SMPTE Will Provide Administrative Support as 'First Step' in New Partnership
SMPTE today announced that it will begin providing administrative support services to the Hollywood Post Alliance (HPA), with the expectation that the two industry groups will merge by May of next year.
The 2015 merger would presumably bring Los Angeles-based HPA in as a smaller organization under the auspices of SMPTE, which is headquartered in White Plains, NY. It's unclear what might happen to HPA's signature annual Tech Retreat event in Palm Springs, CA, but officials said they expect the deal to extend the HPA's presence internationally. "We look forward to extending the HPA brand to a broader global audience," said SMPTE President Wendy Aylsworth in a prepared statement.
"For HPA, a closer relationship with SMPTE is … valuable in that it will enable our organization to extend the reach of our content and our work to a global audience beyond Hollywood," added HPA Board President Leon Silverman, who is also General Manager, Digital Studio for the Walt Disney Studios.
