Wednesday, October 17, 2018

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM – Immersive Hollywood: VR – AR - MR

Session I: Haas Conference Center, Room 172 & 173

The Immersive Media Think Tank: VR-AR-MR - The Expanding Vision of an Industry

Dane Smith, Global Head of Business Development, THE THIRD FLOOR, INC.

Tim Dillon, Head of VR & Immersive Content, MPC

Jennifer Chavarria, Head of Studio, Kite and Lightning

Cary Granat, CEO, Immersive Artistry

Ethan Stearns, Executive Producer, MWM Immersive (Madison Wells Media)

Geoffrey Bund, Head of Business Development, Varjo

Steven Masur, Senior Partner, MG+, Moderator

Ethan Stearns serves as the Executive Producer at MWM Immersive (formerly Reality One), the innovative virtual reality and augmented reality division of MWM, a diversified entertainment media company focused on premium content creation in film, television, immersive media and live theater. With his background in feature production and technology coupled with his passion for interactive entertainment Stearns is one of the foremost experts in the field of Virtual Reality and sits on the VR advisory boards of both GDC and VDR. In his role, Stearns oversees all of MWM’s immersive projects. Prior to joining MWM in 2017, Stearns served as the VP of Virtual Reality at Legendary Entertainment where he spearheaded a number of high-profile interactive cinematic experiences for both virtual and mixed reality. In 2014, Ethan produced

Legendary’s first cutting edge VR experience around the property Pacific Rim. He worked in close partnership with Oculus and filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro to put fans into the driver seat of a Jaeger. Impressed by its quality and success among fans at Comic Con, Samsung asked Ethan to produce a version to package with the launch of their first VR headset. The following year, Ethan partnered with Google producing two 360° video projects to support the launch of their second-generation Google Cardboard. One of the projects, “Skies of Azeroth”, was the first piece of publicly released content for Legendary’s “Warcraft” and received more than three million views within its first few days on YouTube and marked the official launch of Legendary’s Virtual Reality division. In 2016, Ethan began work with acclaimed director Alejandro G. Iñárritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki to produce the first ever Academy Award-winning VR project, “Carne y Arena”. The VR installation required over a year of physical production, digital development and sound design to bring the six and a half minute moment to life. In addition to overseeing the content production for the experience, Ethan also engineered the technology required for the physical installation. Using a motion capture volume and a customized Oculus Rift, “Carne y Arena” allows the user to explore a 2,500 square foot area with hyper realistic picture and audio while prototype low frequency subwoofers created the sensations of full body haptics. The project debuted to wide praise at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017 as the festivals first ever VR official selection and is currently installed at the Fondazione Prada in Milan, Italy and The Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Stearns innovative work continues to push the boundaries of content development, exposing existing and new audiences to the world of immersive entertainment.

Jennifer Chavarria, Head of Studio, Kite and Lightning: Jennifer Chavarria is a passionate individual that thrives on exploring new frontiers in the entertainment industry. As a Producer, Executive Producer, and Head of Production she has managed projects from development through delivery in the film, commercial, music video, live event, interactive, and experiential markets. Jennifer started her career producing and marketing original Live Entertainment IPs that headlined casino showrooms in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. This led to a role as a live segment-consulting producer collaborating on multiple televised award shows for Cossette Productions. As a post and VFX producer, she has worked on projects seen on NBC, FOX, ABC, Amazon, and HBO. Jennifer has also led numerous post and VFX teams to deliver work that has been nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Visual Effects, received two VMA Award wins for Best Editing and Video of the Year, and a MVPA Award win for Best Editing. As Head of Production of Mind Over Eye Studios, a content creation division of TEN: The Enthusiast Network, she was an integral part of growing and expanding the studio which distributes content to the largest automotive and outdoor enthusiast audience in the world. This past year she has joined the award-winning virtual reality studio, Kite and Lightning, as Head of Studio to launch a tournament style multiplayer VR game called “Bebylon Battle Royale.”

