@DEG Membership Meeting & Hedy Lamarr Awards 2025 – DEG’s Bekah Sturm (l.) and Blu Digitals Silviu Epure.
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@DEG Membership Meeting & Hedy Lamarr Awards 2025 – Goetz’s book was the in-demand accessory at the reception after the Awards.
@DEG Membership Meeting & Hedy Lamarr Awards 2025 – Jerry Inman of Whip Media (l.), Katherine Pond of VIZIO (c.) and Michele Edelman of Cineverse compare cool jackets.
@DEG Membership Meeting & Hedy Lamarr Awards 2025 – Presenters Darcy Antonellis (l.) and Bill Neighbors, of Xperi (r.), with Inspiration honoree Wendy Aylsworth.
@DEG Membership Meeting & Hedy Lamarr Awards 2025 – Members mixing and mingling on the IMAX patio.
@DEG Membership Meeting & Hedy Lamarr Awards 2025 – Lionsgate’s Mark Sgriccia (l.) and Disney’s Elissa Brown.
@DEG Membership Meeting & Hedy Lamarr Awards 2025 – DEG’s Marcy Magiera (2nd from r.) welcomes Claudia Flores (l.), Scott Kenberg (2nd from l.) and Mark Orne (r.) from new DEG member Interpret.
@DEG Membership Meeting & Hedy Lamarr Awards 2025 – Student honoree Shantelle Subkhanberdina receives kudos from IMAX’s Saj Jamal.
@DEG Membership Meeting & Hedy Lamarr Awards 2025 – (l. to r.) Thomas Hughes, Joe Erickson and Emily Starler of Angel Studios enjoyed the IMAX ambiance.
@DEG Membership Meeting & Hedy Lamarr Awards 2025 – DEG’s Amy Jo Smith (l.) and Canon Club’s Meri Hassouni (c.) with Innovation Award recipient Shobana Radhakrishnan.
@DEG Membership Meeting & Hedy Lamarr Awards 2025 – The membership got up close and personal with featured speakers Kevin Goetz of Screen Engine/ASI (l.) and DEG Chair Emeritus Dan Cohen, in one of two SRO IMAX theaters.
@DEG Membership Meeting & Hedy Lamarr Awards 2025 – IMAX’s Rachel Knight (l.) and Grace Chochola welcomed DEG membership with a sizzle.
@DEG Membership Meeting & Hedy Lamarr Awards 2025 – Chair Jonathan Zepp, of Google, looking to the future of DEG.
@DEG Membership Meeting & Hedy Lamarr Awards 2025 – Giant Worldwide leaders Chris Jayasinghe (l.) and Meri Hassouni.
@DEG Membership Meeting & Hedy Lamarr Awards 2025 – Google’s Shobana Radhakrishnan accepts the Hedy Lamarr Innovation Award.
@DEG Membership Meeting & Hedy Lamarr Awards 2025: Authors and market research mavens Bob Levin (l.) and Kevin Goetz on Screen Engine/ASI.
@DEG EnTech Awards 2025: DEG’s Amy Jo Smith (2nd from l.) with leaders from Amazon, the evening’s host: (l. to r.) Ian McPherson of AWS, 2023 Hall of Fame Honoree Ellen Goodridge of Amazon/MGM Studios, and Jude Fitzmorris of Amazon Prime Video.
@DEG EnTech Awards 2025: The People’s Choice Award went to Vubiquity’s Catalog Intelligence. The Vubiquity team showed up in full force to celebrate. (front row, from l.) Vubiquity’s Donna Thomas, Allison Kodatt, Rachel Souverain, and Jason Keiles. (back row, from l.) Vubiquity’s Nate Frink, Dan Lashley, and Asaf Finberg.
@DEG EnTech Awards 2025: Accessibility award winners Lore Ameloot (l.) and Arturo Gracia (r.).
@DEG EnTech Awards 2025: Rich Marty (far l.) and Ron Geller (far r.), of Hall of Fame Award sponsor Dolby, pose with 2025 Hall of Fame Honoree Richard Berger (second from l.) and DEG EnTech Chair Rick Hack (second from r.).
@DEG EnTech Awards 2025: Amy Jo Smith of DEG and Bill Neighbors of platinum sponsor Xperi introduce the awards program.
