yondr academy podcasts

Kicking off our Cannes XR podcast series is Kane Lee, Chief Content Officer at Baobab. This San Francisco-based studio is led by CEO Maureen Fan and Chief Creative Officer Eric Darnell (Director Madagascar). Kane talked about the newest Baobab project Bonfire and how the Studios have continued to evolve stylistically with each consecutive piece. Among other topics covered are the ways named talent in VR production is helpful. 

VRTL spoke with Lucas Wilson of Supersphere, the VR and live 360 production powerhouse, about how to best deliver an exceptional audience experience. From sporting events to live concerts, Supersphere has been behind the scenes hauling flypacks, checking sound, and setting up cameras so viewers feel like they are smack in the middle of the action. They debuted capturing a musical performance in a festival setting at SXSW and recently were the partner for livestreaming in Oculus Venues, at F8. Lucas shares a couple of great stories, insight from his vast experience and a few tips on best practices with Justine in this VRTL podcast episode.

Growing up with Southern California in his backyard, Ian Nelson chose to go into the entertainment industry, a decision that seemed almost inevitable. Though he had a true, deep love for film, he soon felt that Hollywood was not as innovative a sector as he wanted and so made the leap to immersive. In this episode, Ian shares with us how he went from some of the most renowned Industry companies to Ryot Studios (right after Jaunt) and also lets us in on how 5G will shake things up for immersive.

The path to experimental storytelling was pretty much uncharted terrain, but that didn’t faze Yelena Rachitsky. Her quest to learn about interesting new forms of narrative eventually got her to Oculus, where she is now Executive Producer for Experiences. VRTL met with Yelena at her office in Los Angeles to hear the backstory behind integrating more participation and engagement with storytelling. Most recently, Yelena was part of the team behind Traveling While Black a powerful immersive project that looks at race in America through elements like proximity and multi-dimensional artistry.

Albert “Skip” Rizzo, Research Director at University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies for Medical Virtual Reality is a legend. Having done research into virtual reality’s impact on psychological, cognitive and motor functioning for decades, Skip shares in this episode how storytelling can go beyond pure entertainment and have life-altering consequences. Justine Harcourt de Tourville, VRTL’s Editor-in-Chief, dives right into this fascinating conversation with the “Ayatollah of VR”  taped live in Skip Rizzo’s LA office.

The two Co-Founders behind Light Sail VR and makers of Speak of the Devil (the VR horror project that embraced multiple outcomes) spoke with VRTL about the art of narrative in virtual reality. Matthew Celia & Robert Watts put in serious hours to thinking about how to tell a story and what effect presence and perspective will have on viewers. They share their insight and findings with us in their usual friendly and engaging manner.

Canaan Rubin, currently with Iconic Engine, but most recently Executive Producer with Jaunt VR in London, shares his path from broadcast television to immersive. Despite the differences between the two mediums, Canaan reveals the important common requirement to getting good work produced.

Avinash Changa believes in VR. As part of the team behind Ahorse, one of the projects selected for SXSW 2019’s Virtual Cinema, Avinash from WeMakeVR was happy to share his reasons why virtual reality is still a relevant and necessary medium. But what happens next? VRTL’s Editor-in-Chief, Justine Harcourt de Tourville, was happy to have the discussion—especially since Avinash spent time conducting neuro-scientific research (on frame rates or connecting with tree bark, for example) to support his views.

Kaleidoscope’s René Pinnell is a humble man, but he gets positively animated when it comes to talking about getting VR made. After significant time looking at other funding mechanisms, and holding a lot of conversations, René gave a talk at SXSW 2019 describing alternative ways for creators to get VR projects made. We were pleased that René joined us for a podcast at VRTL going more into detail on how and why.

To give a sample of this year’s programming, VRTL spoke with three teams behind projects exhibited at Virtual Cinema during SXSW 2019. Wiebe van den Ende (the Netherlands) directed Incitement which uses virtual reality to explore both “outer” and inner dialogue between a two young lovers. Next, Zillah Watson (UK), from BBC VR Hub, commissioned Nothing to be Written, an artistic look at soldiers during WWI and the limited communication they were allowed. The piece features beautiful music to intensify the emotive aspect. Finally, we speak with Maria Bellen Poncio and Ezequiel Lenardón (Argentina), respectively the director and producer behind Metro Veinte: Cita Ciega (Four Feet: Blind Date) who give a provocative look behind a eighteen year-old in a wheelchair and her growing sexuality in a well-acted narrative piece.