TECHNICAL CONFERENCE PROGRAM COMMITTEE

Paul Chapman, SMPTE Fellow and Co-Chair

Senior Vice President of Technology at Fotokem

Paul Chapman has worked in the video and post-production industry in Los Angeles for more than 25 years, having relocated from the U.K. following a career in software engineering.

In 1996, Chapman joined FotoKem, holding various engineering leadership positions. During the first part of his career at FotoKem, he led the team that designed the infrastructure, implemented, and then moved into a new 60,000 square foot purpose-built video building. Currently, as Fotokem's Senior Vice President of Technology, he is responsible for evaluating, recommending and implementing all aspects of digital technology company-wide.

Chapman is a past chair of SMPTE Hollywood Section and a former SMPTE Hollywood Regional Governor. His degree is in Computers & Cybernetics from the University of Kent, in Canterbury.

Thomas Edwards, SMPTE Fellow and Co-Chair

Product Marketing Manager for Playout at Imagine Communications

Thomas Edwards is Vice President, Engineering & Development at FOX Network Engineering & Operations, where he works on advanced technology projects such as mobile DTV, 3D, and the FOX network satellite distribution system.

Previous to joining FOX in 2007, he was Senior Manager of Interconnection Engineering for the PBS Interconnection Replacement Office, where he was responsible for the engineering planning of the PBS Next Generation Interconnection System (NGIS).

Edwards also has had significant experience with streaming media production and delivery at the Internet service provider DIGEX and the IP-over-satellite company Cidera. He has contributed to the Report of the SMPTE Task Force on 3D to the Home and the NAB Engineering Handbook. Edwards holds a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland and is also a member of IEEE.

Sara J. Kudrle, SMPTE Education Director, Fellow, and Co-Chair

Product Marketing Manager for Playout at Imagine Communications

Sara J. Kudrle is Product Marketing Manager for Playout at Imagine Communications. Kudrle received her degree in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics from California State University Chico.

Kudrle began her more than 18-year career in the broadcast sector at Tektronix where she worked in VideoTele.com. From there, she joined Continental Electronics as a software engineer, working within the TV Transmitter group where she was responsible for developing exciter control software. Next, Kudrle joined NVISION/Miranda/Grass Valley and was responsible for several projects within the Router Control group.

Kudrle has authored several papers for NAB, PBS, and SMPTE conferences and has been published in the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal and Broadcast Engineering. Her paper on "Fingerprinting for Solving A/V Synchronization Issues within Broadcast Environments,” received the SMPTE 2012 Journal Award. Kudrle is a SMPTE Fellow and active within the Society, serving on several committees and within the standards community, and is also a member of IEEE.

Andrea Avila Weiler

Director of Technology & Compliance at the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)

With more than 15 years in the media and entertainment industry, Andrea's cross-functional experience spans the technology-centric aspects of content security, quality, and management. For the past decade, Andrea has held leadership roles in the Motion Picture Association of America's (MPAA) Office of Technology where she is Director of Technology and Compliance for entertainment and media technologies.

Andrea's background spans a variety of industries from technology, standards, studio, production, legal, government, broadcast, and entertainment; to non-profit, aerospace, and university.

During her time at the MPAA, Andrea has facilitated technology education sessions for overseas consumer electronics (CE) manufacturers, chaired standards committees, overseen research and evaluation of consumer products, managed the launch of a consumer platform for streaming digital content. She was recently appointed by the Chair of the FCC to represent the content industry on the Commission’s Downloadable Security Technology Advisory Committee (DSTAC).

Jim DeFilippis, SMPTE Fellow

CGO at Technology Made Simple

Jim DeFilippis has worked in the broadcast/media space for more than 30 years and has been part of major broadcast/media companies ( FOX, ABC) and six Olympic Broadcasts. DeFilippis has managed large technical projects, developing new technologies into working systems for television production and distribution. JHe has established a consulting practice focusing on media file workflow, sports broadcast technology, and mobile television.

In 2012, DeFilippis received the David Sarnoff Medal from SMPTE for his innovative work in television technologies. J

DeFilippis has an MS in Electrical Engineering, is a member of AES, SCTE, and IEEE. He resides in Los Angeles with his lovely wife, Maggie, and two children, Jake and Juliana. He likes to bike, sail, and work in the garden.

