NET Roundtables
Second Unit …… A crew that works in parallel, unsupervised, on a defined brief. The industry has always had one. This one reports to you.
AI – Your team is already using it. Your vendors are already billing for it. HPA NET event brings department heads and facility leadership into a hands-on session where they will be discussing the “how”.
Organized by functions, not by product: directing a software collaborator, composing a workflow, deploying an unattended worker, integrating with the systems you already run, building the quality gates that make output defensible to a client, and modeling what it actually costs at volume. No slideware, no futurism, no vendor pitch. You will touch every layer yourself and leave knowing what is production ready today, what is still a demo, and what it means for your budget and your staffing plan.
New stations will explore topics including:
- Making Your Agent Work for You
- The New Production Supervisor – local AI solution to help power the business
- AI-Assisted Media Understanding for Broadcast & Streaming Workflows
- AI-Assisted Standards & Practices / Rights & Clearances Review
Plus more topics to be announced soon!
Networking Education Technology: NET Roundtables
- Tuesday, October 6, 2026
- 4:30 pm – 7:00 pm
This is a pre-paid event
- HPA Members – $60
- Non-Members – $90
- Not a member? Join now!
- Moderators coming soon
Sheraton Universal
- Starview Room
- 333 Universal Hollywood Dr, Universal City, CA 91608
Topic: Directing the AI Second Unit: A Human-Controlled Workflow, Tested in the Field
(co-moderated by Clyde Bessey, Origin Point & Jason Kunke, Cinetech)
Technology changes. Intention doesn’t. Audiences ultimately experience the work, not the toolchain behind it. This table treats AI not as the source of creativity, but as infrastructure around the creative process, with the human staying firmly in control at every stage.
Participants will work through a live AI-assisted production workflow using a sample scripted scene, seeing how shared project context moves through script breakdown, shot planning, storyboards, scheduling, call sheets, and production Q&A, while reviewing, redirecting, and challenging the AI at each step. The focus is practical delegation, human oversight, and quality control, not autonomous decision-making.
Alongside that live workflow, filmmaker Clyde Bessey shares an honest field report from two real productions at opposite ends of the spectrum: a five-minute immersive graphics piece for a major beauty brand’s live event, where AI-assisted workflows sped up visual iteration, music-driven editorial, multi-screen design, and high-resolution delivery; and Green Thumb, an upcoming live-action short using similar tools for previs, shot exploration, blocking, and production prep before the crew steps on set. In both cases, creative direction, taste, and final decisions stayed human. He’ll also touch on connecting that work into a shared production environment so it stays tied to the project instead of scattered across tools, and on unexpected uses like AI-assisted coding to build custom interactive experiences.
Together, the two halves give attendees both the in-the-weeds mechanics of directing an AI second unit and the real-world proof of what that looks like on an actual shoot, warts and all.
Clyde Bessey
Origin Point
Clyde Bessey is a filmmaker, creative director, and founder of Origin Point. After beginning his career at RED Digital Cinema, he went on to direct and produce work for brands and organizations including Netflix, Sephora, Adobe, Frame.io, and MovieLabs. His work explores how emerging technology can support stronger, more connected creative workflows. Jason is the co-founder of Cinetech, an AI-powered platform designed to streamline film and video production workflows. His background spans professional cinema camera systems, visual effects, camera work, technical workflows, and independent film production, including years working with Panavision and supporting filmmakers and production professionals with cinema camera systems and related technologies.
Jason Kunke
Cinetech
Today, Jason works alongside Cinetech co-founder and brother, Tim, developing practical AI-assisted tools for script analysis, visualization, shot planning, scheduling, call sheets, production collaboration, and project-aware assistance. Their focus is on using AI to simplify production workflows while keeping creative and operational decisions firmly in human hands.
Matt Celia
Lightsail VR
Topic: The New Production Supervisor – local AI solution to help power the business
Solving how a small team can increase their efficiency by using fully private local AI to help keep production teams on track.
Alex Daro
Treza Labs
Topic: Running a Second Unit: Compose, Gate, and Cost an Unattended AI Pipeline
Ever wondered what it actually costs to run an automated AI pipeline, and how you’d stop bad output before it reaches a client? Join me at NET to build one and find out.
Alex Daro is the founder of Treza Labs, where his team builds AI pipeline tooling for media production. He spent 15 years developing production systems and pipelines in Hollywood, including work at Marvel Studios, Digital Domain, and Company 3, before founding Treza. Treza lets teams compose workflows on a visual canvas, chaining the latest models into production pipelines with built-in quality gates, scheduling, and cost estimation. Treza is built for studios and facilities integrating AI work into real production pipelines.
Dee Wassell
Women in Post
Topic: AI-Assisted Compliance – Watching Every Frame So You Don’t Have To
(presented by Women in Post)
Compliance review is slow, expensive, and still mostly manual. This station demos a multimodal AI pipeline that reasons across picture, audio, and editorial context to output a frame-accurate CSV of every S&P and R&C flag by jurisdiction, ready for a reviewer to action without watching a single frame. Pick a broadcast territory (FCC, OFCOM, ARPP, CRTC) and watch it work. Think of this as the floor, not the ceiling: the same models and tools extend into every upstream and downstream process, putting AI on task for the repetitive work and keeping humans in the loop for the decisions and remediations that matter.
Dee Wassell is a creative media technologist, post producer, and editor with 15+ years across post-production and technology. She’s led global technology operations for various companies and clients, and worked hands-on as post producer and video editor on projects like Interior Design Magazine’s Hall of Fame awards videos. These days she’s building AI tools from scratch, putting AI on the repetitive, time-consuming work so editorial, compliance, and operations teams get their time back. Compliance is just the first problem on the list, and she plans to keep building.
Peter Postma
FilmLight Ltd
Topic: TBA
Peter Postma is Managing Director of the Americas at FilmLight, developing color grading and image management tools that are used in motion picture productions of all sizes. Previously Peter worked as a systems engineer at Eastman Kodak helping pioneer digital intermediate technology. Peter has taught seminars around the world on color management for production and post-production and holds a BFA in Film and Animation from Rochester Institute of Technology.