA will issue a call for entries for awards in the categories of Outstanding Color Grading, Editing, Sound and Visual Effects for feature film, television and commercials. Recipients in these categories also will be honored at the awards gala.

For more information visit the HPA Awards website. 

BURBANK, CA.--The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the nominees for the 13th Annual HPA Awards creative categories, which recognize technical innovation and creative achievement by post-production professionals. The HPA Awards specifically honor outstanding achievement in editing, sound, visual effects and color grading for work in television, commercials, and feature films. The HPA will announce the award winners at a ceremony, Nov. 15, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

The nominees are:

Outstanding Color Grading – Feature Film

“Avengers: Infinity War”

• Steven J. Scott, Charles Bunnag // Technicolor – Hollywood

“Red Sparrow”

• Dave Hussey // Company 3

“The Shape of Water”

• Chris Wallace // Deluxe – Toronto

“Alpha”

• Maxine Gervais // Technicolor – Hollywood

“The Greatest Showman”

• Tim Stipan // Company 3

Outstanding Color Grading – Television

“Damnation – Sam Riley’s Body”

• Paul Allia // Picture Shop

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Pilot”

• Steven Bodner // Light Iron

“The Crown – Paterfamilias”

• Asa Shoul // Molinare

“Game of Thrones – Beyond the Wall”

• Joe Finley // Sim

“The Crossing – Pilot”

• Tony Smith // Picture Shop

Outstanding Color Grading – Commercial

Bottega Veneta – “Spring/Summer 2018 Trailer”

• Tim Masick // Company 3

Tile – “Lost Panda”

• Tom Poole // Company 3

Volkswagen – “Kids Dream”

• Adam Scott // The Mill

Audi – “Final Breath”

• Sofie Borup // Company 3

Zara – “Spring/Summer 2018 Main”

• Tim Masick // Company 3

Outstanding Editing – Feature Film (Sponsored by Blackmagic Design)

“A Quiet Place”

• Christopher Tellefsen, ACE

“Coco”

• Steve Bloom

“You Were Never Really Here”

• Joe Bini

“Mission: Impossible – Fallout”

• Eddie Hamilton, ACE

“Believer”

• Demian Fenton

Outstanding Editing – Television (30 Minutes and Under) (Sponsored by Blackmagic Design)

“The End of the F***ing World – Episode One”

• Mike Jones

“Vida – Episode 6”

• JoAnne Yarrow

“VICE – After the Fall”

• Kelly Kendrick // Vice

“Barry – Chapter Eight: Know Your Truth”

• Kyle Reiter

“Vice Principals –The Union of the Wizard and The Warrior”

• Jeff Seibenick

Outstanding Editing – Television (Over 30 Minutes) (Sponsored by Blackmagic Design)

“Stranger Things – Chapter Nine: The Gate”

• Kevin D. Ross, ACE

“The Defiant Ones – Part 2”

• Doug Pray, Lasse Järvi

“Game of Thrones – The Dragon and the Wolf”

• Crispin Green

“Westworld – The Passenger”

• Anna Hauger, Mako Kamitsuna, MPEG, Andrew Seklir, ACE

“Counterpart – The Crossing”

• Dana E. Glauberman, ACE

Outstanding Sound – Feature Film

“Ant-Man and The Wasp”

• Katy Wood, Addison Teague, Juan Peralta, Tom Johnson // Skywalker Sound

“The Shape of Water”

• Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern, Nelson Ferreira, Nathan Robitaille // Deluxe – Toronto

“Avengers: Infinity War”

• Shannon Mills, Tom Johnson, Juan Peralta, Dan Laurie // Skywalker Sound

“Blade Runner 2049”

• Mark Mangini, Ron Bartlett, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill, Mac Ruth // Formosa Group

“Black Panther”

• Benjamin A. Burtt, Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor // Skywalker Sound

Outstanding Sound – Television

“Yellowstone – Daybreak”

• Alan Murray, Tim LeBlanc, Dean Zupancic // Warner Bros

“Waco – Operation Showtime”

• Craig Mann, Kelly Oxford, Laura Wiest, Karen Vassar Triest, David Brownlow, Beau Borders // Technicolor – Hollywood

“Dark – Secret”

• Alexander Wurtz, Achim Hofmann, Jorg Elsner, Ansgar Frerich, Christian Bichoff // Basis Berlin

“Yellowstone – Kill the Messenger”

• Alan Murray, Tim LeBlanc, Dean Zupancic // Warner Bros.

