RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF.—The movers and shakers of the content production community gathered under the HPA Tech Retreat banner once again here in southern California’s Coachella Valley resort area to hear about the latest industry trends, technological breakthroughs and issues, network, and also “kick back” a bit from winter doldrums.
The year’s event, held Feb. 16-20, marked the 30th anniversary of a gathering that began as a rather small “winter break” and eventually morphed over the years into a consistently sold-out “must attend” conference, with attendance limited to 800. A part of SMPTE, the Hollywood Post Alliance serves the professional community of the post-production industry in film, television, and digital media.
As might be expected, the topic of artificial intelligence permeated the 2025 Tech Retreat, with AI either the subject or object of more than a third of the presentations, and managing to creep into a number of other panel discussions and exchanges of information. (AI-related topics even factored into the Retreat’s daily “breakfast roundtable” discussions where attendees could listen to, and join in, timely discussions as they enjoy breakfast.)
The Human Factor In AI-Based Content Creation
“This year’s topic could not be more timely,” said Seth Halen, HPA past-president, in opening the conference’s initial “Supersession,” which was themed “The Evolving Human Role in AI-Driven Film and TV Production and Post-Production Workflows.”
“A year ago, we sat on this stage and introduced — and maybe in some cases — dragged people into this world of AI,” said Halen. “Since then, we have marveled at the sheer power of these tools. AI is transforming workflows and long-held processes, and causing more debate than any technology shift that we’ve seen in years. But today, we’re going to shift our focus. Let’s refocus our attention away from the tools themselves and turn, in fact, to the humans, because the real power of AI isn’t about replacing creativity, it’s about amplifying it.
Halen then turned the program over to Renard Jenkins, president and chief executive officer of I2A2 Technologies, Studios and Labs, who stressed the importance of the human factor in meaningfully creating anything with artificial intelligence.
Jenkins observed that one year ago, AI’s stage of development could be compared to that of an infant or toddler, and in the intervening period, that toddler has now developed into a teenager. “We’re at the stage where AI thinks it knows more than we do,” he said. “We can do nothing right in AI’s eyes. We are not helpful to AI.”
Jenkins noted, however, that whether or not “the teenager” agrees, it still needs guidance.
“The teenager still needs the input from parents. Teenagers — no matter how smart they think they are — can only learn, can only grow [if they have guidance].”
In relating this human analogy to AI, Jenkins stressed that developers of the technology needed to spend plenty of time to be sure that their models “are ethically sourced, responsibly built, and actually have a purpose,” and not to merely “graft off what’s already there.”
He also offered encouragement for anyone who might feel threatened by the incursion of AI into the content creation industry. “If anybody tells you that AI is going to replace the workers, replace the artists, AI is going to replace, replace, replace…, I will theorize that person is extremely misguided as to how these tools and how these systems should be used, and how they can be most impactful to us as a society.”
Jenkins admonished anyone whose work and career path will likely involve AI technology to take advantage of the educational opportunities that now exist in the area of artificial intelligence and get “upskilled.”
“Upskilling” is the way forward for those of you who are concerned about where our industry is going,” he said. “Start now Prepare yourself for where this is going. Get yourself into this space.”
A Fresh Look At AI
Tech Retreat presentations also examined changes in AI evolution during the past year.
In one of these — “Is The Industry Sitting On An AI Goldmine Or A Ticking Timebomb?” — Richard Welsh, SMPTE president and senior vice president of innovation at Deluxe, provided an update on recent legal decisions involving the technology, with one of these providing some amplification on the previously-established rulings on copyrightability involving AI.
“The [U.S. Copyright] Office confirms that the use of AI to assist in the process of creation or the inclusion of AI-generated material in a larger human-generated work does not bar copyrightability,” said Welsh, in citing a very recent (Jan. 29, 2025) U.S. Copyright Office bulletin. He added that this excluded, however, “the mere provision of prompts.”
Welsh said that the European Union is also taking a fresh look at AI, repeating a Feb. 12 dispatch from Reuters that reported that “draft rules that regulated technology patents, AI and consumer privacy to messaging apps had been scrapped.”
He also noted that an EU “Liability Directive” now allows consumers to bring lawsuits based on “harm due to the fault or omission of (the) provider, developer or user of AI technology,” and that new legislation requires generative AI developers to disclose if copyrighted material is used in training data.
Welsh said that the “ticking timebomb” in the title of his presentation referred to legal aspects surrounding content that involved AI in some way. “We in the industry need to spend a lot of time talking about this,” said Welsh.
In looking at some of the items content creators needed to consider when involving AI in their work, Welsh noted that “AI needs to be trained only on your own work, so data from other’s works doesn’t get in there.”
“Every bit of data that comes into your organization needs to be tagged as to its source. Tag everything.”
Richard Welsh
He also stated that traceability of all elements used in creating content was very important. “Rights are going to become more and more important; this is already a big issue,” said Welsh. With the explosion of content originating from dashcams, surveillance cameras, other non-mainstream sources, it’s more important than ever to know where your video clips are coming from.
