Day-Long Event Will Examine 'Next-Generation Workflow Concerns' for Technicians and Creatives

In the first event to grow out of the previously announced partnership between the Hollywood Post Alliance (HPA) and SMPTE, the HPA will host the SMPTE 2014 Symposium, a day-long event to be held Monday, October 20, at the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.

The two groups have been combining efforts on a roadmap to reach a merger in May 2015.

Titled "Making Do with More," the event will include sessions looking at workflow challenges that will arise with each incremental technological improvement to image and sound quality for filmmakers and other content creators. "Each area of potential enhancement — higher resolution, greater contrast and color, higher brightness, more frames [per second] and more objects associated with sound — brings with it new demands on workflow," said SMPTE VP of Education Pat Griffis in a prepared statement. "Sessions within the SMPTE 2014 Symposium will address these and other next-generation workflow concerns from both a technical and creative standpoint."

HPA is describing the event as a "filmmaker's symposium," perhaps aiming to do for cinematographers, colorists, and VFX artists what the long-running annual HPA Tech Retreat has done for post-production executives and engineers. "By connecting the creative community and its supports with the technical community at the SMPTE 2014 Symposium, SMPTE and HPA are creating an opportunity for all participants to gain a richer and deeper understanding of technology's impact on the creative process," said HPA President Leon Silverman.

The HPA event will lead into SMPTE's 2014 Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, which is based at the Loews Hollywood Hotel across Hollywood Boulevard from the El Capitan. Including the Symposium, SMPTE 2014 is slated to run from October 20 through October 23.