XR Filmmaking Mentor Session: Cassandra Herrman

{
  "id": "PP1149711",
  "track": "Film & TV",
  "focus_area": null,
  "category": "Mentor Session",
  "event_id": "PP1149711",
  "event_type": "panel",
  "format": "Mentor Session",
  "genre": null,
  "subgenre": null,
  "name": "XR Filmmaking Mentor Session: Cassandra Herrman",
  "presented_by": null,
  "publish_at": "2026-01-16T10:00:00.000-06:00",
  "reservable": true,
  "reservable_id": "PP1149711",
  "reserved": false,
  "date": "2026-03-16",
  "end_time": "2026-03-16T15:45:00.000-05:00",
  "start_time": "2026-03-16T14:30:00.000-05:00",
  "message": null,
  "image": null,
  "credentials": [
    {
      "name": "Platinum Badge",
      "type": "platinum"
    },
    {
      "name": "Film & TV Badge",
      "type": "filmtv"
    }
  ],
  "contributors": [
    {
      "id": 79319,
      "company": null,
      "credential_types": [
        "filmtv"
      ],
      "entity_id": 2240419,
      "name": "Cassandra Herrman",
      "speaker_types": [],
      "title": "Educator, Documentary Filmmaker and Immersive Storyteller",
      "image": {
        "alt_text": "pcid-840791",
        "credit": null,
        "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/eQZSdgTNztD3ntaUUo4cOlTvVqs=/1111x584:3876x3349/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/12b31945-886c-485e-af0b-b754e8502b00/pcid-840791"
      },
      "speaker_type": "Speaker",
      "details": "Cassandra Herrman is a documentary filmmaker, immersive storyteller, and journalist based in Oakland, California. Her work seeks to challenge mainstream representations and complicate dominant narratives.\r\rCassandra’s immersive storytelling work includes After Solitary, a collaboration with Emblematic Group and PBS FRONTLINE. The project brings audiences into the world of Kenny Moore who survived years in solitary confinement and is struggling to navigate life after his release. Through room-scale virtual reality, After Solitary places viewers inside two photorealistic 3D-scanned environments – one of a solitary cell and the other of an ordinary bedroom – alongside Moore. The piece was honored with the Jury Award for Room-Scale VR at SXSW, the top prize at the World VR Forum in Switzerland, and ONA’s Excellence in Immersive Storytelling Award. After Solitary creates a visceral sense of presence, inviting audiences to inhabit spaces and experiences often hidden from public view.\r\rAs a Storyteller in Residence at McClatchy’s New Ventures Lab, Cassandra explored Augmented Reality’s potential for journalism, co-directing What They Carried, an episodic AR series for mobile that uses 3D illustrations, animations, and volumetric video to tell the story of migrants crossing the Mexico–U.S. border through the personal belongings they carry with them. The project was honored with ONA’s Excellence and Innovation in Visual Digital Storytelling Award.\r\rShe contributed story, research, and concept development for Unsung, an educational AR experience by Kinfolk Tech for New York City middle school students highlighting women singers of color who overcame societal challenges to make their voices heard. She also produced spatial and 360 projects, including When Lighting the Voids, a walk-around audio-driven AR drama based on a Reveal investigation; Ocean to Plate, a collaboration with World Wildlife Fund and Google Daydream Impact; and served as a consulting producer on We Who Remain, a VR documentary filmed in Sudan that premiered at SXSW and won the SIFF 360/VR Award. Cassandra has presented her immersive work at international conferences and forums, including the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Johannesburg, the Zurich University of the Arts, Digital Hollywood, AFI DOCS, and the Newseum, speaking on panels about VR, AR, and the evolving role of immersive journalism.