The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) today announced that the Membership has elected new officers and governors for the 2017-2018 term. Matthew Goldman, senior vice president of technology, TV and media at Ericsson, will take office as the new SMPTE president on Jan. 1, 2017.
“Matthew has held a variety of key SMPTE roles that have furthered the Society’s mission, and I am confident that as the new SMPTE President, he will build on Bob Seidel’s excellent work,” said SMPTE past president Wendy Aylsworth, who served as the chair of the Society Nominating Committee. “Matthew and Bob are among the many SMPTE Members who have worked to bolster the Society’s growth leading into and during our Centennial celebrations. The officers and governors elected for the 2017-2018 term — and those who continue in their existing roles — are a broad and strong group who bring extraordinary leadership to SMPTE as we enter our second century of ensuring interoperability across the media ecosystem and, in turn, facilitating the ongoing growth of our industry.”
Goldman, a SMPTE Fellow who has previously held SMPTE board roles including executive vice president, finance vice president, and Eastern Region Governor, will serve a two-year term as SMPTE president. He succeeds outgoing President Robert Seidel, vice president of engineering and advanced technology at CBS, who will continue to serve on the SMPTE Board of Governors as the Society’s past president.
“The influx of IP into broadcasting, the embrace of software-defined networking and processing, and the rise of a fully-connected world are just a few examples of the extraordinary evolution taking place across the media and entertainment industry,” said Goldman. “SMPTE has been working diligently to address the industry’s growth and to provide standards and education programs that are relevant — in concept and practice — to the current and future work of its engineers, creatives, and other professionals. I look forward to this new opportunity, as SMPTE president, to contribute to this important work and to help guide the Society toward ever-greater growth, stability, and success.”
Other incoming SMPTE officers elected for the two-year 2017-2018 term include Patrick Griffis, vice president of technology at Dolby Laboratories and SMPTE education vice president, who will serve as executive vice president; Richard Welsh, CEO of Sundog Media Toolkit and a former SMPTE Governor, who has been newly elected by the membership to serve as education vice president; and Peter Wharton, vice president of technology and business development at BroadStream Solutions Inc., who will continue to serve as secretary/treasurer.
Ten governors, two of which are incumbents, were elected to serve in SMPTE Regions around the world. The re-elected governors include Andrew G. Setos, CEO of Blackstar Engineering, who will continue to serve as a governor for the Hollywood region, and Douglas I. Sheer, CEO and chief analyst at DIS Consulting Corporation, who will again serve as a governor of the New York region.
Newly elected Governors for the 2017 – 2018 Term:
François Abbe, president and founder of Mesclado, will serve as a governor for SMPTE’s Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Central and South America Regions.
Brian Claypool, vice president of business development at Barco, will serve as a Central Region governor.
Christopher Fetner, director of engineering and partnerships at Netflix, who has previously served as governor-at-large, will now serve as a Hollywood region governor.
George Hoover, chief technology officer at NEP Group, will serve as an Eastern region governor.
Michal Koetter, vice president of digital media systems at Turner Broadcasting, will serve as a Southern region governor.
Gary Mandle, senior product manager for Sony North America, will serve as a Western region governor.
Masayuki Sugawara, executive engineer at NEC Corporation, will serve as an Asia-Pacific region governor.
François Vaillant, executive director of engineering and infrastructure at CBC/Radio-Canada, will serve as a Canadian region governor.
Officers who were not up for re-election and who continue to serve on the SMPTE Board of Governors executive committee include SMPTE standards vice president Alan Lambshead, retired from Evertz; finance vice president Paul Michael Stechly of Applied Electronics Ltd.; and membership vice president William C. Miller of Miltag Media Technology, LLC.
Governors who were not up for re-election and who continue on the SMPTE Board of Governors include Dan Burnett of Ericsson (Southern region); Randy Conrod of Imagine Communications (Canadian region); Bruce Devlin of Dalet (UK region); John Ferder of CBS, Inc. (New York region); Siegfried Foessel of Fraunhofer IIS (EMEA and Central and South America region); Patricia Keighley of IMAX (Hollywood region); John Luff of HD Consulting (Eastern region); John Maizels of Entropy Enterprises and Productions (Asia-Pacific region); and Mark Narveson of Artegis Law Group, LLP (Western region).
Newly elected officers and governors will be introduced to the SMPTE membership at the Society’s Annual General Membership Meeting, which takes place in Salon One of the Ray Dolby Ballroom at the Hollywood and Highland Center in Los Angeles, on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 5:30 p.m., in conjunction with the SMPTE 2016 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition (SMPTE 2016). The SMPTE 2016 Welcome Reception will immediately follow in the Ray Dolby Exhibit Hall. Both the Annual General Membership Meeting and Welcome Reception are open to all attendees of SMPTE 2016, including those with exhibits-only passes. Further details and registration are available at www.smpte2016.org.
Governors-at-Large and directors of standards, education, and membership will be appointed by the Board of Governors at a later date. Further information about SMPTE leadership is available at www.smpte.org/board.
