Hollywood Professional Association Unveils 2026 HPA Awards Innovation & Technology Nominees

The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) announces the nominees for the 2026 HPA Awards Innovation & Technology, marking an expanded evolution of the organization’s prestigious Engineering Excellence Award. The awards celebrate exceptional contributions to entertainment technology.

For nearly two decades, the HPA Engineering Excellence Award has recognized groundbreaking engineering achievements. The HPA Awards Innovation & Technology program broadens that tradition, honoring advancements across multiple categories covering the entire production life cycle, from pre-production through distribution and audience experience. This expanded framework highlights technologies making a measurable impact on the professional media and entertainment ecosystem, spanning film, television, streaming, advertising, and branded content experiences.

The 2026 HPA Awards Innovation & Technology category nominees are:

Innovation in Pre-Production

• Bria AI – GenAI Attribution Technology
• RivetAI, Inc. – RivetAI
• Yamdu – AI Script Breakdown and Management Add-On

Innovation in Production & Capture

• American Society of Cinematographers – Media Hash List
• Creamsource – Slyyd Lighting Control App
• Méduse Inc. – Safe Guns Phase-Synced Flash-Gun System

Innovation in VFX, Virtual Production & Animation

• Foundry – Nuke Stage
• Nerfstudio and Industrial Light & Magic – Nerfstudio
• Volinga and XGRIDS – Virtual Production Pipeline

Innovation in Post-Production

• Adobe – Generative Extend in Adobe Premiere
• Flawless – TrueSync
• Storj – Production Cloud

Innovation in Distribution & Audience Experience

• Cineverse – CINESEARCH
• SyncWords Inc. – LiveCore + Kobe Muxer
• V-Nova Studios – V-Nova PresenZ

Winners of the five nominated categories will be announced on Wed., Feb. 18, 2026, at the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat. The HPA Transformative Impact Award and the HPA Tech Retreat Best in Show Award will be presented on Thurs, Feb. 19, 2026, at the close of the Retreat.

Judging criteria for the Innovation & Technology categories included innovation, current industry impact, technical merit, and adoption of readiness. Nominees represent tools and technologies that are impactful today and reflective of forward momentum. Judging panels were curated by experts with deep technical expertise and hands-on knowledge of the workflows these technologies support across the production pipeline.