“Altered Carbon – Out of The Past”

• Brett Hinton, Mark Allen, Owen Granich-Young, Andy King, Keith Rogers // Atomic Sound

Outstanding Sound – Commercial

OXFAM – “The Heist No One is Talking About”

• Neil Johnson // Factory Studios

KIA – “Fueled by Youth”

• Nathan Dubin // Margarita Mix

SANE – “Let Me Talk”

• Anthony Moore, Jack Hallett // Factory Studios

Monster – “Opportunity Roars”

• Tom Jucarone // Sound Lounge

ICRC – “Hope”

• Anthony Moore // Factory Studios

Outstanding Visual Effects – Feature Film

“Maze Runner: The Death Cure”

• R. Christopher White, Daniel Macarin, Philip Leonhardt, Paul Ramsden, Jeremy Fort // Weta Digital

“Blade Runner 2049”

• Richard Clegg, Axel Akesson, Wesley Chandler, Stefano Carta, Ian Cooke-Grimes // MPC

“Rampage”

• Erik Winquist, Benjamin Pickering, Stephen Unterfranz, Thrain Shadbolt, David Clayton // Weta Digital

“Thor: Ragnarok”

• Kyle McCulloch, Alexis Wajsbrot, Ben Loch, Harry Bardak // Framestore

“Avengers: Infinity War”

• Matt Aitken, David Conley, Charles Tait, Paul Story, Marvyn Young // Weta Digital

Outstanding Visual Effects – Television (Under 13 Episodes)

“Altered Carbon – Out of The Past”

• Everett Burrell, Tony Meagher, Steve Moncur, Christine Lemon, Paul Jones // DNEG

“Outlander – Eye of The Storm”

• Richard Briscoe // Outlander Production; Daniel Norlund, Filip Orrby // Goodbye Kansas; Aladino Debert, Greg Teegarden // Digital Domain

“Black Mirror – Metalhead”

• Russel McLean, Michael Bell, Pete Levy, Steven Godfrey, Stafford Lawrence // DNEG

“Game of Thrones – Beyond The Wall”

• Joe Bauer, Steve Kullback, Ted Rae, Eric Carney // HBO; David Ramos // El Ranchito

“Westworld – The Passenger”

• Jay Worth, Bruce Branit // Deep Water FX; Bobo Skipper // Important Looking Pirates; Kama Moiha // COSA VFX; Mike Enriquez // DNEG

Outstanding Visual Effects – Television (Over 13 Episodes)

“Supergirl – For Good”

• Armen V. Kevorkian, Gevork Babityan, Kris Cabrera, Jerry Chalupnik, Jason Shulman // Encore VFX

“Agents of SHIELD – Orientation: Part 1”

• Mark Kolpack, Sabrina Arnold // Marvel; Kevin Yuille, David Rey, Hnedel Maximore // FuseFX

“Hawaii Five-O – A’ole e ‘olelo mai ana ke ahi ua ana ia”

• Adam Avitabile, Daniel Toomey, Michael Kirylo, Ryan Smolarek, Wayne Hollingsworth // Picture Shop

“Legends of Tomorrow – The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly”

• Armen V. Kevorkian, Andranik Taranyan, Jason Shulman, Dan Aprea, Lycee Anaya // Encore VFX

“NCIS: LA – A Line in the Sand/Ninguna Salida”

• Dylan Chudzynski, Michael Carter, Joe Suzuki, Jacob Kuhne // DigitalFilm Tree

As previously announced, Victoria Alonso has been named the recipient of the Charles S. Swartz Award. Alonso is a respected producer and is Executive Vice President, Production for Marvel Studios. The winners of the coveted Engineering Excellence Award, Blackmagic Design (DaVinci Resolve 15), Canon (Visual and Technical Monitoring of HDR Images), Cinnafilm, Inc. (PixelStrings), and IBM Aspera & Telestream (Telestream Vantage with Lightspeed Live Capture powered by Aspera), were announced earlier this year. All awards will be bestowed at the HPA Awards gala.

