yondr academy podcasts

It’s barely over six months since Iconic Engine spun off from Digital Domain and they’re awareness is already going through the roof. Iconic Engine CEO Amit Chopra explains how his forward thinking XR company combines service projects with a global streaming platform and 60+ Location Based Entertainment centers already in China. Key to the seamlessness are the people working at Iconic Engine; they’re all industry veterans. Early April the company launched their newest product the ‘Holometric 4D Cinema’ during both Cinemacon and NAB Show in Las Vegas. Iconic Engine is building a new ecosystem of immersive theatres which can break the boundaries of the traditional frame and can be globally managed and programmed. Amit explains they don’t believe in the philosophy of ‘anyone can be it’s own director by looking around’ and how they want to put the director in the driver’s seat again. Just sit back and enjoy the forward thinking ride. 

Next in our Cannes XR series is Joanna Popper, Global Head of Virtual Reality for Location Based Entertainment at HP. She has experience in both Hollywood and Silicon valley as a media executive within the TV, Digital, Film and Marketing space. While traveling the world from conference to festival, Joanna has become not only a thought leader and advisor to our community but also an inspiration. Within her position at HP, and by partnering with fellow operators and content creators, Joanna is leading the strategy to grow the business and market for Location Based Entertainment. Justine and Joanna had a compelling conversation in the latest episode of our VRTL Podcast.

Chief Creative and General Manager at Intel Studios, Diego Prilusky details the timeless magic of Grease and how it was re-imagined in newer technology from pixels to voxels. A big believer in volumetric capturing, Diego tells what it was like to work with Randal Kleiser, the original director for the film version of Grease–released over 40 years ago!

The debut of Cannes XR was certainly not the first event on immersive for conference veteran Elie Levasseur. As a Head of Programming behind Paris’ Cross Video Days for five years, he is used to scouting for the best XR work from across the globe. 

Longtime Sony post- and production technologist Danilo used photogrammetry and volumetric video capture to make 7 Miracles. The seven-part episodic feature runs over 70 minutes, making it the first feature-length cinematic experience from Vive Studios. Danilo discussed some of the techniques involved to produce images in 8K. 

Red carpet events were absent in the basement of the Palais, but on Tuesday the buzz and excitement (and photographers) surrounding A.R. Rahman felt like one. On stage to talk about Le Musk, a sensory virtual reality experience. Rahman is multi-Academy and Grammy award-winning musician, composer and singer, most famous for his music in Slumdog Millionaire. He talked about his collaboration with Intel Studios and his debut as VR director.

Chief Creative and General Manager at Intel Studios, Diego Prilusky details the timeless magic of Grease and how it was re-imagined in newer technology from pixels to voxels. A big believer in volumetric capturing, Diego tells what it was like to work with Randal Kleiser, the original director for the film version of Grease–released over 40 years ago! Global Content Technology Strategist, Ravi Velhal talked about the enormous amount of data that goes into these productions to enhance storytelling.

Bombay-born but Berlin-based, Gayatri Parameswaran, another selectee of the Kaleidoscope Development Showcase shared some of the harrowing behind the scenes from her documentary piece Home After War and her Kaleidoscope piece Kusunda, which immerses the viewer in the world of a dying language. 

While Incitement is performing well and getting traction in a lot of festivals, its makers, a Dutch-French duo, is hot on the trails of new work. Their new transmersive VR series is part of the Kaleidoscope Development Showcase and will consist of five thrilling chapters of two episodes told in non-chronological order. 

Fabio Hofnik (Brazil) & Mathieu Gayet (France) have joined forces to create XRDB, a new resource for the immersive community. An online database, XRDB is dedicated to all digital immersive content such as 360 films, VR, AR and other immersive experiences.