SMPTE, Hollywood Post Alliance To Merge

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has announced a new partnership with the Hollywood Post Alliance (HPA) that is expected to lead to the merger of the two organizations by May of 2015.

In a first step towards the merger, SMPTE will begin providing administrative support to HPA.

"HPA is known not only for its unique brand identity, but also for facilitating open dialog among all disciplines in the entertainment industry," said Wendy Aylsworth, president of SMPTE in a statement. "Complementing SMPTE's work in standards and education, these qualities will enrich the experience of SMPTE members worldwide, giving them the opportunity to engage in more frequent dialogue with nontechnical and supporting industry professionals.”

The two organizations noted that the alliance will open up new opportunities to expand their reach and better serve engineering and technical professionals to the creative community.

"For HPA, a closer relationship with SMPTE is also valuable in that it will enable our organization to extend the reach of our content and our work to a global audience beyond Hollywood,” Leon Silverman, HPA board president, explained in a statement.