Tickets for the HPA Awards are on sale now, online at www.hpaawards.net or by calling 818-273-1482.

LOS ANGELES—It was a near sweep for Netflix in the television categories at the 2017 HPA Awards, which honor the best behind-the-scenes artistry—including color grading, sound, editing and visual effects. The gala celebration, which also bestowed awards in categories for film and commercials, took place Nov. 16 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

Here are the winners for the TV categories:

The "Stranger Things" team winning for Outstanding Sound - Television.

Outstanding Color Grading: “The Crown – Smoke and Mirrors,” Asa Shoul, Molinare

Outstanding Editing: “Stranger Things – Chapter 1: The Vanishing of Will Byers,” Dean Zimmerman

Outstanding Sound (TIE): “Stranger Things – Chapter 8: The Upside Down,” Craig Henighan, Fox; Bradley North, Joe Barnett, Adam Jenkins, Jordan Wilby, Tiffany S. Griffith, Technicolor – Hollywood

“American Gods – The Bone Orchard,” Bradley North, Joseph DeAngelis, Kenneth Kobett, David Werntz, Tiffany S. Griffith, Technicolor – Hollywood

Outstanding Visual Effects: “Black Sails – XXIX,” Erik Henry; Yafei Wu, Nicklas Andersson, David Walhberg, Important Looking Pirates; Martin Lippman, Rodeo

See the film and commercial winners here.

HPA also gave out its HPA Engineering Excellence Award to Colorfront for its Colorfront Engine; Dolby for the Dolby Vision Post-Production Tools; Red Digital Cinema for the Weapon 8K Vista Vision; and SGO for its Mistika VR.

NASA, Amazon Web Services and AWS Elemental were also honored with the HPA Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation for the live 4K stream from the International Space Station.

Finally, HPA bestowed its Lifetime Achievement Award on Larry Chernoff.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—Companies and individuals are now able to submit their entries for the 2017 HPA Awards Engineering Excellence Award. The award is designed to recognize breakthrough technologies in the production, post production, distribution and/or archiving industry.

All entries must include a completed submission form, a written description of the development application, marketing materials and a submission fee of $595. For more information on the submission process, click here.

 All entrants will have the opportunity to then showcase their entries at Engineering Judging Day on June 17 in Los Angeles. This will allow the entrants to present detailed information on their products prior to the winners being announced.

The deadline for submission is set for May 26. Winners are expected to be announced in August and then recognized at the HPA Awards Gala on Nov. 16 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES—The Hollywood Professional Association passed out its annual HPA Awards on Thursday night, honoring behind-the-scenes work on some of the year’s biggest TV shows, movies and commercials.

Here is the full slate of winners for the television categories:

Outstanding Color Grading: “Gotham – By Fire,” Paul Westbrook, Encore Hollywood

Outstanding Editing (TIE): “Roots – Night One,” Martin Nicholson, ACE; Greg Babor
“Game of Thrones – Battle of the Bastards,” Tim Porter, ACE

Outstanding Sound: “Outlander – Prestonpans,” Nello Torri; Alan Decker; Brian Milliken; Vince Balunas; NBCUniversal Post Sound

Outstanding Visual Effects: “Game of Thrones – Battle of the Bastards,” Joe Bauer, Fire & Blood Productions; Eric Carney, The Third Floor; Derek Spears, Rhythm & Hues Studios; Glenn Melenhorst, Iloura; Matthew Rouleau, Rodeo FX

To see the winners in these respective categories for movies and commercials, click here.

HPA also handed out its Emerging Leader Award to Jesse Korosi and Jennifer Zeidan, as well as previously announced awards, which included the HPA Engineering Excellence Award to Aspera, Grass Valley, RealD, and SGO; the HPA Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation to The Mill: Blackbird; the HPA Lifetime Achievement Award to Herb Dow, ACE; and the Charles S. Schwartz Award to Michelle Munson, founder and CEO of Aspera.

The awards were handed out during a gala celebration held at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES—HBO’s “Game of Thrones” set records at the most recent Emmy Awards back in September, now it looks to continue that dominance at the Hollywood Professional Association’s HPA 2016 Awards. The annual awards recognize achievement in editing, sound, visual effects and color grading for television, commercials and feature films. And on the TV side, “GoT” led all shows with three total nominations, followed by two for both Starz’s “Outlander” and HBO’s “Vinyl.”

