CDSA

The annual HITS Spring: The Hollywood Innovation & Technology Summit returns to Los Angeles on May 17, bringing together more than 700 senior studio technology leaders for the Hollywood IT Society’s 9th annual “reality check” on the key trends transforming the way content is being produced, distributed and consumed.

Hollywood A-list creative-futurist and designer, Jeff Julian (“Doctor Strange,” “A Wrinkle in Time”) will present the keynote for the day, with his presentation — “Disruptive by Design – Design Thinking’s Approach to Global Problem-Solving” — offering enterprise solutions learned from his efforts as a member of Steven Spielberg’s team of futurists on the film “Minority Report.” Julian’s resume also includes collaborations with Ridley Scott, the Wachowskis, and David Fincher. His advice is equally based on his experience developing content and intellectual property for Apple, RED cameras, Samsung, American Express, Adidas, Nike, BMW, Rolls Royce, Audi, Ford, and Ogilvy & Mather.

Additionally at HITS Spring, senior content executives will take the main stage in three Studio Super Sessions:

• “Strategic Sourcing for Business Innovation in Hollywood,” will feature a conversation between Emma Chontos, former SVP of global sourcing, strategy and vendor partnerships for Paramount Pictures; Leon Pilosof, SVP and head of procurement for Lionsgate Entertainment; and Sebastien Slek, executive director of global sourcing marketing, Time Warner.

• The power of diversity and inclusion in Hollywood tech will be addressed in a Women in Technology: Hollywood (WiTH) sponsored panel, offering the views of MyKhanh Shelton, SVP of global inclusion, engagement and diversity for 21st Century Fox; and Christi Karandikar, SVP of talent acquisition, engagement and development for Warner Bros, and several other studio counterparts.

• Yves Bergquist, program director of data and analytics for the Entertainment Technology Center at USC (ETC@USC), will provide a platform for the major studios to offer their roadmaps into the future of production with a panel of producers and studio production technologies executives.

Another conference highlight will see the 2018 HITS program once again including the presentation of the annual WiTH Leadership Awards. Last year’s award recipients included Vicky Colf, CTO of Warner Bros. Studios, Denise Evans, CIO of Tang Media, and Cindy McKenzie, CIO of Deluxe Entertainment Services Group.

This year, the HITS program committee has doubled the number of tech breakouts, organizing the CTO-level case studies into four tracks: Cloud, Compliance & Security; AI, Data and Performance; Solutions, Systems and Workflows; and Metadata, Personalization and Assets.

HITS Spring is produced by the Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA) and the Hollywood IT Society (HITS), in association with Women in Technology: Hollywood (WiTH); the Content Delivery & Security Association (CDSA) and the Smart Content Council. The event is being presented by Entertainment Partners, with sponsorship by Expert System, LiveTiles, Microsoft Azure, Ooyala, Veritone, Amazon Web Services, Avanade, MarkLogic, Aspera, Light Point Security, MicroStrategy, Scaeva Technologies and Zaszou IT Consulting.

For more information visit HollywoodITSummit.com, and to become a sponsor and participate in the event, contact Christian Calson at [email protected], 310-945-6284.