John Ferder, SMPTE Fellow

Director of Studio and Post-Production Engineering for CBS Television Network

John Ferder is Director of Studio and Post-Production Engineering for CBS Television Network in New York, where he has worked since September 1995. Together with his engineering group, he is responsible for the design, construction and support of all production and post-production facilities in the CBS Broadcast Center, including the renovations for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, HD upgrades for the NFL Today, The Late Show with David Letterman, 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, and the 2008 construction of the new control room for the CBS Evening News and the new studio for CBS This Morning. He has worked extensively with various manufacturers in the development of fiber optic composite camera cables and connectors, and of the HD-BNC connector within the Broadcast Center Infrastructure.

Prior to CBS, Ferder worked for Philips/BTS, Roscor, Chyron, WOR-TV, the ABC Television Network, WLS-TV, and WISN-TV.

Currently a Governor for the SMPTE New York Region, Ferder has also served as a Manager of the Chicago Section; and as a Manager, Chair, and Past Chair of the New York Section. He is a member of IEEE, its Consumer Electronics and Circuits and Systems Societies, and recently served as Chair of the New York Chapter of the Broadcast Technology Society.

Ferder received his BS in Electrical Engineering from Marquette University.

Seigfried Foessel, SMPTE Fellow and Governor for EMEA, Central and South America SMPTE Region

Head of the Department of Moving Picture Techologies at Fraunhofer IIS

President of FKTG

Dr. Siegfried Foessel is head of the department Moving Picture Technologies at the Fraunhofer IIS in Erlangen and spokesman of the Fraunhofer Alliance Digital Media. He was responsible for projects like the camera development ARRI D20/D21, the DCI (Digital Cinema Initiatives) certification test plan or the JPEG2000 standardization for Digital Cinema.

Foessel is a member of various standardization bodies and organizations such as SMPTE, FKTG, ISO, and DIN.

In 2014, he received the Josef-von-Fraunhofer Award for the development of easyDCP, a tool for creating and playback of Digital Cinema Packages. Also in 2014, Foessel was elected to the president of the FKTG (Fernseh- und Kinotechische Gesellschaft e.V.), a German organization similar to SMPTE. Since 2016, he is a SMPTE Regional Governor for EMEA, Central and South America.

Massimiliano Gasparri

Partner at vLamp

Massimiliano Gasparri is a partner in the digital consulting and software development company, vLamp, that collaborates with early stage startups by becoming part of the founding team and helping with product design, engineering development, and online marketing.

Prior to vLamp, Gasparri led Warner Bros. Advanced Digital Services technology group responsible for the hosting infrastructure and the software development for direct to consumer, online and digital media applications. He oversaw the technical development of various initiatives including Blu-ray, Digital Copy, and UltraViolet.  Previously, Gasparri was Director of Multimedia Technology at Warner Bros. Technical Operations, where he was involved in R&D projects and the evaluation of new technologies for film and television production, digital cinema, content protection and distribution.

Before joining Warner Bros., Gasparri was a project lead at Walt Disney Feature Animation where he implemented software applications to streamline post-production and animation processes. His film credits include Tarzan, Dinosaur, Fantasia 2000, The Emperor’s New Groove, and Atlantis.

Gasparri's digital media expertise stemmed from his work at Avid Technology, where he focused on media asset management, metadata interchange, editing and visual effects applications for the film and broadcast industries. Gasparri was also part of the DiVA engineering team that in 1992 developed VideoShop, a QuickTime-based non-linear editing software application.

Gasparri holds 13 U.S. patents (film restoration, image registration, digital media encoding, and 3D audio) and has nine patents pending (voicemail system, digital media identification, content playlist, and distribution). He also completed his undergraduate research thesis at Boston University developing a solution for “Extracting 3D Models of Houses and Buildings from Photographs.” Gasparri is also the founder of Steps for a Cure, an initiative to promote fundraising for research against cancer via pursuit of athletic goals. Massimiliano’s interest for athletics extends from running marathons to playing soccer and tennis to skiing and just recently triathlons (6-times Ironman140.6 and 70.3 finisher).

