The twice-annual celebration of Hollywood advances and thought leaders, Digital Hollywood will once again steal the show from October 10-12, 2017 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, California. The most esteemed names of Hollywood studios and their technical counterparts gather together in sessions to share ideas, trade lessons learned and engage audiences with innovations emerging from the rapidly-transforming production and tech industries.
Co-founders from among the region’s top VR companies–including Matthew Celia and Robert Watts, Co-Founders and Managing Partners of Light Sail VR, and Craig S. Phillips, Creative Director and Co-Owner of SunnyBoy Entertainment–will break down the future of the VR industry and explore its vast potential for Hollywood production and beyond. As new innovations surrounding VR grips Silicon Beach, the medium’s impact and advantages within entertainment, commercial production and other content creation sectors can no longer be ignored. These three industry thought leaders will guide audiences through success stories in VR in production up to now, and share their insider visions for the future.
Read on to see where and when you can catch our VR session picks for Digital Hollywood Fall 2017:
360 Video and VR/AR – Content and Advertising – A Cross-Platform Experience
Tuesday, October 10th, 2017
3:45 PM – 5:00 PM
Track II: Herscher Hall, 2nd Floor, Room 202
Mark Netter, Vice President, Strategy, REVOLVE Agency
Brian Cavallaro, Chief Creative Officer, MANDT VR
Andy Robbins, COO and Partner, bpg
Matt Doell, Creative Director, Madison + Vine
John Montgomery, Chief Creative Officer, R&R Partners
Craig S. Phillips, Creative Director and Co-Owner of SunnyBoy Entertainment
Lawrence Jones, VP of Business and Content Development, The Future Group
Ted Cohen, Managing Partner, TAG Strategic llc, Moderator
Craig S. Phillips, Creative Director and Co-Owner of SunnyBoy Entertainment: Craig S. Phillips is a creative director and co-owner of SunnyBoy Entertainment a full-service creative studio specializing in a new era of entertainment. He is a member of an Emmy-nominated writing duo alongside his business partner Harold Hayes Jr. Phillips leverages his artistic dexterity to evolve his creative offerings to accommodate the growing content marketplace. Most recently he put his creative efforts into the emerging VR and AR medium and has directed high-profile VR experiences for top film franchises including IT: Float – A Cinematic VR Experience Annabelle: Creation – Bee’s Room The Conjuring 2: Experience Enfield among other upcoming content. SunnyBoy Entertainment has emerged as a leader in VR and AR and is generating high-end cinematic experiences for the Hollywood studios as well as upcoming original content. Beyond immersive content, Phillips has created branded content for major studios and concert visuals for artists such as Deadmau5 J. Cole Glitch Mob and original animated series for Defy Media. Phillips has received multiple Emmy nominations for his writing on R.L. Stine’s Haunting Hour and developed series for Amazon Studios Nickelodeon and more.
VR-AR/MR ThinkTank – The Deep Dive – Creative – Visionary Experiential Content and Technology
Thursday, October 12th, 2017
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM – The VR – AR – Immersive Track
Session II: Herscher Hall, Guerin A, Live Webcast from this Room
Justin Molinari, CTO, Otherworld Interactive
Edward Button, Award Winning Director of Photography and Director
Alejandro Dinsmore, CEO, EEVO
Seth Skolnik, COO, Live Planet
Bastiaan den Braber, President / COO, SAMO
Robert Watts, Co-founder and Executive Producer, Light Sail VR
Ben Mendelson, co-founder and president, Interactive Television Alliance, Moderator
Robert Watts, Managing Partner and Executive Producer, Light Sail VR: An early adopter of the evolving VR medium and innovator in multiple sectors of the entertainment industry, Robert applies over 10 years of diverse experience spanning the agency, management and content development sides of the industry to his role. His ability to master the art of creating and selling intellectual property and assess business and creative needs in today’s marketplace has attracted a roster of top clients including Google, GoPro, Paramount Pictures, among many others. With a degree in Film from Chapman University, the cinematic storytelling-devotee leverages his wide spectrum of creative and operational capabilities in the mixed reality, 360 and VR space, to create premium-level narratives and characters that engage audiences and fulfill client needs. Watts began his career at William Morris Agency and post-merger at WME Entertainment, working in every major department including gaming, corporate consulting, commercials and motion-picture talent. Prior to launching Light Sail VR, Watts served as the Head of Digital, New Media and Unscripted/Reality departments at Heroes and Villains Entertainment, a Hollywood-based trans-media management and production company.
Innovating in VR-AR-Immersive Production – The Amazing Journey of Imagination, Gear and Innovation
Thursday, October 12th, 2017
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Session I: Herscher Hall, Guerin A, Live Webcast from this Room
Daniel Kenyon, Founder/CEO, Furious M
Ryan Moore, CEO, Experience 360°
Keram Malicki Sanchez, Executive Director, VRTO Virtual & Augmented Reality World Conference & Expo (Toronto), Director, FIVARS
Matthew Celia, Managing Partner and Creative Director, Light Sail VR
Amanda Shelby, VR Producer, (Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Red Carpet Show, Obama’s Farewell Address, Hyundai SB 2017 Commerical
BJ Schwartz, co-founder, Vanishing Point Media
Jessie Kim, CEO, Prosper VR
Larry Rosenthal, President, Creative Director, CubeVR, Moderator
Matthew Celia, Managing Partner and Creative Director, Light Sail VR: Matthew Celia is a creative visionary with over a decade of experience spanning technology, film production and entrepreneurial endeavors. Celia fuses his knack for crafting authentic narratives and technical prowess across all sectors of VR production to create compelling cinematic storytelling. His work has amplified the impact of immersive content for such top brands as GoPro, the Soma Fashion Network, Dr. Phil and Google Small Business, among others. Celia studied Film Production at Chapman University, but discovered a predictive passion for VR during his grade school years by recreating Shakespeare’s Globe Theater into an interactive 3D Quicktime experience. His diverse skillset and enterprising drive fueled a rapid break into the industry, helming projects for top clients including Warner Bros., NBC and Chevrolet, before launching Light Sail VR in 2015. Celia has also directed a feature-length documentary, “Off the Floor,” which experienced a successful festival run in the United States. Celia’s previous speaking engagements include NAB 2017, where he provided insight on strategic filmmaking techniques in VR as well as the craft behind storytelling in VR. He also spoke at Adobe MAX 2016: Narrative VR, VRLA Summer Expo 2016: Cinematic VR for Content Creators, The VR Lab at LumaForge: Art and Technology Involved in Storytelling in VR, Respect the Process Podcast: Future of VR, among numerous other speaking engagements.
Read about the entire Digital Hollywood event HERE.