Avid and The Hollywood Post Alliance® (HPA) – the trade association for the post-
production community – have announced that Avid will receive the 2013 Charles S.
Swartz Award for Outstanding Contribution in the Field of Post Production.
The HPA will present the honour during the 8th Annual HPA Awards, which takes place
on the evening of 7 November 2013 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, CA.
Louis Hernandez, Jr, president and ceo of Avid, will accept the award on behalf of the
company.
President of the HPA Leon Silverman commented: “From its founding days to the
present, Avid has not only helped to lead our industry’s transition to new, powerful
digital creative tools, but has also expanded the creative image and sound post
production palette in a way that has fundamentally enabled new creative abilities.
Building on their strong heritage of innovation, it is exciting to see Avid’s ongoing
dedication to our community.’
Recognised as a leading provider of audio and video technology for media
organisations and content creators, Avid’s tools and products are widely used by
creative and media professionals around the world to make, distribute and monetise
content. Avid led the revolution in non-linear editing over 25 years ago, irrevocably
changing the way that creative projects were finished. Unveiling a prototype of their
first non-linear editing system – the avid/I – at the 1988 NAB, within just a few years
Avid’s category-defining products began to dethrone traditional film editing. Non-
linear digital editing came to be the predominant standard, and the company has
continually exerted its influence through its extensive R&D, development of IP, and
expansion into audio production, broadcast, and live sound. The company’s products
have been recognised with numerous industry and technology awards, including two
Oscars® a Grammy®, and 14 Emmys®. The company holds over 200 patents.
Avid continues to develop crucial new technologies, and is at the forefront of helping
an industry in rapid change, continually move forward. In September, the company
announced “Avid Everywhere,’ its vision to connect creative professionals and media
organisations with their audiences in a more powerful, efficient, collaborative, and
profitable way. In a major move to broaden collaboration across its community of
customers and industry partners, the company also announced the creation of the
Avid Customer Association, a comprehensive initiative designed to provide essential
strategic leadership to the media industry, collaborate with key industry leaders and
visionaries, and deepen relationships between the company and its customers.
Hernandez said of the award, “We are deeply honoured to receive this award, and are
especially proud to be recognised by the HPA, the voice of the post community. The
post-production industry has always been a source of innovation and inspiration. From
the beginning, Avid has had deep roots within this community, and we are dedicated
to being your trusted partner long into the future.’
The award was named in honour of the late Charles S. Swartz, who led the
Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California from 2002
until 2006, helping to build it into the industry’s premier test bed for new digital
cinema technologies. Charles was a member of the Hollywood Post Alliance Board of
Directors until his passing in 2007. The Charles S. Swartz Award is not bestowed
every year, but rather only as worthy recipients are identified. Silverman concluded,
“The mission of the Charles S Swartz Award is to recognise those efforts that have
had profound and global impact on post production. Avid, throughout its 25-plus year
history, has impacted our post production community so significantly that they indeed
exemplify the meaning of this Award and so honour the memory of our friend and
colleague Charles Swartz.’
The HPA Awards were designed to draw attention to the creative work being done in
post production by companies and individuals. During the upcoming event in
November, awards will be presented in 13 craft categories, as well as special awards,
including the Charles S. Swartz Award, a Judges Award for Creativity & Innovation and
the Engineering Excellence Award. Nominees for the craft categories as well as a
number of special award winners were announced earlier. The list is available here
http://bit.ly/17OZiMd