Hans Hoffman, SMPTE Fellow

Head of the Unit on Media Fundamentals and Production Technology in the EBU Technology and Development Department

Hans Hoffmann was born in Munich, Germany. He holds a diploma in telecommunication engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Munich. In 2007, he completed his Ph.D. studies at Brunel University West London, at the School of Engineering and Design.

From 1993 to 2000, Hoffmann worked at the Insitut fuer Rundfunktechnik in research and development for new television production technologies. In 2000, he joined the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) as a senior engineer in the technical department. Hoffmann has chaired the EBU project groups P/BRRTV and P/PITV, which were both involved in standardization activities such SDTI and file formats. He has served as SMPTE Standards Vice President and chaired the SMPTE Technology Committee on Networks and File Management. Hoffman has been involved in EBU activities in high-definition television production and emission and set up the HDTV testing laboratory at the EBU.

In addition to SMPTE, Hoffmann is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), FKT (Germany), and the Society for Information Display (SID).

Al Kovalick, SMPTE Fellow

Principal Member and Founder of Media Systems Consulting

Al Kovalick is a Principal Member and Founder of Media Systems Consulting. Previously, he was a Corporate Fellow at Avid, CTO of Pinnacle Systems, and Video Systems Architect at HP. He is an active speaker, educator, and has penned the book Video Systems in an IT Environment – The Basics of Networked Media and File-Based Workflows (2009).

Kovalick has an MSEE degree from the University of California at Berkeley, holds 18 U.S. and foreign patents and has authored more than 50 papers. He is a recipient of the David Sarnoff Gold Medal.

David Long

Associate Professor and BS Program Chair / Film and Animation at RIT

David Long joined the faculty of the School of Film and Animation in 2007, where he is currently Program Chair and Associate Professor for the BS Motion Picture Science program. His research interests at RIT include engineering multispectral video capture and display systems and studying variability in human color vision for artistic applications.

Prior to RIT, Long worked as a Development Engineer and Imaging Scientist with Eastman Kodak’s Entertainment Imaging Division. At Kodak, his primary responsibilities included new product development and image science and systems integration for the motion picture group, focusing on film and digital imaging products.  His work has earned him numerous patents and a 2008 Scientific & Technical Academy Award for contributions made to the design of Vision2 films.

Outside of RIT, Long is a manager and past chair of the SMPTE Rochester Section and chairs the Board of the Little Theatre in Rochester.

Long has a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and an MS in Materials Science from the University of Rochester.

John Maizels, SMPTE Fellow and Governor for the SMPTE Asia-Pacific Region

John Maizels combines life as a media verstilist and technologist in television and radio, with that of host/presenter, technical writer, sound editor, author and studio/OB operational crew. When not completely confused by this life, he teaches multicamera studio TV at the college level and does voiceovers.

Maizels first tasted compressed digital video as a pioneer of distance education and business television and developed virtual routing control systems for broadcast studio use. He is highly active in the development of education and training for technologists, serves on the SMPTE Board as Governor for Asia-Pacific Region.

John McCoskey, SMPTE Fellow

Industry Lead Executive for the Communications, Media & Technology Sector at Eagle Hill Consulting

John McCoskey is an industry-recognized technology, operations, and policy executive, with a background spanning broad media and entertainment, broadcast, satellite, intellectual property, and internet technologies.

He is currently Industry Lead Executive for the Communications, Media & Technology sector at Eagle Hill Consulting.

Previous roles include EVP & CTO at the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) where he led global technology policy and strategy; the first-ever CTO at the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS); VP, Product Development at Comcast; CTO and co-founder at Brief Original Broadcasts (BOB); and SVP, Technology and CTO at Discovery Communications.

McCoskey holds two MS degrees from Johns Hopkins and a BSEE from Bucknell University. He is an inventor with 24 issued & 27 pending U.S. utility patents. McCoskey and his PBS team received a Technology and Engineering Emmy® Award in 2010 for pioneering work on digital television workflows. He is a Senior Member of IEEE.

