LOS ANGELES --

The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) bestowed its 2017 HPA Awards on Thursday (11/16) evening during a sold-out gala celebration at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.  And among the big winners was Stranger Things which took a pair of honors: Outstanding TV Editing for Dean Zimmerman on the “Chapter 1: The Vanishing of Will Byers” episode; and tying (with American Gods) for Outstanding TV Sound on the strength of the “Chapter 8:  The Upside Down” episode which was done by an ensemble of audio talent that included Craig Henighan of Fox, and Bradley North, Joe Barnett, Adam Jenkins, Jordan Wilby, Tiffany S. Griffith of Technicolor-Hollywood.

The winning American Gods episode titled “The Bone Orchard” also came from a Technicolor-Hollywood sound team consisting of North, Griffith, Joseph DeAngelis, Kenneth Kobett and David Werntz.

Adding to Technicolor-Hollywood’s big night was an HPA Award win for Oustanding Feature Film Color Grading on the basis of Michael Hatzer’s work on Ghost in the Shell. And The Mill, a Technicolor company, won the HPA Award for Outstanding VFX in a Commercial for Kia's "Hero's Journey," a 2017 Super Bowl spot.

The HPA Awards have become the banner awards ceremony for professional media content, recognizing individuals and companies for outstanding contributions made in the creation of feature films, television, commercials, and entertainment fare enjoyed around the world.   

Awards were presented in 12 creative craft categories honoring behind-the-scenes artistry, including color grading, sound, editing and visual effects for commercials, television and feature film. Larry Chernoff of MTI received the Lifetime Achievement Award, and special awards were presented for Engineering Excellence and Creativity and Innovation. 

The winners of the 2017 HPA Awards are:

Creative Categories

Outstanding Color Grading 

Outstanding Color Grading – Feature Film 
“Ghost in the Shell”
Michael Hatzer // Technicolor – Hollywood

Outstanding Color Grading – Television 
“The Crown – Smoke and Mirrors”
Asa Shoul // Molinare

Outstanding Color Grading – Commercial   
Jose Cuervo – “Last Days” 
Tom Poole // Company 3
 

Outstanding Editing 

Outstanding Editing – Feature Film   
“Dunkirk”
Lee Smith, ACE

Outstanding Editing – Television 
“Stranger Things – Chapter 1: The Vanishing of Will Byers”
Dean Zimmerman 

Outstanding Editing – Commercial 
Nespresso – “Comin’ Home”
Chris Franklin // Big Sky Edit
 

Outstanding Sound 

Outstanding Sound – Feature Film
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”
Addison Teague, Dave Acord, Chris Boyes, Lora Hirschberg // Skywalker Sound

Outstanding Sound – Television 
A TIE BETWEEN: 
“Stranger Things – Chapter 8: The Upside Down”
Craig Henighan // FOX
Bradley North, Joe Barnett, Adam Jenkins, Jordan Wilby, Tiffany S. Griffith // Technicolor – Hollywood

“American Gods – The Bone Orchard”
Bradley North, Joseph DeAngelis, Kenneth Kobett, David Werntz, Tiffany S. Griffith // Technicolor – Hollywood

Outstanding Sound – Commercial  
Rio 2016 Paralympic Games – “We’re The Superhumans”
Anthony Moore // Factory

Outstanding Visual Effects 

Outstanding Visual Effects – Feature Film
“War for the Planet of the Apes”
Dan Lemmon, Anders Langlands, Luke Millar, Erik Winquist, Daniel Barrett // Weta Digital

Outstanding Visual Effects – Television
“Black Sails – XXIX” 
Erik Henry
Yafei Wu, Nicklas Andersson, David Wahlberg // Important Looking Pirates 
Martin Lippman // Rodeo

Outstanding Visual Effects – Commercial 
Kia – “Hero’s Journey” 
Robert Sethi, Chris Knight, Tom Graham, Jason Bergman // The Mill

The following special awards, which were previously announced, were also presented: 

HPA Engineering Excellence Award
2017 Winners:
Colorfront // Colorfront Engine
Dolby // Dolby Vision Post-Production Tools
RED Digital Cinema // WEAPON 8K Vista Vision 
SGO // Mistika VR

Honorable Mentions were awarded to Canon USA, Inc. for Critical Viewing Reference Displays and to Eizo, Inc. for ColorEdge CG318-4K.

The HPA Engineering Excellence Award is recognized as one of the most important technology honors in the industry, spotlighting companies and individuals who draw upon technical and creative ingenuity to develop breakthrough technologies. Submissions for this peer-judged award may include products or processes, and must represent a step forward for its industry beneficiaries.
 

HPA Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation 
2017 Winner: 
NASA, Amazon Web Services, and AWS Elemental, an Amazon Web Services Company // The First Live 4K Stream from the International Space Station

The HPA Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation recognizes companies and individuals who have demonstrated excellence, whether in the development of workflow and process to support creative storytelling or in technical innovation. The Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation is conferred by a jury of industry experts.

HPA Lifetime Achievement Award
2017 Honoree: Larry Chernoff 

The HPA Lifetime Achievement Award is given to an individual who is recognized for his or her service and commitment to the professional media content industry. The mission of the award is to give recognition to individuals who have, with great service, dedicated their careers to the betterment of the industry. The Lifetime Achievement Award is given at the discretion of the HPA Board of Directors and the HPA Awards Committee. It is not bestowed every year.

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