2016 NAB Show And SMPTE Unite

By Richard Welsh, chair of The Future of Cinema Conference and CEO at Sundog Media Toolkit.

The newly crafted NAB Show's 'The Future of Cinema Conference: The Immortal Movie', produced in partnership with SMPTE, will explore how content creators and storytellers combine artistry with motion-imaging technology to thrive today — and especially into the future. Scheduled for 16 – 17 April during the 2016 NAB Show, the refocused technical conference will examine this topic with an emphasis on the work and inspiration of the industry's newest generation of filmmakers.

The Future of Cinema Conference will gather the brightest industry minds and talents to discuss the changing nature of storytelling today and into the future as technology evolves, and how the industry will ensure that creative work is preserved in its highest form for generations to come. The two-day conference will feature sessions on forward-looking techniques and challenges related to making content for theatrical release and beyond.

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 students 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. A session focused on diversity will engage panellists and attendees in a discussion of how to build a richer, more expansive, and more dynamic filmmaking community.

The conference opens on Saturday with 'First Forays: High Dynamic Range in Animation', where speakers will examine the benefits afforded by technology to the animating industry, as well as the challenges it presents. Picking up on the idea of technical innovations, 'How Does Event Cinema Deal With Advanced Technologies?' will bring together leaders in the alternate content realm to discuss the future of event cinema as it relates to distributing content to cinemas in 4K/8K, wider colour gamut (WCG), higher frame rate (HFR), and HDR.

We are excited to have acclaimed film director Ang Lee provide the keynote 'Pushing the Limits of Cinema'. Lee will discuss his vision for cinema and the creative opportunities for the future of filmmaking. Along with editor Tim Squyres and production systems supervisor Ben Gervais, Lee will discuss creating the groundbreaking movie 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' in a format that surpasses anything previously viewed in cinema. In a world exclusive, attendees will enjoy the first ever public screening of footage from the upcoming movie in its native 4K, 3D, 120 frames-per-second (FPS) format using the cutting-edge Dual Christie Mirage dual-laser projection system.

Lee, Gervais, and Squyres will then be joined by stereographer Demetri Portelli and Scot Barbour, vice president of production technology at Sony Pictures, for the 'Technical Deep Dive'. Here the panelists will examine at the technical challenges of production and postproduction in 120 FPS, 4K, stereoscopic 3D. Following on from Lee's keynote, this session will explore the technology, methods, and discoveries of working in a format that is at the bleeding edge of what is possible today. Discussing the making of 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk', the technical team behind this incredible leap in filmmaking will show how they have opened up creative possibilities that will shape the next chapter in the art of cinema. David Cohen, senior editor of features at Variety, will act as moderator.

Following these two sessions, 'The Right Light for the Future of Cinema', will provide an objective view of the current and future technologies for cinema projector illumination, along with a discussion of the primary benefits and limitations of each.

The panel 'How to Increase Diversity in the Future of Cinema' will present steps that industry leaders can take to create an inclusive, equal-opportunity environment. During this session, creatives and technologists will share stories and provide ideas and tactics for increasing and sustaining diversity in cinematic arts.

SMPTE members may use code EP01 to take $100 off the NAB nonmember rate for a SMART or Conference Flex Pass registration, or to get a free Exhibits Pass. The offer expires April 1.

For more information and to view the complete programme, visit:
www.nabshow.com/attend/future-of-cinema-conference.

This article is also available to read at BFV online here.

(JP/MH)