The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced details for the main conference program of the upcoming 2023 HPA Tech Retreat, now in its 28th year. Taking place February 20-23, the event will return to the Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Registration for the event is now open.
A bellwether gathering of the most prominent creatives, technologists and executives leading the future of entertainment technology and content creation, the HPA Tech Retreat is composed of TR-X (Monday), the Supersession (Tuesday), and the main conference program (Wednesday and Thursday), which anchors the four-day conference with a curated series of presentations focused on the most exciting, pressing, and fascinating issues confronting the industry today.
Mark Schubin, who has steered the Tech Retreat Conference program for two and a half decades, said, “We received a true abundance of riches this year. Not only were there more proposals than ever, but they were of exceptionally high quality. Look for presentations from four major studios talking about some of the most important projects. You will see presentations on immersive entertainment like MSG Dome, as well as virtual production, security, and cloud technologies.”
Sessions for the 2023 HPA Tech Retreat main conference sessions will include:
Wednesday, February 22:
Technology Year in Review
Mark Schubin
What CES 2023 Means for the Media Industry
Mark Harrison, DPP
The Future of Localization
Rowan de Pomerai, DPP
It Is Time We Had a Conversation About Security in Our Industry
Chuck Parker, Sohonet (Moderator); Terri Davies, Trusted Partner Network, Motion Picture Association; Ted Harrington, ISE
Why Being Green is Not Black and White
Mark Harrison, DPP (Moderator); Barbara Lange, Kibo121; Cedric Lejeune, Workflowers
Audience Preferences for the Style of Digital Twins
Marvel Studios
MovieLabs 2030 Vision Update
The Truth About Overhauling the DMSC
Dan Germain, Sony Pictures Entertainment (Moderator); Bill Baggelaar, Sony Pictures Entertainment; Greg Geier, Sony Pictures Entertainment; Hai Dao, Sony Pictures Entertainment; Adam Miller, Nomad; John Hurst, CineCert
Web3 Movie Experience
Michelle Munson, Eluvio
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Ron Ames, Producer; Jesse Kobayashi, visual effects
Remote, Mobile, and Live Workflow Innovation Updates
Mark Chiolis, Mobile TV Group (Moderator)
Transforming Broadcasters to Media Companies with Advanced Technologies
Hans Hoffman, European Broadcasting Union
SMPTE Update
David Grindle, Executive Director, SMPTE
Thursday, February 23:
MovieLabs Showcase
Does Everything Really Belong in the Cloud?
Chris Lennon, Ross Video (Moderator); Thomas Burns, Dell; Renard Jenkins, Warner Bros. Discovery; Jamie Duemo, Amazon Web Services
Considerations for Creative in the Cloud
Bastien Minniti, Amazon Studios
Real-World Production Tips for Implementing Virtual Production
Addy Ghani, disguise
MSG Sphere Studios: Capture, Edit, Deliver in 16K Resolution
Jeff Sengpiehl, Key Code Media
Restoration and Preservation
Anthony Magliocco, EMTM
Year in Review of New AI/ML Developments for Media Production with a Concentration on Semantic Search
Rob Gonsalves, Avid
What About Legacy SDR Content in the New HDR World?
Bill Feightner, Colorfront; Tom Graham, Dolby
LiDAR and Digital Twin Technologies
Ryan Metcalfe, Preevue
Textures feature of the Alexa 35
Tamara Seybold, ARRI
Post-Retreat Treat: The Origins of Subscription Home Entertainment
Mark Schubin
Changes to the program and speakers may occur and will be noted on the HPA website.
The Innovation Zone, a highlight of the Tech Retreat and an evolution of the famous HPA Tech Retreat demo room, has grown significantly and will include groundbreaking presentations and demos beyond the walls of the traditional Innovation Zone space. Three of the four days of the Tech Retreat also feature dynamic breakfast roundtables with industry leading companies and experts speaking and leading discussions on a broad variety of topics of interest.
Intentionally set in the desert, out of reach of the day-to-day demands of working life, the Tech Retreat fosters convivial and challenging conversations and desirable circumstances for professional networking.
The Tech Retreat is a limited attendance event and is expected to sell out once again, as it does every year. Details for the Supersession and TR-X will be announced shortly.
Seth Hallen, president of HPA, said, “There’s always great anticipation leading up to the reveal of each year’s main program lineup, and this year’s sessions deserve all the hype. I personally can’t wait to hear about these important topics, and meet the panelists and our attendees. Members of the HPA community constantly remind us how much they look forward to the Tech Retreat which many call the most informative and collaborative event in our industry. February has become the heart of the technology calendar and I look forward to seeing our community in Palm Springs.”
Registration is now open for the 2023 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place thanks to the generosity of diamond title sponsor Adobe; platinum sponsors AMD, AWS, and Berkeley Communications; after party sponsor Ateliere; connectivity sponsor Sohonet; silver sponsors 6P Color, Epic Games, and Key Code Media; event sponsors Arri, Dell Technologies, Panavision, and Signiant; and star sponsor Avid.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More