Reed Hastings, ‘Star Wars’ VFX Pioneer Richard Edlund to Be Honored by SMPTE Engineering Society

Oscar-winning VFX pioneer Richard Edlund, Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings and veteran television engineer John D. Ross will receive the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers’ highest recognition, Honorary Membership.

Edlund — who received Academy Awards for VFX work on Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and Raiders of the Lost Ark, as well as various technical achievements — has been cited for advancing VFX cinematography. Hastings is being recognized for the development and leadership of Netflix and Ross for a “lifetime” of advancing television engineering.

During its annual awards ceremony, which will be streamed Nov. 12 as part of SMPTE’s virtual conference, the Society will posthumously pay tribute to legendary motion picture color pioneer Natalie Kalmus with its most prestigious medal, the Progress Medal. The Technicolor co-founder, who died in 1965, was instrumental in the development of the Technicolor process and worked on more than 400 films, including The Wizard of Oz as color director.

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Also this year, Technicolor rebranded its SMPTE Medal as the Technicolor — Natalie and Herbert T. Kalmus Medal “to recognize the prodigious contributions of Natalie Kalmus as the executive overseeing the Technicolor art department and as color director of nearly all Technicolor feature films produced from 1934 to 1949.” This year, the medal will be awarded to Beverly Joanna Wood for her contributions to color contrast enhancement and adjustable contrast enhancement motion-picture processes.

During this year’s SMPTE program, Rich Chernock will receive the David Sarnoff Medal, for his contributions to the new ATSC 3.0 digital television standard. Gérard Corbasson will be honored with the Camera Origination and Imaging Medal, for improvements to camera optics; and Katie Cornog will be awarded the Digital Processing Medal, for her work on Avid’s digital signal processing methods. Industry vet Leon Silverman will receive the Presidential Proclamation for his contributions to the media and entertainment industry.

Additional honorees are James Snyder, who will receive the James A. Lindner Archival Technology Medal; Andrew Munro, who will get the Samuel L. Warner Memorial Medal; Bruce Leak, set for the Workflow Systems Medal; and Corey P. Carbonara, who will receive the Excellence in Education Medal.