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Hollywood Post Alliance, SMPTE Strike Partnership

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and the Hollywood Post Alliance announce a partnership with the intent of merging entirely within a year.

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and the Hollywood Post Alliance have announced a partnership with the intent of merging entirely within a year, according to a report by Variety.

Wendy Aylsworth, president of SMPTE, announced the alliance at the organization’s Entertainment in the Internet Age conference on the campus of Stanford University.

Leaders of both organizations are cautious in describing the newly-established alliance, but their intent to merge is clear. In the short term, SMPTE will take over administrative and back-office functions from HPA while talks continue on the path toward merger.

HPA board president Leon Silverman, who is also on the SMPTE board, said the HPA will continue to be autonomous. “I don’t think you’ll see HPA disappear within SMPTE,” he said. Whether HPA members will automatically become members of SMPTE is yet to be determined. “Those are all things that have to be worked out over the next six months,” Aylsworth said.

“There are some individual members and companies that are in both organizations, but they have different memberships. The HPA is more connected to non-technical creatives and the arts and crafts surrounding the industry, and SMPTE has more of the engineering and technical side. So we think they’re very complementary that way,” Aylsworth continued.

As a result of this partnership, the HPA would be likely to take on a more global focus, possibly moving its annual February Tech Retreat out of the Palm Springs area to venues around the world. HPA may also collaborate on a day of creative-oriented programs at the beginning of SMPTE’s annual technical conference and exhibition in Hollywood this fall.

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.