Wednesday, November 13th, 2019

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM - Immersive Hollywood: VR – AR - MR

Session I: Herscher Hall, 3rd Floor, Room 303-304

Exploring the Language and Artistry of VR-MR-AR in the Cinematic Experience

Dane Smith, Vice President, THE THIRD FLOOR, INC.

Jerri Lynn Hogg PhD., Director, Media Psychology Graduate Program, Fielding Graduate University

Andrew Shulkind, Director of Content Innovation & Creative Technologies, The Madison Square Garden Company, Sphere

Johannes Saam, Senior Creative Developer, Framestore

Kalan Ray, Development Supervisor, Magnopus & co-founder, VKTRY Creative Studios

Stephen Powers, COO, Wisdome.LA

Anna Marie Piersimoni, Instructor, Department of Cinema and Television Arts, California State University, Northridge, Moderator

Jerri Lynn Hogg is a media psychologist, director of the Media Psychology program at Fielding Graduate University, 2015 President of the American Psychological Association’s Society for Media Psychology and Technology, co-creator of Fielding’s Certificate in Brand Psychology and Audience Engagement ,

and co-author of Mad Men Unzipped. She integrates her passion for branding, augmented/virtual reality, technology, and digital environments with research to advance the understanding of the positive use of media and technologies and their physical, cognitive, and emotional impact. Dr. Hogg is a coveted industry speaker and with over 50 scholarly presentations on media psychology, is a pioneer in the field of Media Psychology.  She recently spent six months working with the U.S. Department of Defense Global Operations on an anti-terrorism simulation using narrative psychology to degrade and counter terrorist messaging in Iraq, Syria, and North Africa. Her current focus is on brand psychology strategies; augmented environment design solutions; and narrative messaging for positive change. She was recently a judge for the annual SoMe Awards (Social Media). You can find her on Twitter @HoggJL. She also authors a blog forPsychologyToday.com called “The Digital Life.”

Dane Smith, Vice President, THE THIRD FLOOR, INC.: 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.

Johannes Saam, Senior Creative Developer, Framestore: Senior Creative Developer Johannes Saam took an early interest in 3D, teaching himself key skills at a young age. He got his start self-taught then studied at ScanlineVFX in Munich, and after earning a Masters in Computer Animation from Bournemouth University, worked in Visual Effects for 12 years. He has worked on feature films including Legend of the Guardians, Mad Max 4, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and Prometheus. Since joining Framestore, Johannes has worked on a wide variety of projects in emerging technology for high profile partners including Time Inc, BMW, CarFax, Facebook, and Dreamscape. Among his many achievements and honors, Johannes holds a Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his development, prototyping, and promotion of technologies and workflows for deep compositing; six SIGGRAPH showcases; and three Animago Awards. Beyond his numerous awards, Johannes has spoken at a variety of events, most recently SXSW, Digital Hollywood, and GDC.

Kalan Ray is the Development Supervisor at Magnopus and co-founder of VKTRY Creative Studios: He is an animator, programmer, and designer whose work has contributed to the Emmy-Nominated interactive experience Mission:ISS, as well as Pixar’s Coco VR, Blade Runner 2049: Memory Lab, Martin Scorsese's The Audition, and an upcoming global VR news platform. An expert in rapid prototyping and previsualization, Kalan has supervised and creatively contributed to development in feature films, television, commercials, music videos, theme park rides, video games, and VR experiences. His film credits include The Jungle Book, Fantastic4, Star Trek: Beyond, at many prestigious visual effects companies, including DreamWorks, Pixomondo, and Bad Robot. A California native, Kalan was born and raised in Barstow, and holds a degree in Linguistics from the University of California at Long Beach.

Andrew Shulkind, Director of Content Innovation & Creative Technologies, The Madison Square Garden Company, Sphere: Andrew Shulkind is one Hollywood’s leading voices on the future of entertainment. Building on an award-winning career as a cinematographer of films, television, and advertising, Andrew has a decade of work for the Superbowl and other projects under his belt garnering over 1 billion online views. He has co-founded three technology startups centered around immersive imaging, artificial intelligence, and the future of audience engagement. Andrew is a unique executive who understands both the value proposition of an IP-centric entertainment economy and the technical intricacies of what it takes to actually make a valuable piece of content. His pedigree for quality sets the bar for a sustainable future of premium experiences, merging only the best of what has worked before and trailblazing new systems for extraordinary efficiency. Andrew also serves as an innovation advisor for many of the leading technology corporations and content studios, speaking globally on how to mate creativity with products to connect to a connected audience.

