The Hollywood Section of SMPTE®, the organization whose standards work has supported a century of technological advances in entertainment technology, today announced that its next monthly meeting, scheduled for Monday, May 31, will examine how data — lots of it — is exerting a major impact on decision-making in television and film production.

Data collected on social media, streaming services, mobile devices, email, and web-based communications affects decisions on how projects are green-lit, created, produced, distributed, and marketed. The ways individuals consume content are evolving and leading to data-rich models that claim to predict what consumers will watch, and how they will watch it. Everything in a digital environment is trackable. The question is: How are media professionals using this information?

The Hollywood Section of SMPTE will present a discussion, led by Bernie Laramie, on how big data and analytics are affecting the industry.

Laramie has been a producer in Los Angeles for more than 25 years. He is best known for his work on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as well as such series as Shark, Threat Matrix, Profiler, Dark Skies, and Max Headroom. His credits also include the IMAX 3D production of James Cameron’s Aliens of the Deep and The Last Mysteries of the Titanic, a 17-camera live broadcast from the sunken vessel.

Laramie taught postproduction for film and television at UCLA Extension for more than 15 years and has been a guest lecturer at the University of Southern California, the California Institute of the Arts, and the ArtCenter College of Design. He co-authored the textbook “Creative Postproduction,” published by Allyn & Bacon. He is a member of the Producers Guild of America, the Directors Guild of America, and the Editors Guild.

What:  SMPTE Hollywood Section, Monthly Meeting

Topic: Big Data Drives Big Decisions

When:  Monday, May 31, 2017. 6:00 p.m. Hospitality. 7:00 p.m. Meeting

Where: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), Linwood Dunn Theater, 1313 Vine Street, Los Angeles, CA 90028. Free parking is available behind the building.

Price:  Free for SMPTE Members and non-members

Register: http://bit.ly/2q9B8us

About the SMPTE® Hollywood Section
The Hollywood Section of SMPTE® was originally 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®
For more than a century, the people of SMPTE (pronounced “simp-tee”) have sorted out the details of many significant advances in media and entertainment technology, from the introduction of “talkies” and color television to HD and UHD (4K, 8K) TV. Since its founding in 1916, SMPTE has received an Oscar® and multiple Emmy® Awards for its work in advancing moving-imagery engineering across the industry. SMPTE has developed thousands of standards, recommended practices, and engineering guidelines, more than 800 of which are currently in force today. SMPTE Time Code™ and the ubiquitous SMPTE Color Bars™ are just two examples of SMPTE’s notable work. As it enters its second century, SMPTE is shaping the next generation of standards and providing education for the industry to ensure interoperability as the industry evolves further into IT- and IP-based workflows.

SMPTE’s global membership today includes more than 7,000 members: motion-imaging executives, creatives, technologists, researchers, and students who volunteer their time and expertise to SMPTE’s standards development and educational initiatives. A partnership with the Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) connects SMPTE and its membership with the businesses and individuals who support the creation and finishing of media content. Information on joining SMPTE is available at www.smpte.org/join.