SYNOPSIS

As Virtual Reality technology continues to advance and the proliferation of VR content continues to rise, there is no question that this new form of storytelling is shifting the landscape of entertainment. How is VR different from established mediums like film, television, theater, and webisodes? What is the difference between Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality? What opportunities does VR offer and what are some challenges it poses? And what does all this mean for the performer acting in these immersive spaces? These are all questions that will be addressed in this panel Storytelling in Virtual Reality.

PANELISTS BIOS

Tai Crosby - CEO of SilVR Thread

Chris Edwards, CEO of The Third Floor
After five years as a layout artist and character animator at Walt Disney Feature Animation, Chris Edwards joined a team of digital artists at Lucasfilm tasked with previsualizing Star Wars Episode III: Return of the Sith from the "third floor" of George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch. In October 2004, Chris spearheaded the founding of THE THIRD FLOOR, Inc. in Los Angeles. Since then, the company has become the most prolific previs studio in the world, contributing to Hollywood projects from Avatar to Gravity with credits on wide-ranging film and television projects such as Game of Thrones, The Martian, Mad Max: Fury Road, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and Marvel’s Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Avengers franchises. For over a decade, Chris has worked to expand the art form of previs internationally and into new markets, including episodic television, video games, themed entertainment and virtual reality. In 2009, Chris co-founded The Previsualization Society, a non-profit trade association for previs professionals. And in 2012, he helped launch HYDRA Entertainment, a story development and IP management company. In early 2014, Chris joined an alliance of iconic filmmakers to found VRC: The Virtual Reality Company. Chris is a member of the Visual Effects Society, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, BAFTA's VR Advisory Group and the Themed Entertainment Association.

Angela Haddad, VR Creative Director
Angela Haddad is the Virtual Reality Creative Director at SilVR Thread, a VR startup specializing in patent-pending first-person POV VR technology. Angela has co-produced VR experiences for Lionsgate’s movie ‘Nerve’, recreating scenes from the feature film allowing movie fans to experience transformative first-person POV of Emma Roberts.

Keight Leighn, actor
Keight has been drawn to experimental theatre since becoming a part of the weird, possibly insane, high school drama clique her freshman year. At 16, she started to create & perform opening acts for the punk-cabaret rock band, The Dresden Dolls, which she continued to do after moving to Chicago, where she graduated from The Theatre School at DePaul & was the first actor at the conservatory to pull off a double major (Philosophy). Recently, she won Most Orgasmic Performance at the Hollywood Fringe Festival for her performance in A(partment) 8 (LA Weekly’s Best Of LA 2016). You may have seen Keight in several national commercials - except for the one where she was a chicken - in which case, you just heard her chicken voice. Look for her in the upcoming Season 2 of the popular LGBT web series EASY ABBY as Abby. You can (try to) find her every Tuesday at the members-only goth club Cloak & Dagger (also in LA Weekly’s Best of LA 2016), but she can’t talk about what she does there... Keight also runs the post-apocalyptic-cabaret-themed comedy show, CCABAREIGHT!, every Friday at The Clubhouse & she loves it all.

Matt Thompson, writer, director AFTER: VR Series
Matt was recently featured in Variety's Rising Stars profile for the top film students to watch around the country. He has written and directed 2 feature-length films, numerous shorts, Virtual Reality Experiences and has been distinguished nationally for filmmaking endeavors. At 15, he wrote, directed and produced an 80-minute feature length film, "The Medallion of Man" (2010), which premiered at La Paloma Theater in Encinitas, CA. At 17, he wrote and directed a 90-min sci/fi feature film, "Night Sights" (2012), which won the Jury Award for Best Feature Film at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth 2012, Seattle, and took the Silver Award at the California Film Awards. It was then picked up by ITN Distribution at AFM, 2013, and has since been sold at international film markets around the world. Thompson was a Semi-Finalist for the Student Academy Awards for his recent Spaghetti Western short, Wild West Fan Co and is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University's film school as the sole recipient of the Albert R. Broccoli scholarship foundation. He is the co-founder and director of independent production company, The Matts Productions LLC, and is the founder, director and executive producer of MTI, an immersive entertainment company with an original Virtual Reality series, "After” – a series of immersive journeys, where the audience can experience in a first person point of view, the exploration beyond death into the Afterlife, in ways conceived from every corner of the world.

Moderator - John Bucher
John is writer, story consultant, podcaster, and VR Evangelist who has worked with HBO, MovieMaker Magazine, LA Screenwriter and Vertigo Comics. He teaches at the Los Angeles Film Studies Center and is completing a PhD in Mythology. John writes about film, pop culture and spirituality at his site, tellingabetterstory.com. He is the author of The Inside Out Story, Master of the Cinematic Universe: The Secret Code to Writing in the New World of Media, and Storytelling For Virtual Reality, which will be released in early 2017.

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