The 2025 Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) Tech Retreat will celebrate three decades of influence this year, with an extensive schedule of activities and an exceptional round-up of experts and presentations. Registration is open for the Retreat which takes place February 16 to 20, 2025, at the Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, Calif. For three decades, the HPA Tech Retreat has been known for its in-depth and inventive approach to covering the critical topics facing the media creation industry. The Retreat is an uncommon gathering of thought leaders, technology trendsetters and creatives who gather in a non-marketing setting to discuss and explore the most important topics that face the industry during 4-plus days of sessions, roundtable discussions, conversation and technology demonstrations.
The HPA Tech Retreat consistently sells out well in advance of the event and registration is expected to reach capacity quickly; securing a spot is highly recommended. Attendance is strictly capped to foster an atmosphere that promotes discussion, debate, and connection.
Over the carefully curated days, Retreat programming takes on areas of crucial interest to the industry: TR-X (Monday) will focus on Affordable Production, Supersession (Tuesday) for which details will be announced shortly, and Wednesday and Thursday’s program (detailed below).
Mark Schubin has been a guiding vision of HPA Tech Retreat programming for more than 20 years. As ever, he brought his knowledge and unique perspective to the program, commenting, “There are topics that make us pace the floor. As they always do, things in our industry are changing, and there’s concern and interest in that change. We got more submissions than ever this year and the committee was impressed with not just the number, but the sheer quality of those submissions. Of course, AI is a consistent thread, but there is so much more, voices from the music industry and live events, sports, pure explorations of storytelling, business cases and cloud workflows all showed up. There was an abundance of riches. Reading these proposals is an honest behind-the-curtain view of what is happening in our industry and from those, we’ve come up with what I think is a bang-up program.”
Sessions for Wednesday and Thursday’s program include the following:
Wednesday, February 19
· What CES 2025 Means for the Media Industry
o Mark Harrison, DPP
· What do CTOs really think? Key findings from the DPP Media CTO Survey
o Mark Harrison and Rowan de Pomerai, DPP
· Deploying an UltraHD Broadcast Experience Through HDR and SDR Infrastructures
o Moderator: Michael Zink, LG Electronics and the Ultra HD Forum, Bill Baggelaar, UHD Alliance, Annie Chang, Universal Pictures
· Joshua Pines Opines
o Josh Pines, Picture Shop
· Is the industry sitting on an AI goldmine or a ticking time bomb?
o Rich Welsh, Deluxe
· How entrepreneurs can successfully launch, fund, and grow a start-up tech company in the M&E sector utilizing advanced technologies including AI
o Moderator: Ethan Jacks, MediaBridge Capital Advisors
· Behind the Screens: Pushing the Boundaries of Live Entertainment at Sphere
Moderator: Jonathan Martin, WEKA
· Live Event Tech: Tours, Festivals & Residencies – IMAG to Streaming
Moderator: Mark Chiolis, Mobile TV Group,Jim Toten,Jeff Carman
· Olympics Open and Coverage 2024: Advancing Live Production Technology
o Renard Jenkins, I2A2 Technologies, Studios & Labs
· AI in Live Sports Production: IBM and Wimbledon’s Sustainable Tech Revolution
o Barbara Lange, Kibo121
· Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment’s Journey in Adopting Video Foundation Models for Content Creation
o Ryan Khurana, MLSE, & Travis Couture, Twelve Labs
· Harnessing Gen AI to Elevate Accessibility, Inclusivity, and Compliance in Media, Entertainment and Sports
o Carin Forman, AWS
· Re-Thinking Fast Turnaround Workflows for the Cloud
o Chris Swan, AWS UK
· Transforming Archives into Active Content Libraries: Unlocking the Potential of Legacy Media
o Moderator: Soyoung Lee, Twelve Labs, Heidi Shakespeare, Memnon Archive Services
Thursday, February 20
· Navigating the New Normal: Production Trends and Industry Shifts in TV and Film
o Alex LoVerde, ProdPro
· AI Was Not the Great Disrupter
o Moderator: John Footen, Deloitte Consulting, Jason Williamson, Deloitte Consulting, Seth Hallen
· Love Hurts – But It Doesn’t Have to in the Cloud!
