HPA Awards announced that Sphere, the next-generation entertainment medium that recently opened in Las Vegas, has been awarded the Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation for the year 2023.

The HPA Awards committee announced that Sphere has been awarded the esteemed Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation for the year 2023. This prestigious accolade will be presented to the Sphere Entertainment Co. team during the HPA Awards gala on November 28 at the Television Academy’s Wolf Theater in Los Angeles. The Sphere Experience is a new genre of live entertainment that will transform the shared experience and put Sphere’s 22nd century immersive technologies on full display.

The remarkable journey of Sphere commenced with the residency of the iconic band U2, featuring U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere, a spectacular showcase blending their live performance with captivating visual elements. The first film ever created for Sphere, Darren Aronofsky’s “Postcard from Earth,” debuted as part of The Sphere Experience, a two-part multisensory journey that marks an inventive approach to content creation and storytelling.

U2 is returning to the Sphere for 11 new shows added in January & February 2024. Acknowledged as the best live act in the world, U2 have always – since their earliest days – consistently pushed the boundaries of live performance, with ground-breaking stage shows that embrace the latest in technology and innovation. Bono, The Edge and Adam said, “U2 hasn’t played live since December 2019 and we need to get back on stage and see the faces of our fans again. And what a unique stage they’re building for us out there in the desert… We’re the right band, ACHTUNG BABY the right album, and Sphere the right venue to take the live experience of music to the next level […] Sphere is more than just a venue, it’s a gallery and U2’s music is going to be all over the walls.”

Multi-sensory cinematic experience

Darren Aronofsky’s “Postcard from Earth,”, which debuted as part of The Sphere Experience, Postcard from Earth is, according to the filmmaker, “a sci-fi journey deep into our future as our descendants reflect on our shared home.” The Sphere Experience is a two-part program that begins when you enter the venue. The approximately two-hour experience begins in the Atrium, where, through one-of-a-kind immersive technology experiences created specifically for Sphere, guests will gain a better understanding of how technology amplifies our human potential. The Sphere Experience then continues in the main venue bowl for the muti-sensory cinematic experience provided by Darren Aronofsky’s Postcard from Earth.

The Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation stands as a tribute to companies and individuals who exhibit outstanding contributions in the realm of creative storytelling and technical innovation. It’s a distinction not awarded annually but is rather bestowed upon groundbreaking work, at discretion of the jury. Previous recipients of the HPA Award for Creativity and Innovation include Peter Jackson for They Shall Not Grow Old, NASA and AWS for the first live broadcast from space, the Together at Home broadcast held during the pandemic, David France and Ryan Laney for the groundbreaking use of technologies in Welcome to Chechnya and other groundbreaking work in media and entertainment.

This year’s jury, co-chaired by Carolyn Giardina and Joachim Zell, also included esteemed members Paul Debevec, Jay Holben, Joanne Kim and Karen Raz.The Award for Creativity and Innovation for the year 2023 now announced by the HPA Awards committee honours the “unprecedented technology and visionary design that is reshaping the entertainment experience.” The jury issued a statement outlining their choice:

“The Jury selected the pioneers behind Sphere—the venue and its related production technologies and workflow—which introduced an exhilarating new type of immersive entertainment and shared audience experience. Now the world’s largest spherical structure, the ambitious new venue includes a 580,000 square foot Exosphere, a 16K wraparound interior LED display spanning 160,000 square feet and a cutting-edge beamforming sound system. As such, new technology and bespoke workflows had to be developed in order to create and display Sphere content. Its debut U2 concert and The Sphere Experience featuring Darren Aronofsky’s “Postcard from Earth” – both of which are venue-specific – demonstrate its creative potential.”

David Dibble, CEO of MSG Ventures, a division of Sphere Entertainment focused on developing advanced technologies for live entertainment, said:

“Every aspect of Sphere – from the technology we created to capture content to how we tell stories in this new, multi-sensory venue – is a giant leap forward, and we are excited by the extraordinary possibilities this new medium offers. The entire Sphere team is honored to accept this award from HPA, and we look forward to continuing to push our industry forward through the innovative work we are doing at Sphere.”

World’s most advanced concert-grade audio system

In fact, Sphere marks a revolutionary leap in the realm of entertainment, seamlessly integrating technology to create extraordinary experiences that take storytelling to a new level and transport audiences to new places. The venue offers multi-sensory immersive experiences across film, concerts, and marquee events. To create these exclusive experiences, the in-house immersive content studio, Sphere Studios, develops and uses proprietary and cutting-edge technology and tools.

As the world’s largest spherical structure, Sphere stands at an impressive 366 feet tall and 516 feet wide, and, with 17,600 seats, enables audiences to share immersive experiences at a never-before-seen scale. Sphere is powered by bespoke technologies that ignite the senses. This includes its interior LED display – which at 16K x 16k resolution is the world’s highest resolution LED screen. The screen wraps up, over and around the audience to create a fully immersive visual environment. To capture the stunning images and video required for this unique canvas, the team at Sphere Studios developed Big Sky, a groundbreaking ultra-high-resolution camera system and custom content creation tool, capable of capturing incredibly detailed, large-format images. In addition, the venue’s immersive sound system, Sphere Immersive Sound powered by HOLOPLOT, is the world’s most advanced concert-grade audio system, ensuring crystal-clear, individualized sound within its unique curved design.

Sphere’s technological marvels also extend to its exterior, the Exosphere, which features 580,000 square feet of fully programmable LED panels capable of displaying a myriad of visuals, from an eye to the surface of Mars. The Sphere combines some centuries old mathematical formulas and some very 22nd century engineering and technology that made its construction possible. The exterior has made Sphere a new landmark on the Las Vegas skyline, now widely recognized around the globe.

Tickets for the HPA Awards gala event, now scheduled for November 28 at the Television Academy’s Wolf Theater in North Hollywood, CA, are available at hpaonline.com.

The HPA Awards are made possible through the generous support of diamond title sponsor Blackmagic Design; event sponsors Deluxe, FotoKem, and Pixelogic; supporting sponsors Adobe, AVID, Colorist Society, Sohonet and The Sound Lab a Keywords Studio; and dessert sponsors Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services Worldwide and Xytech.