Sam Rubin To Host 2017 SMPTE Awards Gala

SMPE has announced that Sam Rubin will host the SMPTE Annual Awards Gala at SMPTE 2017 later this month.

With a theme focusing on Hollywood glamour through the decades, the event on 26 October at the Loews Hollywood Hotel's Hollywood Ballroom will recognise individuals for their technical achievements and contributions within the media and entertainment industry.

Rubin is an American journalist who has reported on the entertainment industry for more than 20 years. He serves as the entertainment anchor for the KTLA Morning News and as a correspondent for Nine Network Australia and ITV in the UK. He also hosts Live From The Academy Awards and is a founding member of the Critics' Choice Awards.

Along with leadership from SMPTE and the Hollywood Professional Association (HPA), Rubin will guide guests through the awards ceremony, which will recognise the evening's honourees while moving through Hollywood's history from the 1950s to the present time. Guests are encouraged to dress in black-tie attire with a nod to Hollywood glamour through the decades. Upon arrival, guests will be treated to a cocktail hour, dinner, and live music and entertainment throughout the evening.

During the celebration, SMPTE will officially bestow the Society's highest honour, Honorary Membership, posthumously on Renville 'Ren' H. McMann Jr. (1927 – 2015) by inducting him into the SMPTE Honor Roll, and will present the Society's most prestigious award, the Progress Medal, to Paul E. Debevec. The Awards Gala will also honour more than 20 other honourees and a dozen members whose membership is being elevated to Fellow.

The SMPTE Awards Gala is the culminating event at SMPTE 2017, which features a day-long symposium on artificial intelligence and machine learning, a technical conference with 70 presentations from subject matter experts, two exhibition halls with Broadcast Beat's SMPTE 2017 Live! Studio and an IP Showcase highlighting the latest in media delivered via IP networks, two cocktail receptions, a student film festival, the annual Women in Technology Luncheon, and opportunities for networking.

Sam Rubin said: "For many decades SMPTE has honored technologists and creatives whose technical contributions have allowed Hollywood to become the center of storytelling. Given the Society's long history of supporting the entertainment industry, it only fits that this year's celebration recognizes invaluable contributors against the backdrop of Hollywood through the decades. The gala promises to be both an entertaining and enlightening evening."

Further details about SMPTE 2017 are available at www.smpte2017.org.

www.smpte.org

(JP)