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SMPTE Foundation


The SMPTE Foundation was formed in 2001 as a separate tax exempt 501c entity operating under the auspices of its parent organization, The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. SMPTE, founded in 1916 to develop standards in the burgeoning motion picture industry, has had a long history of service to the motion imaging community through standards activity, education, promotion of engineering and scientific activity, dissemination of information and communications in these fields, and networking and career development through its membership and sectional organizational structure.

The SMPTE Foundation is a strategic, long-range structure formed to allow SMPTE to separate its developmental activities (primarily educational) from its other exempt activities. While both SMPTE and the Foundation will engage in the educational, charitable, and scientific advancement of motion imaging, SMPTE will focus on the immediate and near-term state of motion imaging while the Foundation will take over the long-term investment in the art and science of motion imaging by focusing on these general areas of interest:
  • Education and Training
  • Engineering and Scientific advancement in motion imaging
  • Discourse and information exchange (communications, conferences, publication, and research)
  • Strategic creative collaboration
  • Long term membership development and involvement
  • Promotion of general interest and appreciation of motion imaging and engineering and the impact of technology on motion imaging arts and sciences.