@DEG EnTech Awards 2025: Following a vibrant reception, the awards program kicked off with NBCUniversal’s Megan Mauck (r). receiving the Technology Leadership Award. Jude Fitzmorris (l.), of event host Amazon, presented.
@DEG EnTech Awards 2025: The Technology Innovation in Content Distribution Award went to Play Anywhere’s Compliance Engine. AWS’s Ian McPherson (pictured) presented and accepted on behalf of the Play Amnywhere team, who were unable to attend the ceremony.
@DEG EnTech Awards 2025: Spherex’s Teresa Phillips (r.) accepted the Technology Innovation in Content Delivery Award, which was given to Spherex’s AI Agents. 2023’s Hall of Fame Award honoree Ellen Goodridge (l.) of Amazon MGM Studios presented.
@DEG EnTech Awards 2025: Christopher Reynolds of Deluxe (l.) received the Localization Trailblazer Award. The award was presented by NBCUniversal’s Andrea Riehle (r.), who won last year.
@DEG EnTech Awards 2025: Cineverse’s Tony Huidor (pictured) accepted the Emerging Technology Award for the company’s CineSearch technology. EnTech Chair Rick Hack presented and spoke on the upcoming EnTech event slate.
@DEG EnTech Awards 2025: The Technology Innovation in Catalog Restoration and Preservation Award went to the Sunset Blvd. Team, consisting of Paramount, Park Road Post, and WingNut Films MAL Studios. Charles Stepczyk (l.) and Charlotte Barker (c.) of Paramount accepted on the teams’ behalf. Michelle Mikesell (r.) of 360 Solutions presented.
@DEG EnTech Awards 2025: The Technology Achievement in Multi-Media Accessibility Award went to “Sinners” with Black American Sign Language, comprised of Warner Bros. Discovery, HBO Max, and Roundabout Entertainment. From left: Roundabout Entertainment’s Yasmin Cruz and Jeanette Zepeda, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Lore Ameloot and Arturo Garcia, Amy White, and John Ordonez of Roundabout Entertainment accepted on the teams’ behalf. Past EnTech Award and Hedy Lamarr Award recipient Paulette Pantoja of Blu Digital Group, a TransPerfect Company (second from r.), presented.
@DEG EnTech Awards 2025: For the first time, the Rising Star Award was presented to a class of emerging industry talents. (from l.) The Sherlock Company’s Sharon Hsieh, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Alison Falk, Paramount Pictures’ Bill Pahutski, and NBCUniversal’s Hunter Clancey lit up the stage when accepting this recognition. Iyuno’s James Han was also a member of this year’s class. 2021 Hall of Fame honoree Craig Seidel (far r.) presented.
@DEG EnTech Awards 2025: 2025’s Hall of Fame award went to MovieLabs’ Richard Berger. Berger is responsible for the overall direction of MovieLabs and oversees technology initiatives on behalf of the major studios. Ron Geller of award sponsor Dolby presented.
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium: Perpetual Intelligence’s Rick Hack (l.) meets up with NVIDIA’s Jason Schugardt (r.).
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium: Karl Svantemark of Doors (l.), who came all the way from Sweden, presents on the exhibit floor.
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium: (from l.) Chris Yates of Mansa, Salima Popatia of cocktail sponsor Markit.Place, Mikes Pears of AMC Networks, and Marc Rashba of Cineverse celebrate a day well spent.
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium: Lionsgate’s Gray Ainsworth (l.) .and Pixelogic’s Derek Hilderbrandt.
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium: A floor tour visits Adapt’s booth.
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium: In a conversation led by DEG Chair Jonathan Zepp of Google (r.), company executives Tom Hume (l.) and Katherine Erdman (2nd l.), and creative partner Jed Weintrob of 30 Ninjas, talked about using AI to push the boundaries of creative filmmaking and XR. The presentation included sneak peeks at the company’s upcoming projects with directors Doug Liman and Darren Aronofsky.
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium 2025: Communication Research’s Marc Finer (c., holding tablet) led three tours of the exhibit floor, where attendees got an in-depth look at companies’ booths.
