HPA Awards open creative categories call for entries

The 2021 Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) Awards call for entries for creative categories has opened.

For over fifteen years, the HPA Awards have recognized the creative brilliance of the HPA community, honouring artistry in colour grading, editing, sound, and visual effects in feature film, episodic, and commercials. A sought-after honour, the HPA Awards have recognized the most compelling and important work from around the world.

The HPA Awards successfully pivoted to a popular virtual ceremony in 2020. As the creative community has hoped, the 2021 HPA Awards will again be an in-person celebration. Details for the event will be revealed in coming weeks but the evening promises to deliver an engaging take on the popular event.

Submissions for consideration in the creative categories will be accepted between June 11 and July 20, 2021. To be considered eligible, work must have debuted domestically and/or internationally during the eligibility period, September 10, 2020 through September 7, 2021. Entrants need not be members of the Hollywood Professional Association or working in the U.S. 

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)

The call for entries for the HPA Engineering Excellence Award, honouring 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 24, 2021.  The Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation, a juried award, will be announced in advance of the gala. Both special awards will be bestowed during the HPA Awards.

Seth Hallen, HPA president and a founding member of the HPA Awards committee, said: “I am thrilled to open the call for creative categories; this year we have much to celebrate. For the past year and a half, we’ve seen artists face unforeseen difficulties and yet continue to create amazing work. It’s been nothing short of awe inspiring. Our community came together during an unbelievably challenging, and hopefully once-in-a-lifetime crisis. Like their clients, these talented artists continued to do what needed to be done, and to do it creatively. I am looking forward to celebrating the talent and dedication of the artists and companies who persevered, who were flexible and inventive and brilliant.  What they have done during the past year is what we will honour this year – it’s truly special and we are going to make this a very special event!”