2026 HPA Awards Innovation & Technology Nominees Across Full Production Lifecycle

An expanded program for the 2026 HPA Awards Innovation & Technology sets out to honor the technologies shaping today’s professional media and entertainment workflows.

Awards season is getting into full swing, both in front of and behind the camera. In the latter category, the Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the nominees for the 2026 HPA Awards Innovation & Technology. This year's nominations feature an expanded evolution of the organization’s Engineering Excellence Award.

The awards celebrate exceptional contributions to entertainment technology, 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.

Here are this year's nominations, with detailed information available on each one here.

2026 HPA Awards Innovation & Technology category nominees

• 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

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