“Every bit of data that comes into your organization needs to be tagged as to its source,” said Welsh. “Tag everything.”
Can AI Have A Role In Sustainability?
In a slightly different take on the value of AI in the media industry, Barbara Lange, principal and chief executive officer of Kibo121, noted in her presentation — “AI for Good: The Role of Emerging Tech in Sustainability”— that AI was something of a double-edged sword.
Lange observed that AI is a very energy-hungry technology, stating that “by 2030, over 20% of U.S. electricity could be powering data centers for AI,” and noting that in light of this “sustainability is not just a responsibility; it’s a business imperative.”
Lange stated that AI did have a “plus side,” as it is a powerful search tool, and in this application could be used effectively by content creators to reduce the need for re-shoots, which in turn would save time, money, and transportation costs, all of which would go to reducing the M&E industry’s carbon footprint.
“AI is already being deployed in other industries with an eye to sustainability,” she said. “Increasing efficiency in transportation, enhancing indoor climate control, making appliances smarter, optimizing agriculture outcomes, optimizing electricity use, and maximizing resources and utilities.”
Everyone Can Now Be A Content Producer/Distributor
Apart from the main AI theme, a special pre-conference TR-X (“Tech Retreat eXtreme”) program themed “Affordable Production” focused on today’s increasing democratization in the areas of content creation and distribution. “Affordable Production.”
“I don’t know of any other generation in Hollywood that’s been confronted with such a tectonic industry shift in such a small period of time,” stated TR-X co-chair, Mark Chiolis, in describing the disruption created by the emergence of inexpensive devices for capturing content and the pipelines and channels for distributing this content.
In his “Disruptive Pixels: The Big Power of Small Budgets” session keynote, Mike Cioni, founder of several start-up M&E production operations, described the shift in consumer content consumption patterns, citing a survey that revealed “in 2023 the average American purchased only two movie theater tickets, and 84% of podcasts are being viewed on video platforms.”
Cioni blamed this situation on a reluctance by the content production industry to break away from long-established practices and patterns associated with maintaining perhaps an artificially high level of quality, referring to this condition as “friction.”
“In order for us to maintain that quality, we introduced a lot of friction,” he said. “This worked for a long time. If you make a production, you know that it is slow, it is hard, it is expensive. Production and distribution is super complicated and hard. Many companies are now acting on their momentum rather than their propulsion. I believe that there is major trouble on the horizon. I believe that this is why our industry is facing what it’s facing.”
Cioni noted that while breaking away from established practices could be risky, there were rewards for those willing to try something new and different. “If you bet wisely on early adopted technologies, when those inevitably hit as industry standards, your path will be so far ahead that everybody else will be behind.”
Cioni drove home the fact that “the technology gap is shrinking,” by showing video clips illustrating the image quality provided by three very different cameras. The first was captured with an ARRI Alexa, the second with a Fuji GFX 100 camera in the under-$10K price range, and the third was produced by a consumer iPhone. Other than some slight differences in depth of field, the imagery was strikingly identical in quality.
“The difference between a camera costing nearly $100,000 is not that much different than a $1,000 camera,” said Cioni. “It’s all about accessibility to technology.”
In commenting on the shift in content distribution platforms, Cioni noted that “YouTube represented 20.3% of TV viewing in July 2024 according to Nielsen.”
Mark Schubin’s Industry Updates
A regular feature of Tech Retreats is Mark Schubin’s “Technology Year in Review,” in which, in his words, “presents news items involving the cinema and television industry that may have gone unnoticed by many.”
This year, Schubin, a multiple Emmy Award winner and the Retreat’s official “wrangler” or “program maestro,” led off with some good and bad news about movie houses.
“Cinema is still not dead, I’m happy to report,” said Schubin, observing that gross receipts for 2024 were just about what they’d been in 2005. “The problem is that the consumer product index has gone up 65% since 2005, so it’s not the same. It’s comparing apples to oranges.”
Schubin reported that in order to remain in operation, some citizens groups are now buying movie theaters and operating them on a non-profit basis.
Other lesser reported industry news in Schubin’s review included Nielsen figures indicating that streaming now accounts for more than 43% of all viewing, and that while the majority of streaming content a year ago was older TV shows, it’s now mostly new content. Another reversal is the way viewers are consuming content.
“The TV is now a primary viewing device.”
Mark Schubin
“The TV is now a primary viewing device,” he said. “People are not using their phones as much as they’re using their TVs.”
Other factoids from Schubin included a comeback of the videocassette, with a new movie, “Alien: Romulus,” being offered in VHS format in a limited release, genetically-engineered bacteria that can be used as a form of AI in solving a range of problems, the promised availability from Nvidia of a consumer supercomputer for less than $250, and a new satellite constructed entirely from wood.
Looking Forward
The 2026 HPA Tech Retreat will again be held at the Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa. Conference dates are set for Feb. 15-19.
