Happenings in our Orbit: "Existential" Content Security Issue; Academy's Expanded AI Rules
News and events include updates on the proposed California postproduction tax credit bill, NAB, VES' new VFX Guide, and photos from the SciTech Awards.
Is Your Content Secure in the AI Age?
SMPTE’s Hollywood Section put current security threats and trends under the microscope during an April 30 Section meeting at The Switch @ Victory. The program, titled “Content Protection: Addressing Authenticity, Trusted Workflows and Security Best Practices,” included a look at a new report from the Motion Picture Association’s content security arm, Trusted Partner Network (TPN); new SMPTE standard Open-Source Control Protocol (Catena), and an update on the nonprofit Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA).
Marc Zorn, SMPTE Governor for the Hollywood Region and moderator, kicked of the session, discussing the changing nature of security, including implications of generative AI’s evolution, including its ability to create AI-characters. “It’s changing the game,” he said, noting it’s “much harder to discern what’s authentic” and emphasizing the need for tools for protection of likenesses and digital content.
TPN president Terri Davies introduced TPN’s newly-released Security Trends Analysis Report, an industry study to analyze large-scale security assessment data and track how cyber risks are evolving across the global content supply chain ( full report).
The findings suggest that while most organizations have foundational policies in place, inconsistent day-to-day execution of technical controls is creating systemic and exploitable risk. According to the report, in the first quarter of 2026, TPN issued more Security Alerts than in all of 2025, reflecting a sharp increase in credential-based attacks, misconfigurations, and exploitation of un-remediated vulnerabilities. “This is existential, in my opinion,” Davies said.
“The TPN STAR Report highlights a persistent disconnect between perceived security and actual operational performance,” she reported in this week’s announcement. “Organizations routinely overestimate that their controls are effective, especially those that require continuous attention, technical rigor, and operational ownership. Recent technological advances only heighten the urgency to address these gaps before they are exploited.”
Ross Video’s Chris Lennon presented one of SMPTE’s newest standards, ST 2138, a suite of standards informally known as Catena that aims to define a unified, open, secure, and vendor-agnostic control plane for workflows. Lennon reported that Catena is open-source software that is “AI-ready” and mulitligual. A plugfest is in the plans (more on Catena can be found here)
The Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, or C2PA, provides an open technical standard for publishers, creators and consumers to establish the origin and edits of digital content.
EZDRM’s Olga Kornienko provided an overview of C2PA—founded by Adobe, Microsoft and Google—and its open system for putting a sort of “digital signature” on content to certify it as authentic and confirming that it wasn’t tampered with. She urged vendors to support this system in their technology.
Marc Zorn at the SMPTE meeting
Academy Expands Oscars Rule on AI Use
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors has approved rules and regulations for the 99th Academy Awards, including an expansion of its AI guidance.
Under Eligibility regarding Generative AI, the Academy now reserves the right to request more information about the nature of the use and human authorship, the Academy announced on Friday.
In the craft categories, several additional revisions were announced. Among them, in the Cinematography category, the preliminary voting round will produce a shortlist of 20 films rather than 10-20. And in the VFX category, all Academy members must view the three-minute before and after reels from the VFX Bake-Off to be eligible to vote in the final round.
The complete 99th Academy Awards rules, inclusion standards and campaign promotional regulations can be found here.
NAB Show
The NAB Show was held April 18-22 in Las Vegas, which, according to NAB, attracted an estimated 48,000 attendees, with roughly 48% being first timers. You can find Carolyn Giardina’s NAB coverage for the film editing community on American Cinema Editors web site.
American Cinema Editors president Sabrina Plisco and Oscar-winning editor Andy Jurgensen at Avid’s NAB booth. Photo credit: Peter Zakhary / Tilt Photo
HBA’s NAB get together at Nine Fine Irishman in the New York, New York hotel.
Update: California Postproduction Tax Incentive Bill
AB 2319, California’s standalone post-production tax incentive bill, has passed in the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation and is heading to Appropriations. The California Post Alliance, the bill’s sponsor, along with Motion Pictures Editors Guild is urging stakeholders in California’s post community to send the California Legislature a letter of support. You can learn about the effort on CAPA’s web site. For more, here’s some of The Creative + Tech Orbit’s coverage of the initiative.
SciTech Awards
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented its annual Scientific and Technical Awards on April 28 at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, where 14 achievements representing the work of 27 individuals were feted during a gala celebration. Photos follow, and you can find The Creative + Tech Orbit’s coverage here.
Paul Debevec and Tia Carrere. Photo: Trae Patton / The Academy ©A.M.P.A.S.
Awards Committee co-chair Rachel Rose , Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor, host Sofia Carson, Academy CEO Bill Kramer, and Awards Committee co-chair Darin Grant. Photo: Trae Patton / The Academy ©A.M.P.A.S.
SciTech Awards dinner and reception, held in the Museum’s Sidney Poitier Grand Lobby and Fanny’s restaurant.
VES releases On-Set VFX Data Collection and Usage Guide
The Visual Effects Society released its online VES On-Set VFX Data Collection and Usage Guide, developed over the past year by the VES Technology Committee.
The Guide was designed to establish a common language between on‑set VFX, production, VFX facilities, and technology teams, aimed at enabling clearer communication, smoother handoffs, and better-aligned expectations across departments. “Our intent with this Guide is to streamline the filmmaking process by enabling every department to be more well-informed,” said Sheena Duggal, the Guide’s lead author and member of the Technology Committee.
Contributors include Jim Geduldick, Sam Richards and Jake Morrison, with technical support from Jean-Francois Panisset. The guild can be viewed here; and VES will host a related May 12 webinar (details can be found here.)