Emma Needell is an independent writer/director. Her screenwriting skills caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey, who came on to produce her script, The Water Man when Needell was 24 years old. She also completed a short film, Life Rendered, using Unreal Engine and motion capture virtual production techniques which played at the Tribeca Film festival.
Disguise is a creative platform powering major live entertainment from Taylor Swift to U2 and beyond. LED volume stages also leverage Disguise for virtual production. Addy Ghani, Fernando Kufer, and Tom Rockhill from Disguise join us in this special expanded episode of the Virtual Production podcast.
Kenneth Nakada is the Head of Virtual Production Operations at Amazon Studios. He was instrumental in Amazon’s efforts to build an LED volume in Hollywood, which became one of the largest in North America when it opened in 2022. Before Amazon, Nakada worked as a visual effects supervisor and artist on movies like Avatar, The Matrix Revolutions, Terminator 3, and X-Men. But a far earlier special effects film got him interested in filmmaking as a career.
Pinar Seyhan Demirdag is an AI director, multidisciplinary artist, and opinion leader originally from Turkey. In 2020, she founded Seyhan Lee with renowned advertising executive Gary Koepke. Demirdag is on the cutting edge of generative AI and exploring how it can enhance virtual production workflows. Her current project is Cuebric, a generative AI tool for creating virtual production environments instantly.
Paul Debevec is the Director of Research for Creative Algorithms and Technology at Netflix. A pioneer in new techniques such as photogrammetry and image-based lighting, Debevec's work formed the basis of breakthrough visual effects for movies like The Matrix, Spider-Man, and Avatar.
Emma Needell is an independent writer/director. Her screenwriting skills caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey, who came on to produce her script, The Water Man when Needell was 24 years old. She also completed a short film, Life Rendered, using Unreal Engine and motion capture virtual production techniques which played at the Tribeca Film festival.
The Netflix mystery series 1899 is set on a migrant steamship on the high seas and was shot in a giant LED volume in Germany. Writer/producer Jantje Friese and producer/director Baran bo Odar created the show with collaborators, including director of photography Nikolaus Summerer and production designer Udo Kramer. In this special episode, we speak with both Summerer and Kramer about their experiences.
Erik Weaver is a specialist focused on the intersection of cloud computing and the media and entertainment industry. He's currently the director of the Entertainment Technology Center's Adaptive Production project and special projects in Los Angeles. That means he gets to test out new technologies and report to the major movie studios on his findings.
Brett Leonard is an American film director, producer, and music video director specializing in science fiction and horror. He also hosts a podcast called What the F is the Metaverse. One of Leonard's first films, The Lawnmower Man, is considered the first significant movie to feature virtual reality as a cautionary tale long before our present fascination with all things virtual production.
Alex Proyas is an Australian film director, screenwriter, and producer. He's best known for directing films like The Crow, Dark City, I Robot, Knowing, and Gods of Egypt. A longtime master of visual effects wizardry, Proyas is currently in pre-production on a horror movie to be shot in an LED volume.
The Virtual Production podcast is brought to you by Puget Systems and Blackmagic Design. Please visit Abel Cine and The Virtual Company for all your virtual production needs.
Clayton Jacobson is an award-winning producer/director/writer whose experience spans commercials, documentaries, online content, music videos, and feature films. His debut comedy feature Kenny was a highly acclaimed box office hit, winning the 2006 IF Awards for Best Feature Film and Best Script, and the Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Original Screenplay. Jacobson is the founder and CEO of Dreamscreen Australia, Melbourne's largest LED volume.
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