Sold Out March 9th Event Surpasses All Predecessors

March 20, 2006 (Burbank, CA) With a wait list for booth space and the largest pre-registration ever for the event, HD EXPO March had the highest attendance and the largest number of exhibitors yet for this annual spring event. Final statistics from HD EXPO March, the leading entertainment technology event held at the Los Angeles Center Studios in downtown LA on March 9th, were announced by Kristin Petrovich, Founder and CEO of HD EXPO.

"Our March event surpassed 2,200 people in attendance, with over 60 exhibitors and five corporate sponsors hosting reception functions," she noted. "From the very first HD EXPO, we saw the deep interest in the community for unbiased, education-centric information and presentations. We have been fortunate to be able to continue to grow and meet the demand and interest of the industry." The Expo, where the creative, technology and filmmaking communities meet to attend panels, workshops, screenings and exhibitions, is the brainchild of Petrovich, whose first Expo in 2001 attracted a mere 300.

The March 9th event, which is the 10th HD EXPO, passed a number of significant milestones, including the fastest sales of over 15,000 square feet of exhibition space for 2006, a significant increase in attendance, and new features such as The Insiders Preview and The Display Gallery.

The HD EXPO events are widely known for presenting high caliber panelists and presentations and this expo featured Oscar-winning cinematographers, Sundance-winning filmmakers, and cutting edge directors and producers talking about their use of tools and creative applications of technology. The March 9th expo featured Academy Award winners and nominees Dion Beebe, Vilmos Zsigmond, Allen Daviau, and other top cinematographers talking about the implications of the advent of digital intermediate and the proper use of technology in the creative process. Directors Christopher Coppola, Dana Brown, Tim Cox, and Todd Mesirow sat on the dais with technologists and production experts and discussed the opportunities and challenges of the most cutting edge tools.

A new addition to HD EXPO March, The Insiders Preview, offered attendees a pre-NAB look at the newest products from top manufacturers including Panasonic, Boris FX, Tektronix, LaserPacific, Telecast Fiber Systems, and CineForm. In response to significant post-expo research last year, the Display Gallery was introduced to address the growing interest by attendees in display technologies. The Display Gallery, featuring an interactive display area where attendees could view and compare displays, will return to HD EXPO November in Los Angeles, in an expanded format.

Petrovich also announced that the innovative streaming presentation of HD EXPO, Virtual HD EXPO™, will unveil the March 9th event online the week of April 17th. "Virtual HD EXPO is an important step for HD EXPO and for all of those people who want and need this information; it enables a national and international audience to benefit from the companies, the expertise and the experts who are at the heart of HD EXPO. We are very excited to utilize the technology to share our story," Petrovich concluded.

The next HD EXPO will be held in Chicago on May 18th at the Film Row Cinema Building at Columbia College. Plans are also underway for the November 2nd, HD EXPO November, scheduled for the Universal City Hilton.