Technological imagination knows no bounds — nor geographic boundaries.
Of the 14 entities honored at the 77th Engineering, Science & Technology Emmys this year, six hailed from headquarters in other countries: Canada, England (two towns), Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. Together with an appreciative audience, all winners gathered at the Television Academy’s Saban Media Center in the NoHo Arts District for a celebration of groundbreaking achievements that either improve existing methods or are so innovative that they affect television production, recording, transmission or reception. The night also marked the end of the Emmy Awards season.
Held October 14, the ceremony was hosted for the ninth time by actress Kirsten Vangsness (Criminal Minds: Evolution). Befitting the evening’s technical theme, Mark Schubin, the winner of the Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award — which honors a living individual whose contributions have affected television technology and engineering — accepted on video from a television production truck. He was working on an upcoming program of The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD; as the engineer in charge (EIC), he’d developed the process to transmit the live opera performances to theater screens worldwide, having previously developed the capability to transmit Met productions to home viewers on PBS more than 50 years ago. He has also been EIC for such PBS programming as Great Performances, Live from Lincoln Center and Sesame Street.
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Mark Schubin virtually accepts the Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award / Invision/AP
"I feel unworthy, given the people who've gotten the award in the past and the people getting [awards] today, but I do appreciate getting the Jenkins award," Schubin said. "Jenkins is one of my heroes. He founded SMPTE [Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers]. He transmitted moving images in 1923, and he hired the first woman to be a television camera person and the first woman to be a television director. So, thank you to everyone who has been a mentor to me, everyone who has taught me, everyone who has worked with me. And thank you to the Academy. I really appreciate this."
BBC Research & Development was the recipient of the Philo T. Farnsworth Corporate Achievement Award, honoring an agency, company or institution whose contributions have significantly affected television technology and engineering. Founded in 1930, the department has been involved in the development of noise-canceling microphones, the first transatlantic television transmission, high-definition television and, currently, the creation of standards for a better understanding of AI use, among other advancements.
"To be recognized with this prestigious Emmy is not only a tremendous privilege, it's a moment of immense pride for all of us," said BBC Research & Development director Jatin Aythora in acceptance. Noting technology’s inspiration from childhood on, "That unwavering belief in the power of technology to improve lives has guided my entire career. It’s the same optimistic spirit that defines every member of BBC R&D, past and present. We’ve always pushed the boundaries of what’s possible so that audiences everywhere can engage with stories in richer, more meaningful ways. Thank you for this extraordinary honor. It inspires us to continue exploring, questioning and building the future of media, not just for the BBC, but for everyone."
The nine Emmy Awards were garnered by companies and individuals: SMPTE, European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Video Services Forum (VSF) for the development of the SMPTE ST 2110 Suite of Standards; Fraunhofer IIS and intoPIX for the development of image compression format JPEG XS; and the developer or development teams of Action Factory’s Play’n with Fire Hydrogels for fire stunts; the post-production Boris FX Continuum; the Hush Pro noise-reduction plug-in; the collaboration platform LucidLink; Motion Possible’s AGITO Dolly System; the NACMO series of mobile motion bases; and Zoom for Broadcast.
Barry Zegel and Wendy Aylsworth are the governors of the Science & Technology peer group and cochairs of the awards selection committee.
