The Hollywood Section of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers® (SMPTE®), will reveal how the National Hot Rod Association restored live coverage of drag racing’s biggest events—safely and securely—in the first of its new “Meet an Industry Innovator” webinar series. The free event is slated for September 24th.
Having postponed its season in March due to COVID-19, NHRA returned to racing with three events at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July and August. To facilitate telecasts of the events on Fox, Rob Hedrick, NHRA’s director of post-production and supervising producer, and the NHRA broadcasting team devised a workflow leveraging Sony, NewTek and Grass Valley technology and BeBop’s remote collaboration platform, to allow the broadcast crew to carry on their work while adhering to social distancing guidelines.
At NHRA, Hedrick leads a team creating deliverables for Fox Sports and the association’s OTT platform, which he helped create. With more than 20 years of television experience, he has pioneered live streaming since 2004 delivering live coverage of breaking news and weather events including Hurricane Katrina. Since the pandemic, Rob has transformed his apartment in downtown Los Angeles into an online editing suite to remotely support the NHRA on FOX’s telecast.
Greg Ciaccio, principal of [VIZN] Consulting, will moderate. Ciaccio is a creative technologist with a passion for technology and workflow solutions. He has served in executive operational management positions at Sim, Ascent, Technicolor and Deluxe. He helped launch leading-edge products and services including Technicolor’s DP Lights and Deluxe's Mobilabs near-set dailies solutions. He serves as Chair of the ASC Motion Imaging Technology Council’s Workflow Committee, which includes the ACES and Advanced Data Management Subcommittees. Additionally, he is a Board Member of the SMPTE Hollywood Section, an ASC Associate member and a founding member of the Digital Cinema Society.
SMPTE Hollywood’s “Meet an Industry Innovator” webinars are free and open to the public. Advance registration is required.
- Event: SMPTE Hollywood Meet an Industry Innovator: The National Hot Rod Association Roars Back to the Starting Line
- When: Thursday, September 24, 2020. Noon PST
- Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meet-an-industry-innovator-the-nhra-roars-back-to-the-starting-line-tickets-121107057469
About the SMPTE® Hollywood Section
The Hollywood Section of SMPTE® was initially organized as the West Coast Section in 1928. Today, as its own SMPTE Region, it encompasses more than 1,200 SMPTE Members with a common interest in motion-imaging technology in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Hollywood Section offers free meetings monthly that are open to SMPTE Members and non-members alike. Information about meetings is posted on the Section website at www.smpte.org/hollywood.
About SMPTE®
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers®, or SMPTE, is defining the future of storytelling. The Society’s mission is to enable the technical framework that allows the global professional community to make media for artistic, educational, and entertainment purposes and to distribute that content for the benefit and enjoyment of people worldwide. As a global volunteer-driven society of technologists, developers, and creatives, SMPTE is engaged in driving the quality and evolution of motion pictures, television, and professional media. The Society sets industry standards that help businesses maximize their markets more cost-effectively, provides relevant education that supports members’ career growth, and fosters an engaged and diverse membership community.
Information on joining SMPTE is available at smpte.org/join.
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