12 Oct DEG Proud to Announce the Winners of 2023 EnTech Awards
October 12, 2023 | DEG on Thursday evening presented 17 awards for innovation in the digital entertainment supply chain, with those recognized spread across 13 Member companies in nine categories.
The evening’s top accolade, the Hall of Fame Award, was presented in absentia to Amazon Studios’ Ellen Goodridge, a well-respected industry veteran who is responsible for global distribution of Amazon Originals content for Amazon Prime Video and Freevee. Goodridge was traveling internationally, but sent a video expressing her gratitude for the recognition.
About 200 industry collaborators attended the high-spirited celebration, held for the second year at the Sound Space in Los Angeles and opened by veteran rap artist Ed “Special Ed” Archer. Xperi was the evening’s presenting sponsor, with additional support from 360 Solutions, Circana, Dolby and Spherex.
Learn more about Ed’s foundation, Special Ed Arts & Literacy, which aims to change the lives of youth through self-expression, hip-hop music and education.
The ceremony opened with scenes from the 2022 and 2021 EnTech Awards and expressions of support and gratitude for their technical staff from senior executives across the entertainment industry.
“The DEG EnTech Awards recognize the heart and soul of our industry’s collective effort to make digital entertainment broadly accessible and enjoyable across screens, business models and ecosystems. Congratulations to all of the nominees, and thank you for all that you do to make our industry possible,” said DEG Board Vice Chair Jonathan Zepp, of Google.
Paramount Global’s Dan Cohen, DEG Board Chair, said “Our thanks to the entire TechOps community for all your hard work, which makes it possible to deliver content efficiently across the globe. A special shoutout to the individuals and teams being recognized by
DEG’s EnTech Awards for going that extra mile to improve and ensure the industry is functioning at its highest standard.”
“A big thanks to the EnTech Awards winners and nominees alike,” offered DEG Board Director Matt Strauss of NBCUniversal Streaming Services. “Without you, the seamless delivery of our content to entertainment-hungry consumers would be impossible. Because of you, fans across the globe have at their fingertips a growing array of premium content experiences.”
And the DEG EnTech Awards went to …
Rising Star Award
This award honors an individual with no more than seven years of entertainment technology experience who demonstrates an attitude of excellence and performs well above their experience level. This individual is a team player and finds solutions to industry challenges. They show great promise to lead, innovate, and inspire the entertainment technology industry throughout their career. There may be one award for each of the business categories, with up to three awards in total.
Nominees: Joel Moreno, BB Media | Jen Hashida, NBCUniversal (pictured) | Gabriella Patruno, PBS Distribution | Paige Sherman, Shout! Studios | Matthew Haberman, PlutoTV
Best Multi-Company Team Collaboration Award
This award honors cross-industry teams (representing two or more companies) who demonstrate excellence in collaboration, communication, and technical execution with an impact on operational efficiencies in order to achieve a common goal. There will be one award presented, which may be given to teams from any business category.
Nominees: Blu Digital Group / Sony Pictures Entertainment (pictured) | Client Relations and GCSS Teams, Warner Bros. Discovery / Deluxe| Deepdub.ai / Topic | Disney / Deluxe / MAV: Accessible Communication Without Barriers | Intel / Google Cloud / Gunpowder | MEDIAGENIX / Anuvu | NBCUniversal / Deluxe / Pixelogic | SSIMWAVE, an IMAX company / Disney Streaming Services
Emerging Technology Award
This award honors a company that created a new technology that could positively affect the future of digital entertainment distribution. There may be one award for each of the business categories, with up to three awards in total.
Nominees: DTS AutoStage / Bob Dillon, Xperi/DTS (pictured, l.) | Reelgood (pictured, c.) | BluConductor / Paulette Pantoja, Blu Digital Group | BluSpot Technology / George Rausch, Blu Digital Group | Deepdub.ai / Ofir Krakowski | Eluvio Content Fabric for the first NFT window, premium VoD and Living Movie Experiences / Michelle Munson, Eluvio | MediaCAT AI-Driven Suite of Media Localization Services / Josh Pine, XL8 (pictured, r.) | Peter Scott / Play Anywhere | Pioneering 8K/60FPS/HDR VVC (Versatile Video Codec/H.266) Live Streaming / Ravindra Velhal (Intel), Mauricio Mesa (Spin Digital) and team | The Sherlock Pipeline – Advanced Workflow Automation for Global Creative | SSIMWAVE, an IMAX Company | TiVo OS / Ben Maughan, TiVo/Xperi | Veritone Digital Media Hub | Victoria Bousis / UME Studios, Digital Human Technology
Localization Trailblazer Award
PRESENTED BY SPHEREX
This award honors trailblazing companies, teams, or individuals who exemplify excellence in overseeing quality, localized content under tight deadlines using creative and operational groundbreaking strategies. One award will be presented and may be given to a company, individual, or team and can be from any business category.