Kylee Peña

Workflow Supervisor at Bling Digital

Originally from the Midwest, Kylee Peña spent nearly a decade as a video editor in Indianapolis and Atlanta before moving into post-production technology in Los Angeles. There, she applies her knowledge of a working editorial department to the technical and creative aspects of workflow design and management on shows such as Jane the Virgin (CW), Scorpion (CBS), and Colony (USA/Legendary) at Bling Digital in Hollywood.

Additionally, Peña serves as the President for Blue Collar Post Collective West, a non-profit group that seeks to support emerging talent and creating a more inclusive industry by holding free and frequent events for people in all areas of post. She is also an Associate Editor for CreativeCOW.net, writing technical analyses and interviewing notable film personalities while also bringing light to important topics like gender equality and mental health in post. Peña has spoken on many of these subjects in classrooms across the country, on numerous podcasts, and at the NAB Show.

Felix Poulin

Senior Manager of Broadcast Technology Group at CBC/Radio-Canada

Felix Poulin is Senior Manager of Broadcast Technology Group at CBC/Radio-Canada, looking after new technology investigations and evaluation lab.

For the previous six years, he was the topic leader for IP production at EBU Technology & Innovation in Switzerland. At EBU, he co-chaired the Joint EBU/SMPTE/VSF/AMWA Task Force on Networked Media and coordinated the annual Network Technology Seminar as well as the EBU Strategic Programme on Future Networks and collaborated to the multi-award winning VRT Sandbox LiveIP project.

Poulin completed his diploma in electrical engineering at Montréal’s Polytechnic with his final thesis completed at MIT. He began working as an audio engineer at Solotech on Cirque du Soleil and other international productions. Poulin is contributing to the SMPTE, VSF, and AMWA.

Peter H. Putman

Technology Consultant, Kramer Electronics USA

Peter H. Putman, CTS®, ISF, is a technology consultant with Kramer Electronics USA. He provides consulting, training and product testing/development services to manufacturers of electronic displays, interfaces and digital TV and video equipment. In addition, Putman edits and publishes HDTVexpert.com, a website focused on digital television, HDTVm and display technologies.

Putman has written extensively on HDTV and display technology for numerous consumer and trade magazines and is a frequent speaker at major trade shows and technical conferences, including the Consumer Electronics Show, the National Association of Broadcasters trade show, the Hollywood Post Alliance Technology Retreat, and the U.S.-based InfoComm International trade show. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Seton Hall University and a Master of Science degree in Television and Film from Syracuse University.

Putman is a member of InfoComm University™ faculty, as well as a member of SMPTE and Society for Information Display (SID). He also holds certifications from InfoComm (CTS) and the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) and has held Amateur Radio Extra Class license KT2B since 1982. He received the 2008 Educator of the Year Award at InfoComm 2008.

Jaclyn Pytlarz

Applied Vision Science Engineer at Dolby Laboratories

Jaclyn Pytlarz is an Applied Vision Science Engineer at Dolby Laboratories in Sunnyvale, CA where she has worked inside Dolby’s Advanced Technology group since 2014. Her research includes vision science surrounding technologies for High Dynamic Range and Wide Color Gamut displays. Her main focus is developing color mapping and display management algorithms to help maintain the director’s experience on a wide variety of displays under various ambient conditions.

She holds a B.S. degree in Motion Picture Science from Rochester Institute of Technology where her foundation in color and imaging science began.

Bill Redmann

Fellow and Senior Software Engineer at Technicolor

Bill Redmann is a creative technologist and inventor, designing and developing social, interactive, and new media technologies for Technicolor, where he is a Fellow and Senior Software Engineer.

His experience ranges from virtual reality, telepresence systems, entertainment simulators, theme park attractions, holography, other 3D techniques, seminal wearables technology, and puzzle design for the alternate reality games The Beast and I Love Bees. In the other 80 hours of the week, he dabbles in electric vehicle infrastructure and driver safety systems.

Redmann has been granted about 34 patents, is an active member of SMPTE, and has a Masters in Engineering from UCLA.

Yvonne Thomas

Product Manager of New Media at arvato Systems

Yvonne Thomas graduated in Television Technologies and Electronic Media Engineering from University of applied Science Wiesbaden (HSRM), Germany, in Oct. 2010. She received a prominent award of the ARD/ZDF Academy for her thesis in September 2011 at the IFA in Berlin.