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium 2025: Communication Research’s Marc Finer (c., holding tablet) led three tours of the exhibit floor, where attendees got an in-depth look at companies’ booths.
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium 2025: Providing a Richer Viewer Experience with Advanced Storytelling was certainly for the books. EnTech Chair Rick Hack of Perpetual Intelligence (far r.) moderated, and panelists (from l.) Lisa Watts of CREE8, Joe Rice of Disney, and Saj Jamal of IMAX detailed how to use various tools and technologies to provide a high quality and highly engaging content experience.
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium 2025: Practical AI for Speed and Savings in Localization was moderated by Iyuno’s Chris Carey (far r.) Panelists included (from l.) Blu Digital Group’s Silviu Epure, The Sherlock Company’s Kelly Summers, Spehrex’s Teresa Phillips, and Zoo Digital’s Duncan Wain, who each weighed in on how to use AI cost and time-effectively without compromising quality.
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium 2025: Visual effects veteran Barbara Ford Grant (l.) led a fireside chat with AI and immersive experience pros Eric Shamlin, CEO of Secret Level, and By Jove’s Amy Jupiter (r.). The three offered perspectives on how AI can enhance experience design and fuel the future of entertainment, without removing the community aspect of creative endeavors. “The future cannot be so lonely,” said Jupiter.
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium 2025: Plex’s Scott Olechowski (far l.) moderated the day’s final panel, Managing Metadata to Improve the Search and Discovery Experience. Panelists (from l.) Matt Durgin of LG Electronics, David Sanderson of Reelgood, and Tony Huidor of Cineverse gave their perspective on how new technologies can further metadata’s ability to create curated viewer experiences.
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium 2025: AWS’s Ian McPherson (far r.) moderated panel Extracting Value from Legacy Content Using AI, featuring (from l.) Nvidia’s Jason Schugardt, Amazon/MGM Studios’ Ellen Goodridge, Lionsgate’s Gray Ainsworth, and Twelve Labs’ Soyoung Lee. Although this aspect of AI in entertainment is “non-sexy,” it made for an insightful topic for the day’s first panel.
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium 2025: A strong case was made for shoppable entertainment with Shoppable Video: Bringing Quality Shopping Experiences to Screens. (from l.) Moderator Nick Buzzell of NBTV, Susan Akbarpour of Candou Ventures/Markit.Place, and Gary Mittman of KERV Interactive expertly guided attendees through the untapped potential of shoppable entertainment.
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium 2025: Forbes’s David Bloom (r.) chatted with National CineMedia CEO Tom Lesinski (l.) about marketing to wide audiences through movie theaters, peppering in anecdotes about DEG’s early roots in the DVD business.
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium 2025: Lionsgate Vice Chairman Michael Burns (r.) in conversation with Lionsgate Motion Picture Group President and COO Ron Schwartz (l.). The two discussed a variety of topics, from intel on the studio’s Twilight franchise to shifts in the theatrical experience and AI usage at the company.
@DEG EnTech Fest and Summer Symposium 2025: Netflix’s Heather Dowdy (r.) in conversation with 3Play Media’s Josh Miler (l.) about the importance of accessibility in digital entertainment, and how addressing even one viewer’s concerns can make entertainment possible for many. “You cannot entertain the world without accessibility,” Dowdy said.
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“Technology set their sights on our business, and we must survive and thrive and grow.”
– Dana Walden, president and COO of The Walt Disney Company, on the need for restructuring in entertainment companies and the layoffs that can result. [Deadline]
Check out the 2025 DEG ‘Q’ member magazine for a recap of our biggest year ever and engaging interviews with 20 member innovators.
This week on the Top Blu-Ray and DVD Sellers chart, Supergirl flew into the No. 1 spot.
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DEG 2025 Annual Membership Meeting and Hedy Lamarr Awards Reception
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“We believe the future of filmmaking lies in collaboration between artistry and AI, where technology serves the storyteller, not the other way around.”
–Alexander Bafer, CEO of AI content studio Paracosm, which is launching at MIPCOM next week [The Hollywood Reporter].
Member Spotlight
Check out the 2025 DEG ‘Q’ member magazine for a recap of our biggest year ever and engaging interviews with 20 member innovators.