Nominees: Alberto de la Puente Nieto, NBCUniversal | Amazon Prime Video 3P Localization | Chris Reynolds and Deluxe Localization | David Lee, Iyuno| Deepdub.ai (pictured, l.) | The Sherlock Company | Silviu Epure, Blu Digital Group (pictured, r.) | Yelena Makarczyk, Vubiquity
Technology Achievement Award
The award honors recipients who have demonstrated technical achievement and significantly contributed to the realization of technological advancements in their organization. There may be one award for each of the business categories, with up to three awards in total.
Nominees: Reelgood Product Team, Reelgood (pictured, l.) | Dubbing and Audio Teams With R&D Team, Pixelogic | Greg Taieb, Deluxe | Ivan Verbesselt and Quentin Pouplard, Mediagenix | Ofir Krakowski, Deepdub.ai | The Sherlock Pipeline Team | VOD Monitor Engineering & product team, SSIMWAVE, an IMAX Company (pictured, r.)
Technology Innovation Award
The award honors an individual or a team for identifying a problem and creating a novel solution, e.g. engineering lab or infrastructure. The solution would not necessarily have to be implemented at the time the award is given. There may be one award for each of the business categories, with up to three awards in total.
Nominees: Harvey Landy, Brandon Lasner, NBCUniversal (pictured, l.) | Dynamic Ad Break Slugs on Disney+, Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology (pictured, c.) | Tony Huidor and Cineverse Team | George Rausch, Blu Digital Group | Field Garthwaite, IRIS.TV INC. | Ofir Krakowski / Nir Krakowski, Deepdub | VQ Dial, Ian Wormsbecker, SSIMWAVE, an IMAX company | World Class Viewing Experiences Team, Intel /FOX Sports / TAG Video Systems | XL8 Engineering Team, XL8 (pictured, r.)
Technology Leadership Award
The award honors an individual or team for demonstrating leadership and implementing something technically that had an impact on the business as a whole (extending to the industry beyond their specific company). Recipients will have demonstrated leadership and significantly contributed to a recent project or other engagement within the last two years in the Technology & Operations function within entertainment technology. There will be one award presented, which may be awarded to a person in any business category.
Nominees: Abdul Rehman, SSIMWAVE, an IMAX Company | Ofir Krakowski, Deepdub.ai | Rich Welsh, Deluxe | George Rausch, Blu Digital Group (pictured, l.) | Sarah Bryan, Paramount Global | The World’s First Immersive 8K VR Livestream for XXIV Olympic Winter Games Team, Intel, NBCU, COSM (pictured, r.)
Smart OS Award
This award recognizes best overall operating system performance in each of the product categories – Smart TV, dongle, and set top boxes (cable, satellite, gaming consoles). Criteria to determine the product’s overall performance and value will be based on areas pertaining to functionality, usage, and display. There may be one award for each product category (Smart TV, dongle, set top boxes). Up to three awards in total.
Nominees: Google TV | LG webOS Smart TV | Samsung Tizen OS (pictured) | TiVo OS | Vizio SmartCast OS
Hall of Fame Award
PRESENTED BY DOLBY
This award honors an individual who has demonstrated consistent results in technology leadership, technology achievement, technology innovation, or any combination of those categories throughout their career. They are well-regarded within the industry. This award was previously named Lifetime Achievement, and the recipient can be from any business category.
Nominees: Christopher Stefanidis, Disney | Gray Ainsworth, Lionsgate | Mark Augustine, Disney | Ellen Goodridge, Amazon Studios | Jeff Stabenau, Giant Worldwide | Ravindra Velhal, Intel
THE THIRD ANNUAL ENTECH AWARDS ARE KINDLY SPONSORED BY:
For more information, please contact Bekah Sturm at Bekah@degonline.org.
For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Andi Elliott at Andi@degonline.org.