\r\rHer documentary work includes the recently released independent feature When I Say Africa, which turns the lens on the West's representations of Africa, from the first European adventurers' sketches to pop culture today, and was sparked by her own reckoning as a filmmaker. The film premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)'s Film Africa series and the New York African Film Festival in May 2025. She is currently directing a short on Lavender Lounge, a queer music and dance party show that aired on San Francisco public access TV in the 1990s. Vibrant and defiant, the show created a stage for LGBTQ+ life and creativity in the wake of the AIDS crisis and amid rising culture wars. Her previous films include the Emmy-nominated Tulia, Texas, co-produced with ITVS and broadcast on PBS Independent Lens. It premiered at SXSW, and examines a town fractured by racial injustice in America’s War on Drugs. She has produced films for Al Jazeera’s investigative series Fault Lines, PBS NewsHour, MSNBC, and The New York Times. For nearly a decade, she was a cinematographer and producer for the PBS series FRONTLINE/World, filming across the African continent, the Middle East, Latin America, and China. She also filmed for United Nations Television and served as a field producer for a National Geographic series. Her documentary work has been recognized with three national Emmy nominations. \r\rCassandra was part of the Online News Association’s first Visual Journalists Cohort for GenAI for Newsrooms in 2025, was a 2024 Documentary Film Fellow with the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, and serves on the Board of BAVC Media. She teaches visual storytelling at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, where she earned her master’s degree. Cassandra leads courses in advanced documentary filmmaking and the future of visual storytelling, where students explore immersive and interactive media – from VR and AR to visual forensics, interactives, and generative AI. She brings in innovative creators from across the field as guest speakers, connecting students with mentors, platforms, and career opportunities. Mentorship is something she is deeply passionate about, and she offers individualized support to emerging filmmakers well beyond the classroom.",
      "links": {},
      "type": "person"
    }
  ],
  "venue": {
    "accessible": false,
    "age_policy": null,
    "floor": null,
    "id": "V2401",
    "indoor_outdoor": null,
    "name": "Executive Room",
    "parent_id": "V0466",
    "parent_venue_name": "Omni Downtown",
    "venue_entry_info": null,
    "formats": null,
    "location": {
      "address": "700 San Jacinto Blvd.",
      "lat_lon": [
        30.2689471,
        -97.7403971
      ],
      "city": "Austin",
      "postal_code": "78701",
      "state": "TX",
      "name": "Omni Downtown"
    },
    "root": {
      "accessible": null,
      "age_policy": null,
      "floor": null,
      "id": "V0466",
      "indoor_outdoor": null,
      "name": "Omni Downtown",
      "parent_id": null,
      "parent_venue_name": null,
      "venue_entry_info": null,
      "formats": null
    },
    "events": "[omitted 5 venue events]"
  },
  "description": "Meeting with this mentor is highly recommended if you're interested in VR/XR Filmmaking, Doc Filmmakers, Producers/Production.",
  "experience_level": "Beginner",
  "accessibility": [],
  "accessible_venue": false,
  "add_bcl_url": false,
  "add_slido": false,
  "age_policy": null,
  "american_sign_language": false,
  "apple_url": null,
  "audio_description": false,
  "caption_url": null,
  "closed_captioned": false,
  "cpe_credit": false,
  "has_subtitles": false,
  "hash_tags": [],
  "high_sensory_experience": false,
  "live": false,
  "long_description": "Meeting with this mentor is highly recommended if you're interested in VR/XR Filmmaking, Doc Filmmakers, Producers/Production.",
  "meeting_url": null,
  "meeting_url_live": false,
  "mentorly_url": null,
  "mobile_audio_url": null,
  "open_captioned": false,
  "playlist_tag": null,
  "rebroadcast": false,
  "recommended_ids": [],
  "search_conversions": null,
  "short_program": false,
  "slido_url": null,
  "sort": "XR FILMMAKING MENTOR SESSION: CASSANDRA HERRMAN",
  "source": "Official",
  "squad_up_url": null,
  "stream_embed": null,
  "stream_id": null,
  "stream_url": null,
  "strobe_warning": false,
  "subdiscipline": null,
  "summit": null,
  "summit_display_name": null,
  "tags": [],
  "talent_attending": null,
  "title_only": false,
  "track_display_name": "Film & TV track sponsored by Crunchyroll",
  "trailer_id": null,
  "trailer_url": null,
  "video_on_demand": null,
  "vimeo_id": null,
  "vod": false,
  "xr_project_type": null,
  "youtube_id": null,
  "related_sales_client": null
}