Dane Smith brings more than a decade of experience as a producer and innovator in visual effects and digital entertainment production to his role leading global business development and strategy at THE THIRD FLOOR.  Across his career, Dane has managed the delivery of over 100 studio and independent projects ranging from live-action and animated features to television series and emerging media platforms, including the motion pictures:  Deadpool, Warcraft, San Andreas, Star Trek Beyond, Transformers: Age of Extinction, The Amazing Spiderman and Looper. In television, he has worked on top episodic shows such as Star Trek: Enterprise, The Man in the High Castle and Game of Thrones. Dane was visual effects producer on the acclaimed stop-motion animated feature Anomalisa, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature Film, as well as Golden Globe and Annie Award nominations, in 2016.  Dane has also contributed to the evolution of 3D stereoscopic production and conversion with projects like Deepsea Challenge for James Cameron, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and 2 and Titanic. In 2015, he expanded his interests to virtual reality, producing VR-presented episodes of Stan Lee and Kapow Entertainment’s Cosmic Crusaders VR, and winning a 2017 Telly award in the process. In his spare time, he educates and inspires the next generation of digital Artists as a faculty member at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects and is an active member of BAFTA, VES and the Producers Guild of America.

Tim Dillon is Head of VR & Immersive Content at MPC, leading a group focused on the exploration of Original Content, Music, Arts, Causes, Advertising and Entertainment. Tim has been instrumental in the development and production of many notable projects including The last Goodbye (Tribeca Premiere, Venice), 'Heroes’ (Sundance 2017 Premiere), Legion Sessions (Comic-Con SD 2017), Night Night (Dark Corner Co-Production) Kygo 'Carry Me’ (Sony Music Playstation launch), The Nature Conservancy ‘This is Our Future’, Google TiltBrush, The Martian VR and Goosebumps VR. This new era for MPC's immersive projects began back in 2015 with projects for Chris Milk's U2 'Song for someone' and the horror fan favorite ‘Catatonic’. Tim is a vocal advocate for the experiential and immersive power of VR and MR and has spoken at events such as Sundance, SXSW, AICP, NAB, CES, Digital Hollywood, VR on the lot and many more.

Geoff Bund, Head of Business Development, North America at Varjo: Geoff Bund is currently heading the US operations of Varjo. Varjo is redefining reality by jumpstarting a new era in computing. Their hardware and software lets you seamlessly mix realities together, moving from the real world to an extended reality and into pure virtual reality – all in human-eye resolution. Varjo’s patented Bionic Display™ technology mimics the natural behavior of the human eye, with up to 70 times the resolution of any of today’s VR/AR devices. Before joining Varjo, Geoff has worked at the intersection of technology and content production in the entertainment industry. He led 3D camera teams on major motion pictures such as The Amazing Spiderman and Dawn of The Planet of The Apes and founded his own VR consultancy and production company. In 2015, Geoff started working as one of the first US employees on the Nokia OZO VR camera. He worked as part of both the product and content relations team leading and producing VR, MR and volumetric capture productions. Geoff also technically supervised the award-winning VR experience Argos File among numerous live VR productions including Dancing with The Stars, Austin City Limits, and Coachella. Geoff is passionate about converting cutting edge technologies into practical applications for the entertainment industry, helping end users take advantage of a new world of production tools, creative pursuits and media.

Steven Masur, Senior Partner, MG+: Steven Masur has over 22 years of experience advising emerging and established businesses on new opportunities and business challenges. He focuses his practice on corporate finance, M&A, intellectual property, entertainment, emerging businesses and strategic guidance. Steve has extensive experience in angel and venture capital finance, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and cross-border transactions in Europe and Asia. He is passionate about helping new businesses plan a path to success, and helping older businesses bridge the gap to new markets. Steve brings a unique mix of legal, business, and strategic experience to bear on client matters. He has counseled enterprise level clients including Shazam, Virgin Mobile, Liberty Media, Yamaha, Nielsen Buzzmetrics, Bob Vila and Conde Nast Publications in corporate, digital media, and new business matters. He has also helped emerging businesses in a wide variety of sectors, and is especially knowledgeable in media, entertainment, advertising, consumer products, food and technology, including mobile, games, digital music, social media, augmented and virtual reality, software and hardware. Steve has been recognized as a “Rising Star” and a “Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyers. He serves on a variety of corporate and nonprofit boards and industry associations, and lectures and writes about major issues in venture capital, emerging businesses, entertainment law, technology and corporate strategy.