SMPTE Gets Fresh At The 2016 NAB Show

The newly crafted NAB Show's The Future of Cinema Conference: The Immortal Movie, produced in partnership with SMPTE, will offer forward-looking perspectives on filmmaking. By Richard Welsh, CEO at Sundog Media Toolkit and programme committee chair for the The Future of Cinema Conference.

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is entering its centennial year, and 2016 will be marked by a variety of Society initiatives that celebrate a century of leadership in providing motion-imaging standards and education for the communications, media, entertainment, and technology industries. The Society will also be looking forward to the next 100 years, and this emphasis will be clear in the newly crafted NAB Show's The Future of Cinema Conference: The Immortal Movie, produced in partnership with SMPTE. Held 16-17 April at the 2016 NAB Show, this refocused and refreshed version of SMPTE's annual cinema summit will explore how content creators and storytellers combine artistry with motion-imaging technology to thrive well into the future.

The conference will be a compelling investigation of the limits of what is possible within the cinema environment. In addition to examining the cutting-edge technology starting to find its way into cinema, sessions will look at the new directions being taken by creatives — from the well-established to those who are just beginning their careers — and consider how these filmmakers are interfacing with technology to expand their storytelling capabilities.

In developing the conference schedule, we have called on the brightest industry minds and talents to discuss the changing nature of storytelling today and into the future, as technology evolves. A diverse group of innovators will be participating in the conference, who will share their research, insights, and experience with regard to the challenges related to making content for theatrical release and beyond, and also with respect to forward-looking techniques that will enable the industry to overcome these obstacles and ensure that creative work is preserved in its highest form for generations to come.

The conference will include sessions on the creative use of high-dynamic-range (HDR), the use of content captured on 35mm film to feed into high-end digital exhibition formats, the filmmakers and projects testing the limits of cinema, and the next-generation filmmaking efforts of student and recently graduated filmmakers. Further sessions will address questions related to next-generation distribution, HDR mastering and delivery to the home, and the impact of advanced technologies on event cinema.

We will also feature a session focused on diversity. Factors including the evolution of motion-imaging technology have enabled a greater variety of voices to be heard within our industry, and we will see proof of that in various conference sessions. We'll also tackle the topic more directly by engaging panelists and attendees in a discussion of how to build an even richer, more expansive, and more dynamic filmmaking community.

The composition of this year's programme committee reflects some of the new voices and perspectives influencing our industry. Writer and director Abi Corbin is the youngest woman ever to serve on the committee, and she brings experience and knowledge from both the creative and technical side of filmmaking. The committee also includes media management and technology consultant Christy King; Pat Griffis, executive director of technology strategy at Dolby Laboratories; motion picture consultant Bill Hogan; Pete Ludé, senior vice president at RealD; Cynthia Slavens, director of post-production at Pixar Animation Studios; digital cinema consultant Jim Whittlesey; and Chris Witham, director of digital cinema at The Walt Disney Studios.

As a group, we are working to ensure that The Future of Cinema Conference is more than a rebranded version of past years' events. With the focus on "the immortal movie", our goal is to take a fresh look at the industry and how it will succeed and flourish in the decades to come. Our hope is that when the conference has concluded, attendees — both the creative and technically oriented — will be inspired to consider how they are working now, and whether they can push the boundaries of the art and technology of motion picture. We want to energise our audience with the new possibilities afforded by the evolving science and craft of movie-making.

Further details about the 2016 NAB Show are available at www.nabshow.com, and registration is open here.

SMPTE members may use code EP01 to take $100 off the NAB non-member rate for a SMART or Conference Flex Pass registration, or to get a free Exhibits Pass – this offer will expire 1 April.

Image: Richard Welsh moderates a panel at the 2015 NAB Show.

www.smpte.org

This article is also available to read at BFV online.

(JP/LM)