Below is the full list of television nominees. For the complete list, including film and commercials, click here.

Outstanding Color Grading:

• “Vinyl – E.A.B” – Steven Bonder, Deluxe/Encore NY
• “Fargo – The Myth of Sysiphus” – Mark Kueper, Technicolor
• “Outlander – Faith” – Steven Porter, MTI Film
• “Gotham – By Fire” – Paul Westerbeck, Encore Hollywood
• “Show Me a Hero – Part 1” – Sam Daley, Technicolor PostWorks NY

Outstanding Editing:

• “Body Team 12” – David Darg, RYOT Films
• “Underground – The Macon 7” – Zack Arnold, Ian Tan, Sony Pictures Television
• “Vinyl – Pilot” – David Tedeschi
• “Roots – Night One” – Martin Nicholson, ACE; Greg Babor
• “Game of Thrones – Battle of the Bastards” – Tim Porter, ACE

Outstanding Sound:

• “Outlander – Prestonpans” – Nello Tori, Alan Decker, NBCUniversal Post Sound
• “Game of Thrones - Battle of the Bastards” – Tim Kimmel, MPSE; Paula Fairfield; Mathew Waters, CAS; Onnalee Blank, CAS; Bradley C. Katona, Paul Bercovitch, Formosa Group
• “Preacher – See” – Richard Yawn, Mark Linden, Tara Paul, Sony Sound
• “Marco Polo – One Hundred Eyes” – David Paterson, Roberto Fernandez, Alexa Zimmerman, Glenfield Payne, Rachel Chancey, Harbor Picture Company
• “House of Cards – Chapter 45” – Jeremy Molod, Ren Klyce, Nathan Nance, Scott R. Lewis, Jonathan Stevens, Skywalker Sound

Outstanding Visual Effects:

• “Supergirl – Pilot” – Armen V. Kevorkian, Andranik Taranyan, Gevork Babityan, Elaina Scott, Art Sayan, Encore VFX
• “Ripper Street – The Strangers’ Home” – Ed Bruce, Nicholas Murphy, Denny Cahill, John O’Connell, Screen Scene
• “Black Sails –XXI” Erik Henry, Starz; Matt Dougan, Digital Domain; Martin Ogren, Jens Tenland, Nicklas Andersson, ILP
• “The Flash – Guerilla Warfare” – Armen V. Kevorkian, Thomas J. Conners, Andranik Taranyan, Gevork Babityan, Jason Shulman, Encore VFX
• “Game of Thrones – Battle of the Bastards” – Joe Bauer, Eric Carney, Fire & Blood Productions; Derek Spears, Rhythm & Hues Studios; Glenn Melenhorst, Iloura; Matthew Rouleau, Rodeo FX

Special awards, including the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award and Charles S. Swartz Award, have been previously announced.

HPA will announce the winners during the 11th annual HPA Awards gala on Nov. 17 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES—It was a good night for HBO last Thursday at the 10th Annual Hollywood Post Alliance Awards gala, where the network took three of four awards for TV. The HPA Awards recognize companies and individuals for contributions to the creation of films, TV and commercials.

Here are the list of TV winners:
Outstanding Color Grading: “Boardwalk Empire - Golden Days for Boys and Girls” - John Crowley; Technicolor PostWorks, N.Y.

Outstanding Editing: “Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways – Nashville” – Kristin McCasey; Therapy Studios

Outstanding Sound: “Homeland – Redux” – Nello Torri, Alan Decker, NBCUniversal Studio Post; Craig Dellinger, Sony Sound Services

Outstanding Visual Effects: “Game of Thrones – Dance of Dragons” – Joe Bauer, Steve Kullback, Derek Spears, Eric Carney, Jabbar Raisani; Fire and Blood Productions

HPA also handed out Engineering Excellence Awards to Canon, Dolby, Panasonic, Quantel, and Sony Electronics. The HPA Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation went to ESPN for the ESPN Digital Center 2. Finally, the HPA Lifetime Achievement Award went to Leon D. Silverman.

For a full list of winners and nominees, click here.

LOS ANGELES—After setting the record for most Emmys in a single year, HBO’s hit show ‘Game of Thrones’ is carrying the momentum to the Hollywood Post Alliance Awards as it leads the pack of TV nominees with four nominations; its closest competitors were Starz’s ‘Black Sails’ and HBO’s ‘Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways’ with two.

