The Digital Hollywood Experience

The Digital Hollywood Experience

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across her projects, which include defining a growth strategy for a multi-platform content company, identifying strategic partners for a location-based virtual reality company, developing a piracy forecasting model  for a major studio and  guiding a consumer products company’s digital transformation. Mary graduated with a dual degree in Computer Science and Business Administration from the University of Southern California, where she worked as a research assistant and programmer in the USC Robotics Research Lab.

Julina Tatlock founded 30 Ninjas with Doug Liman in 2009. Julina is the Executive Producer and Episode 3 director of the six-part VR mini-series, Invisible. Julina's recent work as a transmedia writer/producer includes: Tom Cruise’s Edge of Tomorrow, I Am Number Four: They Walk Among Us –– interactive short story (Harper Collins),Hashtag Killer and The Social Sector –– interactive Psych episodes (USA Network), Suits Recruits 1, 2, and 3 — interactive Suits episodes (USA Network), interactive video episodes: Sights Unseen: A Covert Affairs Prequel and Mission Budapest (USA Network), a Covert Affairs Tweetcast (a Covert Affairs Episode told over Twitter). Tatlock’s Awards and Nominations include: Two Shorty Awards, three Emmy Nominations (Outstanding Original Interactive Programming and Outstanding Work in Long Form Investigative Journalism), one SXSW Nomination (Best Interactive Film/TV Campaign), one TV of Tomorrow Award (Most Most Significant Content Offering), winner of Gracie Award for Outstanding Documentary, both the Grand Prize and Best Mixed Media Award at the World Internet Animation Festival, and was nominated for Best Animation Award at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.

Camille Kanengiser is a Co-Founder and the CCO of Freeform Labs, an augmented and virtual reality company inspiring creativity, mastery, and exploration through interactive immersive experiences. She leads the creative and visual direction of all titles, including the company's flagship world-creation game, ElemenTerra. ElemenTerra has won recognitions from Indiecade and VRLA's Proto Awards; it has recently been financed by Starbreeze Studios. Camille also contributes to Freeform's development of tools for artists and designers. She is passionate about interactive VR design, and is an active member of various fully-inclusive, women-friendly tech groups in Los Angeles, including SH//FT, Incubate USC, and the Global Shapers. Camille is a graduate of USC’s Cinema Animation School, as well as its Interactive Media Bridge program and other USC incubators.

Christina Heller is the CEO and Co-Founder of VR Playhouse, a creative studio and full service virtual reality production company.  VRP's interactive 360/CGI narrative, "The Surrogate," was nominated for the Innovation Award at SXSW 2016, and was one of 15 projects produced by the company in 2015. She is on the board of Directors for SH//FT, a VR non-profit devoted to promoting diversity in virtual reality. Christina started at 88.9FM Boston, producing and hosting a weekly politics show which won Associated Press Awards for the two years under her leadership. She moved to television by producing, shooting, and hosting "My Voice"​, another politics program broadcast into 9 million homes. She covered the 2008 presidential election for both MyTV New England and Al Gore's Current TV, and was featured on Good Morning America as a commentator on the Millennial impact on politics. She directed and produced two feature documentaries, Libertopia and Reversing the Mississippi. Libertopia was featured on FOX Business, Huffington Post, and NHPR. Reversing The Mississippi premiered PBS's "America Reframed" in April 2016. VR Playhouse was founded in July 2014.

Jody Belliveau, Director of Product Development, WEVR: With over a decade leading product development in premium entertainment, Jody defined the interactive television medium for companies like The Discovery Channel and Starz. Most recently, after spending 5 years at Disney launching several of their direct-to-consumer, movie streaming apps (Disney Movies Online, and Disney Movies Anywhere), Jody made the leap into virtual reality. She joined Wevr in the fall of 2015 as Director of Product Development, building out the Wevr Transport platform.

Jenn Duong is the Director of Virtual Reality at 1215creative, a creative agency and studio, and the Co-Founder of SH//FT, a non-profit that works with VR industry leaders to provide and sponsor opportunities for underrepresented groups.  As the Director of Virtual Reality at 1215creative, Jenn oversees all virtual reality production, post production, and works with partners to explore creative VR concepts. Jenn’s passion for virtual reality steams from her background in theatre, film and love for storytelling. Prior to working at 1215creative, Jenn has worked at RYOT, KoomVR, and she still occasionally contributes to UploadVR. Jenn is also always ready to talk VR, Game of Thrones, and of course, Taylor Swift.

Taryn Southern is a writer, producer, digital strategist, and internet personality whose videos have received more than 700 million views online and been featured in Vanity Fair, People, Forbes, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Adweek, and more. A former host/producer for shows on MTV, G4, Vh1, Discovery Channel, and Sirius XM, Taryn launched Happy Cat Media, a digital-first production and consulting company, in 2013. Focused on bridging the gap between traditional media production value and influencer-centric millennial storytelling, Happy Cat Media has advised and produced digital campaigns and series for The Today Show, Conde Nast, Marriott, MovieTickets.com, Maker Studios, Vimeo Originals, Digital Riot, Focus Features, Plenty of Fish, YouTube CIP, and more. Taryn serves an active advisor to Tubular Labs and the YouTube Creator Board, where she provides critical feedback and testing for Google product teams, and is a guest speaker on digital media at USC and Columbia College.

Thursday, May 5th, 2016

10:15 AM – 11:15 AM

Session II: Ahmanson Hall

Women in Virtual Reality and Immersive Entertainment: Experiencing New Dimensions and Creative Experience

Mary Ermitanio, Consulting Manager, Manatt Digital Media

Christina Heller, CEO & Co-founder, VR Playhouse

Julina Tatlock, CEO & Creative Director, 30 Ninjas

Camille Kanengiser, CoFounder & CCO, Freeform Labs

Jody Belliveau, Director of Product Development, WEVR

Jenn Duong, Director of Virtual Reality, 1215creative

Taryn Southern, Producer, Actor and YouTube Personality, Moderator

Mary Ermitanio is a consulting manager for Manatt Digital Media, an integrated business advisory, legal services and venture capital firm. Mary helps digital media, technology and emerging growth companies define strategies for M&A and investments, content monetization and customer acquisition and supports business development initiatives. She continuously monitors developments and meets with various companies in the virtual reality and emerging technology space to help her clients navigate and execute new ventures and partnerships. Previously, Mary worked with the major studios to provide insights that helped inform their marketing strategies and product development decisions through analytics in social media, mobile and web. She has worked with multiple clients on both sides of the disruption, helping startups accelerate growth and established companies innovate. Data analytics has been an underlying current