The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) bestowed the 2017 HPA Awards tonight, during a sold-out gala celebration at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.  The HPA Awards have become the banner awards ceremony for the professional media content, recognizing individuals and companies for outstanding contributions made in the creation of feature films, television, commercials, and entertainment content enjoyed around the world.  

Awards were bestowed in twelve creative craft categories honoring behind-the-scenes artistry, including color grading, sound, editing and visual effects for commercials, television and feature film. Larry Chernoff of MTI received the Lifetime Achievement Award, and special awards were presented for Engineering Excellence and Creativity and Innovation.

The winners of the 2017 HPA Awards are:

CREATIVE CATEGORIES

Outstanding Color Grading

Outstanding Color Grading – Feature Film

WINNER:
“Ghost in the Shell”
Michael Hatzer // Technicolor – Hollywood

“The Birth of a Nation”
Steven J. Scott // Technicolor – Hollywood

“Hidden Figures”
Natasha Leonnet // EFILM                                                                             

“Doctor Strange”
Steven J. Scott // Technicolor – Hollywood

“Beauty and the Beast”
Stefan Sonnenfeld // Company 3

“Fences"
Michael Hatzer // Technicolor – Hollywood

Outstanding Color Grading – Television

WINNER:
“The Crown – Smoke and Mirrors”
Asa Shoul // Molinare

“The Last Tycoon – Burying the Boy Genius"
Timothy Vincent // Technicolor – Hollywood

“Game of Thrones – Dragonstone”
Joe Finley // Chainsaw 

“Genius – Einstein: Chapter 1”
Pankaj Bajpai // Encore Hollywood

“The Man in the High Castle – Detonation”
Roy Vasich // Technicolor

Outstanding Color Grading – Commercial  
 
WINNER:
Jose Cuervo – "Last Days"
Tom Poole // Company 3

Land O' Lakes – "The Farmer"
Billy Gabor // Company 3 

Pennzoil – "JOYRIDE Tundra"
Dave Hussey // Company 3

Nedbank – "The Tale of a Note"
Sofie Borup // Company 3

Squarespace – "John's Journey"
Tom Poole // Company 3

Outstanding Editing
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design

Outstanding Editing – Feature Film   

WINNER:
“Dunkirk”
Lee Smith, ACE

“Hidden Figures”
Peter Teschner

“The Ivory Game”
Verena Schönauer

“Get Out”
Gregory Plotkin, ACE

“Lion”
Alexandre de Franceschi

 

Outstanding Editing – Television

WINNER:
“Stranger Things – Chapter 1: The Vanishing of Will Byers”
Dean Zimmerman

“Game of Thrones – Stormborn”
Tim Porter, ACE

“Game of Thrones – The Queen's Justice”
Jesse Parker

“Narcos – Al Fin Cayo!”
Matthew V. Colonna, Trevor Baker

“Westworld – The Original”
Stephen Semel, ACE, Marc Jozefowicz

“Game of Thrones – Dragonstone”
Crispin Green

Outstanding Editing – Commercial

WINNER:
Nespresso – “Comin’ Home”
Chris Franklin // Big Sky Edit 

Bonafont – “Choices”
Doobie White // Therapy Studios

Optum – “Heroes”
Chris Franklin // Big Sky Edit

SEAT – “Moments”
Doobie White // Therapy Studios

 

Outstanding Sound

Outstanding Sound – Feature Film

WINNER:
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”
Addison Teague, Dave Acord, Chris Boyes, Lora Hirschberg // Skywalker Sound

“Fate of the Furious”
Peter Brown, Mark Stoeckinger, Paul Aulicino, Steve Robinson, Bobbi Banks // Formosa Group

“Sully”
Alan Murray, Bub Asman, John Reitz, Tom Ozanich // Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services

“John Wick: Chapter 2”
Mark Stoeckinger, Alan Rankin, Andy Koyama, Martyn Zub, Gabe Serrano // Formosa Group

“Doctor Strange”
Shannon Mills, Tom Johnson, Juan Peralta, Dan Laurie // Skywalker Sound

Outstanding Sound – Television

WINNERS (TIE):
“Stranger Things – Chapter 8: The Upside Down”
Craig Henighan // FOX
Bradley North, Joe Barnett, Adam Jenkins, Jordan Wilby, Tiffany S. Griffith // Technicolor – Hollywood

“American Gods – The Bone Orchard”
Bradley North, Joseph DeAngelis, Kenneth Kobett, David Werntz, Tiffany S. Griffith // Technicolor – Hollywood

“Underground – Soldier”
Larry Goeb, Mark Linden, Tara Paul // Sony Pictures Post

“Game of Thrones – The Spoils of War”
Tim Kimmel, MPSE, Paula Fairfield, Mathew Waters, CAS, Onnalee Blank, CAS, Bradley C. Katona, Paul Bercovitch // Formosa Group

“The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble” 
Pete Horner // Skywalker Sound
Dimitri Tisseyre // Envelope Music + Sound
Dennis Hamlin // Hamlin Sound

Outstanding Sound – Commercial 

WINNER:
Rio 2016 Paralympic Games – “We're The Superhumans”
Anthony Moore // Factory

Honda – “Up”
Anthony Moore, Neil Johnson, Jack Hallett // Factory
Sian Rogers // SIREN