Following these studies she started beginning of 2011 to work at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in the Technology & Innovation Department as Project Manager. She was responsible for projects and strategic programs on 3D and Future Television technologies, such as UHDTV or LED studio lighting.

In September 2015, Thomas joined arvato Systems´ New Media division. As a Product Manager she is responsible for the frontend “MediaPortal” of the MAM system VPMS (Video Production Management Suite) and follows new trends in the media landscape, like analytics and machine learning.

At NAB 2017, Thomas was presented with the annual Technology Women to Watch Award from TVNews Check.

Bobby White

Director of Engineering at Sunset Bronson Studios

Born to a family of very modest means in Biloxi, MS. Number 5 of 8 children and the youngest boy. Bobby White moved to Los Angeles, CA at age 5. That same year mother suffered a stroke while giving birth to my twin sisters, which left her partially paralyzed on the left side of her body. White was nicknamed the “Professor” at age six because he always had a pencil and loved to figure things out - he was known for taking things apart because he wanted to know how they worked. In his early teens, White usually able to put them back together again correctly.

White was graduated from Crenshaw High School in South Central Los Angeles on the Principal’s Honor Roll and attended Los Angeles City College and Los Angeles Harbor College studying drafting and mechanical engineering. At the same time, White worked full-time at Todd Shipyard in San Pedro, CA in the labor department as a sandblaster. After a brief hiatus from school, White resumed his studies at Video Technical Institute in Long Beach, CA, where he earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in Video Electronics Technologies.

While attending technical school, he worked part-time at Century Cable in Santa Monica, CA, in the promo department as a camera operator and audio mixer. White began his career in broadcast television at The Production Group, in Hollywood, CA in 1987 as a staff production/maintenance engineer. Through the years he was promoted to Technical Operations Supervisor, Chief Engineer, then finally VP of Engineering.

White moved on to Tribune Studios in Hollywood, CA in 2004 as Assistant Chief Engineer. In January 2008, Tribune Studios was purchased by Hudson Pacific Properties and renamed Sunset Bronson Studios. I was promoted to Chief Engineer, then Director of Engineering, then Director of Technology, to his current position. White oversees the broadcast technical operations of all three of the Sunset Studios – Sunset Bronson, Sunset Gower, and the newly acquired Sunset Las Palmas. He also manages the IT department at Sunset Bronson Studios. Primary engineer in charge on 1000’s of hours of live, and live-to-tape programming appearing on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, Fox News, GSN, USA Network, KTLA, ESPN, Prime Ticket, Sci-Fi Network, Disney, and BBC to name just a few. White designs and integrates full broadcast production technical systems from analog composite & SD-SDI, to HD-SDI. Now he is in the early stages of IP infrastructure implementation. Married 26 years in June, with five children and two grandchildren, White resides in the San Fernando Valley area.

Steve Wong

Director of Business Development, Media & Entertainment at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Steve Wong is a media and entertainment infrastructure technologist who enjoys placing disruptive technology into the hands of billions. He also is a writer, director, producer and actor known for his work on titles such as "Godzilla" (2014), "The Gambler" (2014), "Scandal," "Rizzoli & Isles," "Parks and Recreation," "Criminal Minds," "NCIS," "The Crazy Ones," "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," and "Checkmate." Wong was recognized with a 2007 Primetime Technology Emmy Award for "Teranex."

He is a member of the Interactive Media Peer Group of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS Emmy® Awards), an executive academy member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (The Webby Awards) and an SMPTE Hollywood Section Manager.

Chris Witham

Director of Digital Cinema Technology at The Walt Disney Studios

Chris Witham has been involved in many aspects of post-production since 1986. Witham was Chief Engineer at Technicolor Video Services and Vidfilm International Digital. He launched D-Cinema mastering operations at Technicolor before moving on to head up mastering operations at Ascent Media and Deluxe Digital Cinema. Witham is presently Director, Digital Cinema Technology at Walt Disney Studios.

He resides in Thousand Oaks, CA with his wife Mary, two dogs, a cat, and a rabbit.

Mark Zorn

Independent Information Security Consultant