By Randi Altman

Late last month, many of the smartest brains in production and post descended on the Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa in Palm Springs for the annual HPA Tech Retreat. This conference is built for learning and networking; it’s what it does best, and it starts early. The days begin with over 30 breakfast roundtables, where hosts dig into topics — such as “Using AI/ML for Media Content Creation” and “Apprenticeship and the Future of Post” — while the people at their table dig in to eggs and coffee.

The day then kicks further into gear with sessions; coffee breaks inserted for more mingling; more sessions; networking lunches; a small exhibit floor; drinks while checking out the tools; dinners, including Fiesta Night and food trucks; and, of course, a bowling party… all designed to get you to talk to people you might not know and build relationships.

It’s hard to explain just how valuable this event is for those who attend, speak and exhibit. Along with Corridor Digital’s Niko Pueringer talking AI as well as the panel of creatives who worked on Postcard from Earth for the Las Vegas Sphere, one of my personal favorites was the yearly Women in Post lunch. Introduced by Fox’s Payton List, the panel was moderated by Rosanna Marino of IDC LA and featured Daphne Dentz from Warner Bros. Discovery Content Creative Services, Katie Hinsen from Marvel and Kylee Peña from Adobe. The group talked about the changing “landscape of workplace dynamics influenced by #metoo, the arrival of Gen Z into the workforce and the ongoing impact of the COVID pandemic.” It was great. The panelists were open, honest and funny. A definite highlight of the conference.

We reached out to just a few folks to get their thoughts on the event:

Light Iron’s Liam Ford
My favorite session by far was the second half of the Tuesday Supersession. Getting an in-depth walk-through of how AI is currently being used to create content was truly eye-opening. Not only did we get exposed to a variety of tools that I’ve never even heard of before, but we were given insights on what the generative AI components were actually doing to create these images, and that shed a lot of light on where the potential growth and innovation in this process is likely to be concentrated.

I also want to give a shoutout to the great talk by Charles Poynton on what quantum dots actually are. I feel like we’ve been throwing this term around a lot over the last year or two, and few people, if any, knew how the technology was constructed at a base layer.

Finally, my general takeaway was that we’re heading into a bit of a Wild West over the next three years.  Not only is AI going to change a lot of workflows, and in ways we haven’t come close to predicting yet, but the basic business model of the film industry itself is on the ropes. Everyone’s going to have to start thinking outside the box very seriously to survive the coming disruption.

Imax’s Greg Ciaccio
Each year, the HPA Tech Retreat program features cutting-edge technology and related implementation. This year, the bench of immensely talented AI experts stole the show.  Year after year, I’m impressed with the practical use cases shown using these new technologies. AI benefits are far-reaching, but generative AI piqued my interest most, especially in the area of image enhancement. Instead of traditional pixel up-rezing, AI image enhancements can use learned images to embellish artists’ work, which can iteratively be sent back and forth to achieve the desired intent.

3 Ball Media Group’s Neil Coleman
While the concern about artificial intelligence was palpable in the room, it was the potential in the tools that was most exciting. We are already putting Topaz Labs Video AI into use in our post workflow, but the conversations are what spark the most discovery. Discussing needs and challenges with other attendees at lunch led to options that we hadn’t considered when trying to get footage from field back to post. It’s the people that make this conference so compelling.

IDC’s Rosanna Marino
It’s always a good idea to hear the invited professionals’ perspectives, knowledge and experience. However, I must say that the 2024 HPA Tech Retreat was outstanding. Every panel, every event was important and relevant. In addition to all the knowledge and information taken away, the networking and bonding was also exceptional.

I am grateful to have attended the entire event this year. I would have really missed out otherwise. The variation of topics and how they all came together was extraordinary. The number of attendees gave it a real community feel.

IDC’s Mike Tosti
The HPA Tech Retreat allows you to catch up on what your peers are doing in the industry and where the pitfalls may lie.

AI has come a long way in the last year, and it is time we start learning it and embracing it, as it is only going to get better and more prevalent. There were some really compelling demonstrations during the afternoon of Supersession.

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Randi Altman is the founder and editor-in-chief of postPerspective. She has been covering production and post production for more than 25 years.