Virgin Media – “This Is Fibre”
Anthony Moore // Factory

Kia – “Hero's Journey”
Nathan Dubin // Margarita Mix Santa Monica

SEAT – “Moments”
Doobie White // Therapy Studios

Outstanding Visual Effects

Outstanding Visual Effects – Feature Film

WINNER:
“War for the Planet of the Apes”
Dan Lemmon, Anders Langlands, Luke Millar, Erik Winquist, Daniel Barrett // Weta Digital

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”
Gary Brozenich, Sheldon Stopsack, Patrick Ledda, Richard Clegg, Richard Little // MPC

“Beauty and the Beast”
Kyle McCulloch, Glen Pratt, Richard Hoover, Dale Newton, Neil Weatherley // Framestore

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”
Guy Williams, Kevin Andrew Smith, Charles  Tait, Daniel Macarin, David Clayton // Weta Digital

“Ghost in the Shell”
Guillaume Rocheron, Axel Bonami, Arundi Asregadoo, Pier Lefebvre, Ruslan Borysov // MPC

Outstanding Visual Effects – Television

WINNER:
“Black Sails – XXIX”
Erik Henry
Yafei Wu, Nicklas Andersson, David Wahlberg // Important Looking Pirates
Martin Lippman // Rodeo

“The Crown – Windsor”
Ben Turner, Tom Debenham, Oliver Cubbage, Lionel Heath, Charlie Bennett // One of Us

“Taboo – Episode One”
Henry Badgett, Nic Birmingham, Simon Rowe, Alexander Kirichenko, Finlay Duncan // BlueBolt VFX

“Ripper Street – Occurrence Reports"
Ed Bruce, Nicholas Murphy, Denny Cahill, Piotr Swigut, Mark Pinheiro // Screen Scene

“Westworld – The Bicameral Mind”
Jay Worth // Deep Water FX
Bobo Skipper, Gustav Ahren, Jens Tenland // Important Looking Pirates
Paul Ghezzo // COSA VFX

Outstanding Visual Effects – Commercial

WINNER:
Kia – "Hero’s Journey"
Robert Sethi, Chris Knight, Tom Graham, Jason Bergman // The Mill

 

Walmart – “Lost & Found”
Morgan MacCuish, Michael Ralla, Aron Hjartarson, Todd Herman // Framestore

Honda – “Keep the Peace”
Laurent Ledru, Georgia Tribuiani, Justin Booth-Clibborn, Ellen Turner // Psyop 

Nespresso – “Comin’ Home”
Matt Pascuzzi, Martin Lazaro, Murray Butler, Nick Fraser, Callum McKevney // Framestore

Walmart – “The Gift”
Mike Warner, Kurt Lawson, Charles Trippe, Robby  Geis // ZERO VFX

The following special awards, which were previously announced, were also presented this evening:

HPA ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE AWARD
Sponsored by HGST

2017 Winners:
Colorfront // Colorfront Engine
Dolby // Dolby Vision Post-Production Tools
RED Digital Cinema // WEAPON 8K Vista Vision
SGO // Mistika VR

Honorable Mentions were awarded to Canon USA, Inc. for Critical Viewing Reference Displays and to Eizo, Inc. for ColorEdge CG318-4K. 

The HPA Engineering Excellence Award is recognized as one of the most important technology honors in the industry, spotlighting companies and individuals who draw upon technical and creative ingenuity to develop breakthrough technologies.  Submissions for this peer-judged award may include products or processes, and must represent a step forward for its industry beneficiaries.

HPA JUDGES AWARD FOR CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

2017 Winner
NASA, Amazon Web Services, and AWS Elemental, an Amazon Web Services Company // The First Live 4K Stream from the International Space Station

The HPA Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation 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.

HPA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

2017 Honoree: Larry Chernoff

The 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.

More information about the HPA Awards and the Hollywood Professional Association can be found at http://www.hpaonline.com/. Title Sponsor Blackmagic Design; Engineering Excellence Sponsor HGST; Foundation Members Avid, Company 3, Deluxe, Dolby, EFilm, and Encore; and Platinum Sponsors IMAX, Secret Headquarters, and Sohonet; Engineering Excellence Award Sponsor HGST; Bronze Sponsor Sony; and Supporting Sponsors Barco, FuseFX, The Hollywood Reporter, Stephen Arnold Music, and Wipster are the sponsors of the 2017 HPA Awards, which are produced by Homerun Entertainment.

About the HPA® Awards
The HPA Awards were created to foster awareness and recognize the achievements of the individuals and companies that have contributed to groundbreaking technologies and creative excellence within the professional media content industry, and build involvement in the Hollywood Professional Association. The HPA is a partner of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers® (SMPTE®). Information about the HPA Awards is available at http://www.hpaonline.com.

About the Hollywood Professional Association
Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) serves the professional community of businesses and individuals who provide expertise, support, tools and the infrastructure for the creation and finishing of motion pictures, television, commercials, digital media and other dynamic media content. Through its partnership with the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers® (SMPTE®), the leader in the advancement of the art, science and craft of the image, sound, and metadata ecosystem, the HPA continues to extend its support of the community it represents. Information about the HPA is available at www.hpaonline.com.