The Hollywood Post Alliance (HPA) announced that ESPN has been named the recipient of the HPA Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation for its ESPN Digital Center 2. The Digital Center was selected by a jury of peers and industry experts during a recent judging session in Los Angeles.
The Creativity and Innovation Award was conceived to recognize companies and individuals that have developed workflows and processes or other technical innovations to support creative storytelling.
The award honor will be presented at the 10th annual HPA Awards at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, Calif., Nov. 12
Digital Center 2, at its launch, was widely considered to be the first large-scale, IP-based production facility of its kind in the world. The jury felt that ESPN’s entry represented technical innovation in the IP-based production, postproduction and broadcast space, noting that the entry showed vision and leadership by deploying a framework that others could, and likely will, follow.
“ESPN is a content company at heart. But if content is our heart, technology is our mind. The two will always be inextricably linked,” said Aaron LaBerge, executive vice president and chief technology officer for ESPN. “Our ability to use technology to create, enhance and distribute content has been, and continues to be, one of our key advantages. It enables us to fulfill our most basic mission: To serve sports fans. Anytime. Anywhere. Digital Center 2 is the physical and philosophical embodiment of that premise, and a reflection of the many amazing people that made it a reality.”
