The Hollywood Professional Association announced the winners of the 2016 HPA Awards during a gala celebration Thursday tonight at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The HPA Awards recognize individuals and companies for outstanding contributions made in the creation of feature films, television, commercials, and entertainment content enjoyed around the world.
This year’s top winners of the HPA Engineering Excellence Award were Aspera for FASPStream, Grass Valley for GV Node Real Time IP Processing and Edge Routing Platform, RealD for Ultimate Screen, and SGO for Mistika.
Honorable mention went to Grass Valley for the LDX 86N Native 4K Series Camera, and Canon USA for its 4K / UHD / 2K / HD display.
This year’s winner for Creativity and Innovation was awarded to The Mill for the Blackbird. That award 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.
Her Dow, ACE, received this year’s 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.
Michelle Munson, founder and CEO of Aspera received this year’s Charles S. Swartz Award, which is conferred on a person, group, or company that has made significant artistic, technological, business or educational impact across diverse aspects of the media industry. The award was named in honor of the late Charles S. Swartz, who led the Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California from 2002 until 2006, building it into the industry's premiere testing bed for new digital cinema technologies.
The full list of winners can be found on the HPA website www.hpaonline.com.