The Hollywood Professional Association has announced the nominees for the 2026 HPA Awards Innovation & Technology, marking an “expanded evolution” of the organisation’s prestigious Engineering Excellence Award.
The awards celebrate exceptional contributions to entertainment technology.
The HPA said: “For nearly two decades, the HPA Engineering Excellence Award has recognised groundbreaking engineering achievements.
“The HPA Awards Innovation & Technology programme broadens that tradition, honouring advancements across multiple categories covering the entire production life cycle, from pre-production through distribution and audience experience.
“This expanded framework highlights technologies making a measurable impact on the professional media and entertainment ecosystem, spanning film, television, streaming, advertising, and branded content experiences.”
The 2026 HPA Awards Innovation & Technology category nominees are:
- Innovation in Pre-Production
- 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 of the five nominated categories will be announced on Wednesday 18 February at the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat.
The HPA Transformative Impact Award and the HPA Tech Retreat Best in Show Award will be presented on Thursday 19 February, at the close of the Retreat.
To learn more about each nomination, visit the HPA website.
