Please note that the HPA Tech Retreat 2020 is now Sold Out and registration is closed. We will not be able to accept any new registrations and on-site registration is not available.
If you have a question about registration or need assistance, please email events@hpaonline.com and our Staff will respond. Please note that all HPA Staff will be onsite at the Tech Retreat and this email is the best way to reach us.
Overview
The HPA Tech Retreat is the pre-eminent gathering of industry-leading thinkers and innovation-focused companies engaged in the creation, management, and dissemination of content. Every year, for a week near Palm Springs, the HPA Tech Retreat brings together a world-class roster of well-known and emerging leaders in engineering, technology, creativity and business. At the HPA Tech Retreat, the most compelling topics facing the media and entertainment landscape today are presented, explored and debated.
During the HPA Tech Retreat, attendees and speakers unplug from their day-to-day routine to engage with the brightest minds in the industry. From 7:30 AM breakfast roundtables to late-night fire pit conversations, there is nowhere else to experience the kind of unbiased, unvarnished, and authentic discussion, deliberation, and debate between experts that happens throughout the Tech Retreat.
Participants—who have included Oscar winners, program leads from NASA, and established and emerging tech mavens—take a forward-looking approach to trends and technologies of the content creation ecosystem while tackling issues of the present from fresh perspectives.
The HPA Tech Retreat is a limited attendance event, strictly capped at 700 guests, that consists of the main conference program, TR-X Tech Retreat Xtra, the Supersession, breakfast roundtables, and the curated innovation zone where companies present the absolute latest in technology.
Tech Retreat Features

TR-X
TR-X
Stop the Technology World, I Want to Get Off!
This year’s TR-X, a half-day session produced by Mark Chiolis and Craig German, will examine how the most disruptive changes in technology will fundamentally alter the way each of us practices our craft. When anything is possible, how do you think and behave differently when you create content? What new skill sets will you need in this new era? How will each of us, from new entrants to the workforce to old hands, continue to learn when the pace of change becomes daily? From professional educators to visionaries to industry pioneers, we will explore what it looks like to live and work in a rebooted future.
Among our headline speakers will be Mark Turner of Entertainment Technologists Inc., Josh Stinehour of Devoncroft, and Rodney Grubbs of NASA.
Registration for the half-day TR-X is included in the All-Access registration package and can also be purchased as a standalone registration.

Supersession
Supersession
For the first time at the Retreat, this year’s Supersession will present a live production – from acquisition through post – of a short movie, in near real-time. The culmination of the production will be a screening of “The Lost Lederhosen” at the day’s conclusion. Joachim “JZ” Zell, Vice President of Technology at EFILM, is at the helm of this year’s event.

Main Program
HPA Tech Retreat Main Program
The HPA Tech Retreat Main Program features an array of high-powered conference sessions, more than 50 breakfast roundtables led by industry experts, and extensive networking opportunities. This is an incomparable opportunity to meet and engage with a world-class roster of well-known and emerging leaders in engineering, technology, creativity and business.

Innovation Zone
Innovation Zone
HPA invites individuals and companies to share new and innovative technology with the participants of the HPA Tech Retreat®. The Innovation Zone is where attendees can discover your company’s NEW technology in a space designed for learning and discovery. Bring your latest and greatest innovations that improve how the chain from acquisition to delivery is done.
Look Who’s Talking…
Keep an eye on this space. We will have many experts from around the world, sharing their insights and knowledge at this year’s Tech Retreat.

Annie Chang
Universal Pictures
Benjamin Nowicki

Brian Vessa
Sony Pictures
Chris Grove
EK Gaming
Chris Lennon
Ross Video
Craig German
HPA
David Cole
IPV
David Morin
Academy Software Foundation
David Phillips
Cloudian
David Stump
ASC
Del Parks
Sinclair Broadcast Group
Doug Walker
Autodesk
Eliot Mack
Lightcraft Technology
Erik Weaver
Entertainment Technology Center at USC
Felicia Yue
Amazon Prime Video
Glen Sakata
Dalet
Greg Ciaccio
IMAX
Guy Finley
The Trusted Partner Network
Hossein ZiaShakeri
Spectra Logic
Jerry Pierce
Inter-Society Digital Cinema Forum, National Association of Theatre Owners
Jim Burger
Thompson Coburn LLP
Jim Helman
MovieLabs
John Buzzell
Epic Games
John Harris
Cambridge Research Systems
John Quartel
Company 3
Joshua Pines
Picture Shop
Josh Stinehour
Devoncroft
Karl Paulsen
Diversified
Kenneth Cuomo
Vimond IO
Kristin Petrovich
Createasphere and SOC
Mark Chiolis
Mobile TV Group
Mark Harrison
DPP
Mark Schubin
HPA Tech Retreat
Mark Turner
MovieLabs
Matt Allen
IES Communications
Matthew Goldman
Sinclair Broadcast Group
Michael Chambliss
International Cinematographers Guild
Michael Mansouri
Radiant Images
Michael Zink
Warner Bros.
Michelle Munson
Eluvio
Mike Cronk
AIMS/Grass Valley
Mike Strein
ABC News
Nadya Ichinomiya
Sony
Nick Garvin
Mobile TV Group
Omer Farooq
Independent Security Evaluators
Patrick Renner
Pomfort
Paul Bonar
Game Creek Video
Paul Debevec
Netflix/ICT
Peter Putman
ROAM Consulting
Phil Lelyveld
Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California
Poppy Crum
Dolby
Ramy Katrib
DigitalFilm Tree
Renard Jenkins
I2A2 Technologies, Studios & Labs
Reza Rassool
Real Networks
Rich Berger
MovieLabs
Richard Friedel
FOX TV
Richard Duke
Avid
Robin Cowie
HELO Technology
Rodney Grubbs
NASA
Ron Luniewski
InPlay Studios
Ron Williams (Coachella & Billie Eilish)

Rowan de Pomerai
DPP
Scott Rothenberg
NEP Group
Sean Tajkowski

Skip Pizzi
NAB
Stacy Chaet
SIM International
Steve Byrd
Sportradar
Steve Morris
Skywalker Sound
Thomas Bause Mason
SMPTE
Tony Gaughan
RSTOR