28 Apr Congratulations to the Inaugural DEG TechOps Awards Winners!
PIXELOGIC’S CRAIG SEIDEL TAKES HOME LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group is proud to announce the winners of its inaugural Technology & Operations Awards. This Awards program was created to recognize exceptional technology accomplishments in the digital supply chain achieved by both companies and individuals. The DEG TechOps Awards encourage and promote excellence in all business categories (content, retailer, service) represented within DEG and showcase the importance of the industry’s technology and operations teams supporting the digital supply chain.
The DEG TechOps Awards show and networking after parties were presented virtually on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 3 PM PDT, with awards given out in five categories including Technology Leadership, Technology Achievement, Technology Innovation and Lifetime Achievement. A special People’s Choice award was voted on by attendees during the show, with finalists in all categories eligible for the popular vote. The winner of the People’s Choice Award was Premiere Digital.
Craig Seidel of Pixelogic Media was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, for his work at former employer MovieLabs, where he led development of the MovieLabs Digital Distribution Framework, the suite of specifications that enable an automated digital supply chain among content providers, retailers/platforms, and service providers.
A full list of winners is below.
“DEG is so pleased to recognize the winners — and all the outstanding finalists — for the inaugural DEG TechOps Awards,” said Amy Jo Smith, President and CEO, DEG. “As was noted by a number of senior industry executives and Oscar-winning director Pete Docter (!) during the show, our TechOps community is the engine that drives delivery of premium content to consumers across the globe. Without these people, there would be no in-home entertainment as we know it.”
Premiere Digital was the official cocktail sponsor of the DEG TechOps Awards. The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented by Dolby. The Technology Innovation Award was presented by Whip Media. Video production was courtesy of creative content sponsor TiVo/DTS.
The show featured original music created by Ed “Special Ed” Archer, and a pitch for involvment in two organizations that are working to bolster technology education and career opportunities for underserved communities in Los Angeles, DIY Girls and Plug in South LA.
See the video
for Special Ed’s Everything is Digital (DEG) song.
Learn more about DIY Girls | Learn more about Plug in South LA.
FULL LIST OF WINNERS
Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Dolby, honors and recognizes an individual or team that has demonstrated consistent results in technology leadership, technology achievement or technology innovation.
Craig Seidel was recognized as an architect of the MovieLabs Digital Distribution Framework, the suite of specifications that enable an automated digital supply chain among content providers, retailers/platforms, and service providers.
Finalists:
Andrea Kalas, Paramount Pictures
Craig Seidel*, Pixelogic
Christopher Stefanidis, Walt Disney Co. (formerly)
*Nominated for his work at MovieLabs
Click on finalist names to hear them talk about their Lifetime Achievement nominations.
Technology Leadership Award honors a company, individual, or team that has demonstrated leadership by implementing a technical advancement that had an impact on the digital supply chain within the last two years.
Kotzman and Lindsay are seen as champions of standards adoption and implementation.
Finalists:
Ellen Goodridge, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Erin Hughes, WarnerMedia
Bill Kotzman, Google
Dave Lindsay, Disney Streaming Services
NBC Universal Team – Rosemarie Cordero, Kenesha Luney, Cassandra Moore, Estela Serrano
Craig Seidel*, Pixelogic
New Media Solutions Team
Kip Welch, MovieLabs
*Nominated for his work at MovieLabs
Technology Achievement Award honors adoption, leadership and engagement since the inception of DEG’s Technology & Operations Committee. Recipients will have significantly contributed to the committee’s goal of realizing technological advancements.
Boccumini and Peña were recognized for their work in avails adoption, among other achievements.
Finalists:
Kacy Boccumini, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Kelly Bouchey, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Richard Kroon, EIDR
Justin Parkinson, WarnerMedia
Jason Peña, Google
Josh Perkins, WarnerMedia
Technology Innovation Award, presented by Whip Media, honors a team that identified a problem and created a novel solution; the solution is completed or in process.
The teamwork at Disney+, Lionsgate and Premiere Digital is in service of more seamless collaboration between partners in the digital supply chain.
Finalists:
Amazon Prime Video Team – Nathan Bartel, Jude Fitzmorris, Erol Kalafat, Joe Pavey (formerly Amazon)
Disney+ Team – Matt Krone, Dave Lindsay, Philip Richards, Alex Vargo, Madeleine Wright
Google TV Content Operations Team – Austin Norausky, Lead
Iyuno-SDI Group Team
Lionsgate Content Operations Team – Justin Poulsen, Lead
MovieLabs Team – Jim Helman and Raymond Drewry
Premiere Digital Team – Christine Lim, Alex Liu, Carrie Moore, Vijay Nikam, Mangesh Pawar, Samy Pugazhend, Debbie Tongyoo
New Media Solutions Development Team
Verizon Business Group, Advanced Technology Team – David Pirrocco, Lead
Vubiquity Content Cloud Team – Dan Brown, Andrew Gayter, Reuven Elmalem, Anand Varadan
DOWNLOAD THE ORIGINAL FINALIST PRESS RELEASE AND FULL FINALIST LIST HERE
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