In this issue:

• 2008: A Time for Thoughtful Hope and Questioning
• Virtual HD EXPO: New Panels to Watch and Share
• HD EXPO March Preview
• HD EXPO is looking for HD Footage - got some?
• Sponsor News - iStar, Filmcast Live, MovieMaker Magazine, and Digital Cinema Buyers Guide

It is it time to say goodbye to a remarkably challenging and game-changing year for our country and our industry. The economy and world financial markets have had a profound impact on companies of every size, pushing some to the very edge of survival.  There are and will be more changes; a few companies grow, our colleagues seek new opportunities, and businesses and individuals strive to innovate or re-invent.

But in the face of the seemingly endless bad news, the explosive landscape has offered opportunity to some enterprises.  There are companies that are succeeding, either by putting forth truly innovative products, maintaining quality products at the right price point, or with a recalibration and realignment of the entrepreneurial - creative spirit that launched them in the first place. While these fundamental changes are afoot, our industry is blessed with more than its fair share of brilliant and innovative thinkers who will lead the way.  As it always has, the show will go on, and we will figure out how to make it, manage it, and distribute it.

Because of the need for entertainment and the increasingly ubiquitous nature of content, there are bright spots and encouraging stories:  3D gains momentum, new cameras and production technologies successfully moved off the drawing board and onto the set, some fundamentally shaking up the way we work. The world is watching differently and the blossoming of mobile delivery fuels a growing industry and supports a revolutionary change in viewing habits and interactivity. 

These are exciting times. 

Leading HD EXPO through 2008, I am blessed on many levels. I have the incredible honor of working with the best companies in the business: our sponsors and exhibitors. The HD EXPO team is amazing and going to work with them every day is invigorating and inspirational. It is exciting that HD EXPO has grown its online presence in truly significant ways; stretching past the most ambitious growth targets we set for ourselves.  Attendance at the events, workshops, and conferences of HD EXPO is growing apace, surpassing our targets every year. The community of experts, panelists, instructors, and exhibitors is at an all-time high in terms of quality. We have added to our workshops, launched a successful HD EXPO in New York, and evolved Q: What’s Next at the two-day HD EXPO that we began in 2007. It was an extremely busy, and very successful, year.

2009 will see HD EXPO’s full transition to CREATEASPHERE, a development that we look forward to with great anticipation. CREATEASPHERE-A world where entertainment technology and creative vision converge.   It is a nod to the fundamental nature of creativity in all our efforts:  artistically, technically, and business-wise. Over the next 12 months, CREATEASPHERE will gradually ease into the main brand name for all of our events, education, and online presence. Stay tuned for all that CREATEASPHERE has to offer in 2009 and beyond.

All of us at HD EXPO are privileged to be on this journey with you. While 2009 is a year that will certainly still hold surprises; we are all up for the ride. We wish you all a healthy, peaceful and prosperous New Year.

Best regards,
Kristin Petrovich and the HDE Team

Virtual HD EXPO: New Panels to Watch and Share
Check out our panels from our HD Expo in New York:

• A Conversation About Revolution and What’s Next: Telling Stories, Branding and Community In A State of Change: Steve Wax, Steve Coulson and John Dukakis
• Creating High Powered Sports Programming: Wowing the Audience - Join a distinguished group of experts including Bryan Burns, Mark Haden, Tim Napoleon, Chris Wagner, and Larry Thorpe

• The Art of Editing in the 21st Century: Creativity + Technology
  Join a group of the industry's most respected editors working today: Michael Berenbaum, Tim Squyres, Craig McKay, and John Gilroy. Moderated by Ken McGorry.

Get the HD EXPO Web App for your iPhone, click here.

HD EXPO March Preview
HD EXPO March - Los Angeles: March 5, 2009 - Universal Hilton, Universal City

Day of Agenda Highlights:

CREATIVITY, CASH & TOOLS: The Making of an Indie Film
Award winning filmmakers explore their path to festival fame as they illuminate the creative and pragmatic execution of their vision. How did they develop their story, find their funding, and what were creative tools that made their story come to life? Featuring festival favorites from Sundance, AFI, LA Film Festival and other world-class festivals.

THE HD EXPO FILMMAKER’S SPOTLIGHT
A keynote conversation with one of today’s leading filmmakers who will discuss the path to creating a box office hit, keeping true to vision, and the delicate and dangerous relationship of art and technology.

HD EXPO is looking for HD Footage - got some?
HD EXPO is compiling beautiful examples of HD for trade show booth playback and we are looking for the following:

• travel & beauty
• sporting events of all types
• commercials
• films & documentaries

The footage must have been shot in HD, posted in HD. For more information please email Kristin Martinez at: kristinguiza@yahoo.com or call the HD EXPO offices (818) 842-6611.