The 10th annual HPA Awards honor artistic excellence and creative achievements in the post production industry, recognizing outstanding achievement in editing, sound, visual effects and color grading in TV, film and commercials.

To see the nominees in the film and commercial categories, click here. Here are the full slate of nominees for TV:

Outstanding Color Grading:

• ‘Olive Kitteridge – Incoming Tide’
  Pankaj Bajpai; Encore
• ‘Boardwalk Empire – Golden Days for Boys and Girls’
  John Crowley; Technicolor PostWorks NY
• ‘Sense8 – What’s Going On?’
  Tony Dusting; Technicolor
• ‘Game of Thrones – Hardhome’
  Joe Finley; Chainsaw, Inc.
• ‘Masters of Sex – A Parliament of Owls’
  Matt Lear; Sony Pictures Television

Outstanding Editing:

• ‘Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways – Austin’
  Scott D. Hanson; Therapy Studios
• ‘VICE on HBO – Cold War 2.0’
  Rich Lowe
• ‘Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways – Nashville’
  Kristin McCasey; Therapy Studios
• ‘House of Cards – Chapter 32’
  Cindy Mollo, ACE; Netflix
• ‘Game of Thrones – Hardhome’
  Tim Porter; Beyond the Wall Productions, Inc.

Outstanding Sound:

• ‘Halt and Catch Fire – SETI’
  Sue Cahill, Keith Rogers, Scott Weber, Jane Boegel, Mark Cleary, Kevin McCullough; NBC Universal StudioPost
• ‘Black Sails – XVIII’
  Benjamin Cook, Stefan Hendrix, Jeffrey Pitts, Sue Cahill, Onnalee Blank, Matthew Waters; Starz
• ‘Game of Thrones – Hardhome’
  Tim Kimmel, Paula Fairfield, Bradley Katona, Paul Bercovitch, Onnalee Blank, Matthew Waters; Formosa Group
• ‘Banshee – You Can’t Hide from the Dead'
  Bradley North, Joseph DeAngelis, Ken Kobett, Tiffany Griffith, David Werntz; Technicolor
• ‘Homeland – Redux’
  Nello Torri, Alan Decker; NBC Universal Studio Post
  Craig Dellinger; Sony Sound Services

Outstanding Visual Effects:

• ‘Games of Thrones – The Dance of Dragons’
  Joe Bauer, Steve Kullback, Derek Spears, Eric Carney, Jabbar Raisani; Fire and Blood Productions
• ‘Ripper Street – Whitechapel Terminus’
  Ed Bruce, Nicholas Murphy, John O’Connell, Joseph Courtis, Ronan Gantly; Screen Scene
• ‘Marvel’s Agent Carter – Now Is Not the End’
  Sheena Duggal, Richard Bluff, Jay Mehta, Chad Taylor, Cody Gramstad; Industrial Light & Magic
• ‘Black Sails – XVIII’
  Erik Henry; Starz
  Ken Jones; Digital Domain
  Nic Spier; Shade FX
  Christina Spring, Bjorn Ahlstedt; Crazy Horse Effects
• ‘The Flash – Grodd Lives’
  Armen V. Kevorkian, Andranik Taranyan, Stefan Bredereck, Jason Shulman, Gevork Babityan; Encore VFX

HPA previously announced special awards to Leon Silverman and the ESPN Digital Center 2.

The winners will be announced during the 10th Annual HPA Awards gala ceremony on Nov. 12, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES—The Hollywood Post Alliance has announced that ESPN has been awarded the HPA Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation for its ESPN Digital Center 2. The Creativity and Innovations Award recognizes companies and individuals who demonstrate excellence in the development of workflow to support creative storytelling or in technical innovation.

ESPN Digital Center 2

ESPN’s Digital Center 2 is a large-scale, IP-based production facility that opened in May 2014.The jury felt that the Digital Center 2 represented technical innovation in the IP-based production, post-production and broadcast space, and showed vision and leadership in developing a framework other could follow.

The HPA will recognize ESPN and all of its 2015 HPA Award winners at the 10th annual HPA Awards Gala on Nov. 12 in Los Angeles.