Stephen Powers is COO of Wisdome Immersive Art Park, which recently opened in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District. Educated at MIT, Powers is a successful entrepreneur, chief executive, Grammy-winning music producer, Emmy-nominated TV producer, Nautilus-winning book publisher, audio manufacturer, technologist, board director, consultant, and conscious business leader who combines his cross-disciplinary experience to create and present innovative, VR, AR and immersive, media experiences at Wisdome.LA. Wisdome and its affiliated companies, incl. 360 Dome Pro, Fulldome.Pro, and 360 Art have produced more than fifty 360º immersive films including the award-winning Samskara with visionary artist, Android Jones.  As one of the leading, global geodesic dome exhibition companies, Fulldome and 360 Dome have completed more than 500 dome installations in more than 50 countries worldwide, including domes at Coachella, the Super Bowl, the World Cup in Russia, Burning Man, Panorama Festival and other permanent and pop-up activations. Wisdome is a virtual reality experience without glasses or goggles that allows for social interaction and community building.  Hollywood producers, celebrities, musicians and artists, including some of the biggest names in show business, have all discovered Wisdome.LA in its first few months and asked to participate. The park has been an instant hit on social media, drawing large crowds from across multiple demographics, proving the business viability of immersive entertainment.  The company is now developing plans to open Wisdome parks in multiple cities. Prior to Wisdome, Stephen Powers served as CEO of Bodhi Tree, Co-Founder & CEO of Agape Media; Director of A&R at Capitol Records; Chief of Platform Expansion for Thrive Market, President of Miller & Kreisel Sound; Co-Founder & CEO of Drive Entertainment (dist. by Universal Music); Founder & President of Chameleon Music Group (dist. by Capitol-EMI); President of Theatricum Botanicum; Director of Entertainment for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics; Founder & President of Mountain Railroad Records; and Founder & Executive Director of Charlotte’s Web for the Performing Arts. His creative credits include work as record producer, film producer, NPR radio host, television writer and producer, and TV host. As a record producer and A&R exec, Powers has scored four #1 pop hits and earned numerous Gold and Platinum awards, including the Grammy-winning, multi-million seller, The Healer by John Lee Hooker featuring Bonnie Raitt and Carlos Santana, which he released on his Chameleon Records label. Producing his first record at the age of 21, Powers is a life-long member of The Recording Academy and credited with production of more than 150 albums and soundtracks by such world-renowned artists as Tina Turner, The Beach Boys, will.i.am, Duran Duran, Queen, George Clinton, Joe Cocker, Devo, Bryan Ferry, Steve Goodman, and Ms. Magazine's Woman Of the Year, Holly Near. Other recognition includes Producer of the Year, Music Executive of the Year, Independent Label of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award, and an Emmy nomination for his PBS special Swing Alive starring Bob Hope, Sheena Easton, Patty Andrews and Brian Setzer. With his life-long passion for positive social impact, Powers partnered with acclaimed spiritual leader, Michael Bernard Beckwith and Oscar-winning filmmaker Mark R. Harris ("Crash”) as Co-Founder and CEO of Agape Media International (AMI)—dedicated to creating transformative content that uplifts the human spirit. He served as Marketing Chair for the mega-hit DVD and book, The Secret, resulting in 26 million units sold.  Agape is the nations largest, non-denominational center for spiritual living. Powers lives in Topanga, CA with his wife and three children.  His passions include organic gardening, music, hiking, and community service.

Anna Marie Piersimoni specializes in the creation and marketing of media content across a broad range of digital platforms. She is currently instructor of the course, New Directions in Electronic (Digital) Media at California State University, Northridge. Previously, as Director of Internet Communications for the American Film Institute (AFI) in Los Angeles, she managed institutional web sites and blogs, as well as e-news and online marketing campaigns. At AFI, she was a founding Director of AFI’s Digital Content Lab, an acclaimed R&D program for the production of interactive digital media and also managed development of the Institute’s K-12 Screen Education program. A former producer with Los Angeles public television station, KCET, she supervised web content development and social media for a companion website to the Emmy award-winning KCETLink program, “Your Turn to Care” and for a PBS series on America's food rebels, "Food Forward," winner of a James Beard media award. A regular speaker at industry events, such as Digital Hollywood, she began her career as a film and video artist and later, as a writer/producer of video content and on-air promotions, working for ABC Entertainment, E! Entertainment, and KCET Television, among others. She holds a BFA from the Hartford Art School, University of Hartford in Connecticut and is a candidate for a Master’s degree in Media Psychology through Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, CA.