o Moderator: Annie Chang, Universal Pictures
· Harmonizing Virtual Production and Visual Effects
o Mathieu Mazerolle, Foundry
· Understanding the Threat Landscape of AI workflows in Localization, Digital Film, and Dubbing
o Mathew Gilliat-Smith, Convergent DS, Ben Stanbury, The Walt Disney Studios, Keith Ritlop, ConvergentDS (formerly Disney, NBCU, Fox)
· Standards, SMPTE, and ISO
o Sally-Ann D’Amato, SMPTE, Thomas Bause Mason, SMPTE, Renard Jenkins, I2A2 Technologies, Studios & Labs, Andy Maltz, General Intelligence
· From Stone Age to Screen Age: The Epic Tale of Visual Storytelling
o Seth Hallen and Alan Lasky
· AI Applications in Media Workflows
o Moderator: Thomas True, NVIDIA
· Bridging the Uncanny Valley: Artificial Individual Intelligence (Aii)
o Dave Ginsberg and Jerry Rees, Artificial Individual Intelligence
· Shaping Stories with Media Intelligence: From Search to Storytelling
o Morgan Prygrocki, Adobe
· Accessibility Has Plateaued
o Lee Eigner, Sony Music
· How do I deal with all these live streams?
o Chris Lennon, Ross Video
· Media Cyber Security and Trust
o Hans Hoffmann, European Broadcasting Union
· Vid2Vec: the First AI-Driven “Narrative Grammar” for Film & TV
o Yves Bergquist, Entertainment Technology Center – USC Cinematic Arts
· Creative Flow or Friction? Exploring Artists’ Emotional and Cognitive Responses to AI in Media Production
o Renard Jenkins, Clayton Moser 12A2 Technologies, Studios & Labs, Holly Beavon, Fielding Graduate University
· Post-Retreat Treat
o The “Ghost Army” That Fooled Hitler
§ Anne Brooker-Grogan and Ed Grogan
TR-X Affordable Production (February 17)
This year, the popular TR-X session will focus on insights from behind-the-scenes of affordable productions. The afternoon includes case studies, panel discussions and keynotes that feature leading creatives and technologists who share experiences and expertise. Panels and speakers will bring their real-world experiences of bringing high end productions, sports productions, and lower budget productions to outstanding results with limited resources. Current panelists include a keynote from Michael Cioni, and discussions with Kathryn Brillhart, Lori H. Schwartz, Angela Victor, Julian Higgins, Christopher Nichols, Alex LoCasale, Renard Jenkins, Erik Weaver, Jason Dachman, Brandin Grams, David Shapiro, Nick Busto, Tahira Foy, Starry H. Focus, Brian Tran, Lina Sanchez, Kiera Williams and more. Full details of the day are forthcoming.
BREAKFAST ROUNDTABLES (February 18,19,20)
The perennially popular HPA Tech Retreat Breakfast Roundtables take place before the programming starts, Tuesday through Thursday. On those mornings, expert-led thought tables cover a wide variety of topics of interest to a vibrant group of attendees. With more than 75 tables currently booked and more being added daily, the Breakfast Roundtables present an incredible bench of expertise, connection and dialogue. For a list of roundtables, visit HPATechRetreat.com.
INNOVATION ZONE (February 17, 18, 19)
Registered attendees can explore the latest technologies in The Innovation Zone, the Retreat’s remarkable demo area where more than 60 curated technology companies demonstrate and discuss the most groundbreaking tech available today. For companies interested in exhibiting their tech, limited space remains; contact jcataldo@hpaonline.com for details.
NETWORKING (every day from February 16 – 20)
The HPA Tech Retreat is a world-class networking event. Over lunches, dinners, cocktail events, and sessions, the event is fueled by connection and discussion. Sunday, February 16, the Retreat kicks off with a golf tournament, pickleball, pool cabana social and other opportunities that start the week off in a relaxed social atmosphere. The week continues with a solid schedule of networking opportunities.
