INDIAN WELLS, CALIF.—The 2015 HPA Tech Retreat is soliciting proposals for presentation at the annual tech gathering, scheduled for Feb. 9-13.
The Hollywood Post Alliance’s retreat covers a wide and diverse range of topics from production to post production, including projector output, visual perception, viewer behavior, loudness control, camera technology, content control, and military surveillance.
The five-day HPA Tech Retreat includes panel and roundtable discussions as well as a tech exhibit area.
This is the first retreat since the organization announced that it is merging with SMPTE in 2015; however, when the announcement was made in July, HPA board president Leon Silverman, who is also on the SMPTE board, said the HPA will continue to be autonomous. “I don’t think you’ll see HPA disappear within SMPTE,” he told Variety. HPA Tech Retreat Organizer Mark Schubin confirmed that “it is to be run as it has been in the past.”
Presentations can be proposed for the main program and for breakfast-roundtable topics and moderators. There also will probably be a call in November for applications for the demo area.
Presentations can cover anything related to moving-image technology and related audio. For both the main program and the breakfast roundtables, the only requirement is a technology orientation. For the main program, marketing is also prohibited. Possibilities include (but are not limited to) archiving, bit-rate reduction, conditional access, distributed performance, enhanced imaging, film-grain emulation, glass-fiber improvements, higher dynamic range, image evaluation, JPEG2000, Kell’s factor, live-event cinema, making money multimedially, new technology, optical storage, practical robotics, quantum entanglement for distribution, rights management, super-high resolution, translation, ultra-high frame rate, vertical scanning, wavefield reconstruction in sound and vision, X-ray illumination, young audience attraction, and zoom limits. Is UHDTV good or bad? The cloud? LED lighting? Mobile devices? Proposed presentations can cover history, development, implementation, application, standardization, future possibilities, or anything else applicable to the technology.
The first day, Feb. 9, will feature non-HPA events (such as Charles Poynton’s seminar). The 10th will feature an all-day “super-session,” while the third day is typically devoted to audiences, presentation, and distribution. The 12th will be devoted to production and post production and the last day, (the 13th) will cover future technologies. There are breakfast-roundtable slots on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
No formal submission is required. All submissions must come from the proposed presenter or breakfast-roundtable moderator. PR firms and marketing directors are welcome to make inquiries, but unless they plan on doing the presentations, their submissions will not count. Proposers of panels are responsible for getting all panelists. Main-program slots are typically 30 minutes long, including set-up and Q&A; other durations will be considered on request.
Submissions for the main program are due Friday Oct. 24. Decisions are expected by the end of November. Successful presenters (and their panelists, if any) will get the speakers admission discount for the full retreat or may attend only their session free of charge.
To submit proposals and for sponsorship opportunities, contact Mark Schubin at TVMark@earthlink.net or Media.Mark.Schubin@gmail.com. For more information on the retreat, visit the HPA website.
