Citation for Outstanding Service to the Society

The Citation for Outstanding Service to the Society recognizes individuals for dedicated service to the Society over a sustained period of time.

In recognition of his contributions in his role as Membership Director, including his diligence in creating the SMPTE Discord channel, which enables communication and collaboration among more than 250 students and young professionals worldwide. He continues to serve as the channel admin and provides technical expertise when needed. Lapp is also passionate about growing membership and enhancing member benefits and has been a champion for providing the Sections with the necessary technology to allow their programs to be shared with the local members and worldwide.

Prof. Franz Kraus joined ARRI in 1983 as Technical Director for a newly started Postproduction facility. Numerous technical and management positions followed. In 1996 he took over the responsibility for R&D, comprising of Camera-, DI- and Lighting- Businesses. From 2001 until his retirement in 2018 he became Member of the Executive Board of the then found ARRI AG with the responsibilities for Technology and ww Services. Under his leadership, ARRI received nine awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for outstanding technical achievements, including the development of the ARRILASER film recorder system and the ALEXA digital camera system. In 2012, Franz Kraus was personally honored with an Academy Award of Merit, an Oscar statuette. In 2004, he was appointed Honorary Professor and Head of the Technology Department at the University of Television and Film (HFF) in Munich. Meanwhile, he became Head of the Camera Department. In addition, Franz Kraus was appointed curator at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (ISS) and the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI). He is also member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science (A.M.P.A.S.), member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and Member of the German Society of Cinematographers (BVK). Before joining ARRI, Franz Kraus was for seven years with the Heinrich Hertz Research Institute (HHI) in Berlin working on storage- and telecom solutions for interactive audio-visual communication. He continued his work as visiting scientist at Bell Lab´s in Holmdel, US. After receiving his engineering degree in telecommunications in Regensburg, Germany, he started his career as a design engineer at Rohde & Schwarz. Since his retirement from the executive board in 2018 Franz Kraus served as member of the supervisory board and still acts as an advisor for ARRI.