HPA Tech Retreat announces main programme details for 2022

The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the main program for the 2022 HPA Tech Retreat, which returns to an in person event from February 21-24 at the Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, CA. Comprised of the main conference program, Supersession, TR-X and the Innovation Zone as well as extensive networking and meeting opportunities that are incorporated throughout the four day event, the Tech Retreat is a limited-attendance event that draws the most prominent creatives, technologists, and executives working in entertainment technology and content creation.

eturning to in-person for the first time since February 2020, the 2022 HPA Tech Retreat will adhere to strict health protocols.  In cooperation with the venue, the Retreat will be presented in a hotel “Safe Zone” staffed by COVID compliance officers. All attendees must show proof of full vaccination. Masks will be required when not eating or drinking. Attendance is limited and onsite registration will not be permitted.

The main program, which will take place the Wednesday and Thursday of the Tech Retreat, is a guided exploration of the issues of importance and concern to the industry and a look at exciting developments in relevant technology. Curated by the Tech Retreat’s legendary technologist Mark Schubin, the program has set the agenda for the industry in many ways over the past 25+ years, and conversations at the event have sparked many advancements.

The 2022 main program sessions will include:

Wednesday, February 23                               

• Introduction & Technology Year in Review – Mark Schubin
• CES Review – Peter Putnam, ROAM Consulting
• Decoding CES 2022: The Consumer Trends That Will Impact the Media and Entertainment Industry – Mark Harrison, DPP
• Hub Not Home: Why New Ways of Working Aren’t About Covid – Mark Harrison & Rowan de Pomerai, DPP
• Remote, Mobile, and Live Workflow Innovation Updates – Moderator: Mark Chiolis, Mobile TV Group
• Media in the Cloud: A Reality Check – Chris Lennon, Ross Video; Renard Jenkins, Warner Media; Mike Strein, Disney/ABC; Mike Palmer, Sinclair Broadcasting; Shawn Maynard, Florical Systems
• Academy Digital Preservation Forum (ADPF) – Andrea Kalas, Paramount Pictures
• The Five Golden Rules of Media AI – Rowan de Pomerai, DPP
• The Creative Impact of AI-Assisted Color Pipelines – Moderator: Michael Chambliss, International Cinematographers Guild; Dado Valentic, Color Intelligence; Michael Gioulakis, Director of Photography; Von Thomas, Digital Imaging Technician; Maxine Gervias, Picture Shop
• AI-Based Video Codecs and Semantic Video Search – Rob Gonsalves, Avid
• ML/AI: Pitfalls, Progress & Opportunity – Moderator: Renard Jenkins, Warner Media
• AI – Winning Bet or Existential Threat? – Rich Welsh, Deluxe
• Broadcast HDR – Mark Aitken, Sinclair Broadcast Group
• Display Mapping for Versions – Kevin Wines and Tom Graham, Dolby Laboratories
• ASC Presentation of Standard Evaluation Material II – The Mission

Thursday, February 24                                           

• MovieLabs Progress Report – Leon Silverman, MovieLabs
• MovieLabs Visual Language/MovieLabs Ontologies and Universal Pictures – Leon Silverman, MovieLabs; Horst Sarubin, Universal Pictures
• The Definitive Guide to Modern Cloudspotting – Michael Cioni, Frame.io
• Special Cloud Collaboration Editorial Project – Moderator: Dave Hoffman, Blackmagic Design
• What Does System Integration Look Like in the Cloud? – Dave Van Hoy, Advanced Systems Group
• Cloud & Remote Production – Coordinator: Seth Hallen, Light Iron
• Carbon impact of production – Cedric Lejeune, Workflowers
• ACES Roundup – Coordinator: Annie Chang, ACES Project Chair
• Color Processing with OpenColorIO v2 and the Academy/ASC Common LUT Format – Doug Walker, Autodesk
• Quality Control Across Multiple Grades and Displays – Amaury Louarn, Joachim Zell, & Ronan Boitard, Barco
• Test Patterns for Reference Monitors – Norm Hurst, SRI International
• New Pseudo-Logarithmic Function and a New Color Space for Encoding of High-Dynamic-Range Camera Data – Harald Brendel, ARRI
• SMPTE Update – Thomas Bause Mason, SMPTE
• Technical Foundations of Non Fungible Tokens for Video Engineers – Michelle Munson, Eluv.io
• Production WiFi Best Practices – Patrick Sumby, Sohonet

 Changes to the program and speakers may occur and will be noted on the HPA website.

In announcing the program, Mark Schubin said, “I’m always amazed at the submissions we receive, and it’s hard to narrow them down. We’ve got the latest in artificial intelligence and cloud production, of course, but also everything from explanations of the new work environment beyond Covid to the technical foundations of NFTs. Low-earth-orbit satelltes? The carbon impact of production? The Academy’s Digital Preservation Forum? It’s all in there.”

The main program sessions are the foundation of a full conference offering. HPA has previously announced that the Supersession, taking place on Tuesday, February 22, will focus on virtual production. Further details, including an announcement of the TR-X program (taking place February 21) and breakfast roundtable topics, will follow. The week’s schedule is rounded out with a reimagined Innovation Zone, a welcome dinner, and an afterparty. The schedule for the entire event is available online and will be updated regularly.

Seth Hallen, president of HPA, said, “Once again, the Call for Proposals generated more than 100 submissions from the vanguard of the industry.   After more than 25 years of the Tech Retreat, experts, creatives and technology companies are waiting for their moment to introduce exciting new work, and Mark, who always has his finger on the pulse, creates a vigorous and vibrant program that generates productive conversation and further discoveries from the material that’s introduced. And of course, we are thrilled to go back to our traditional in-person event and we can’t wait for the community to get together again for an exciting week of networking, learning and collaborating.”

Registration is now open for the 2022 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place thanks to the generosity of diamond title sponsor Adobe; platinum sponsor Equinix; after party sponsor Ateliere; gold sponsors Blackmagic Design, Ross Video, and Wasabi; silver sponsors HammerSpace, Key Code Media, Puget Systems, and Spectra Logic; event sponsor Dell Technologies; and bronze sponsor ZEISS.

For more information about the HPA Tech Retreat, visit www.hpatechretreat.com.