Round Table: XR Filmmaking: Rory Mitchell, Ricardo Justus, and Jon Gress

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      "details": "Ricardo Justus is co-founder and CEO of ARVORE, an Emmy Award-winning immersive entertainment studio based in São Paulo, Brazil. A gamer, storyteller, and tech futurist with over two decades of experience leading creative and production teams across digital entertainment and television, Ricardo has led ARVORE to the forefront of interactive storytelling, with work recognized at the Venice Film Festival and the Primetime Emmy Awards. He is also Expert Faculty for VR/AR at Singularity University.",
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      "details": "Jon Gress \nCEO\nThe Metaverse Construction Company LLC\n\nWith over 40 years of award winning experience in motion picture, visual effects, immersive media technologies, production and education, Jon Gress has been on the cutting edge of digital production technologies since their inceptions and has done research, development, consulting and training for VFX, Immersive, Real-time, 3D, CGI, 360 Degree, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Stereoscopic 3D, Photogrammetry, Dense Mapping, 3D Scanning, 3D Printing, Motion Tracking, Motion Control, Motion Capture, Live Action/Real-Time Animation, Game Engine VFX Integration for Motion Pictures, TV, Internet Media, Marketing & Advertising, Communications and Education.\n\nJon has trained thousands of filmmakers and visual effects artists from all over the world, is a Pearson Higher Education author,  “Digital Visual Effects & Compositing”; a complete curriculum for Motion Picture VFX, has been an international expert trainer & professor for post graduate industry motion picture and VFX production with FXPHD, a past member of The Visual Effects Society, chairman for the global VRARA Universities & Colleges Committee, member of the Virtual Worlds Society and Themed Entertainments Association, has been a regular writer/columnist for motion picture industry technology trade publications such as HDRI and has produced, been a keynote speaker & evangelist for motion picture visual effects and immersive production technologies, directed and supervised hundreds of motion picture, television, VFX and cutting edge interactive multimedia & immersive productions (for institutions ranging from small independent to Fortune 100) since 1995.\n\nJon was previously the Dean of Academic Affairs and Visual Effect Director for The Digital Animation & Visual Effects School at Universal Studios, Orlando FL",
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      "name": "Rory Mitchell",
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      "details": "Los Angeles born and bred, Rory Mitchell is an XR Director with a background in theater and documentary.  His work explores contemporary social, cultural and community-based issues with awe at the complexities of interdependence and joy at the intersection of Humanism and Technology. His work has screened at SXSW, New Images Festival in Paris, Cannes Film Festival, The Nieuwe Instituut in the Netherlands, BIFAN, Slamdance and elsewhere.\r\r\r\rHis most recent project THE TENT, an Augmented Reality tabletop narrative, premiered at SXSW ‘24 before going on to tour the world, 15 cities across 3 continents, was translated into Korean, French and German and won a Silver Medal for “Best Narrative/Story of 2024” from XR Must magazine.  \r\r\r\rAfter beginning his career directing live theater, he worked in television at NBCUniversal before becoming involved with the Echo Park Historical society and becoming fascinated with researching the built environment of Los Angeles.  This led to a series of articles and discoveries about the cities understanding of the History of Sunset Boulevard, which led to a well received series of short documentaries about the same.  \r\r\r\rHe then began producing short documentaries for non-profits in Los Angeles, which led to him being the Los Angeles Producer for the PBS Series “One Day in the American City” in which he produced shoots for 150 short documentaries on a single day across the city.  He has produced traditional framed documentary and video work for the Los Angeles City Council, CicLAVia, the L.A. Bioscience Hub, and various other art and cultural institutions in Los Angeles.  \r\r\t   \r\rIn 2015 Mitchell founded his first VR Company, Beard & Glasses VR, to bring his theater and documentary practices into the exciting new field of Virtual Reality, which he had become fascinated by during its first coming in the 90’s.  His first cinematic 360° narrative, “The Visigoths” (written by Martha Marion) was an intimate romantic drama putting the viewer feet away from a young couple falling in, and out, of love. \r\r\r\rHe went on to direct and produce 360°VR documentaries for a variety of Los Angeles organizations, including CicLAVia, Institute for Contemporary Art L.A., and a series of documentaries for the Department of Cultural Affairs about the artists of the CURRENT:LA Public Art Biennial. \r\r\r\rIn 2019, he wrote and directed a 360°VR Documentary called “Diverse & Subversive: The Anti-Gentrification of Boyle Heights” in which he embedded with radical activists protesting gentrification using black bloc style tactics.  It uses the power of XR to tackle complex, interdependent, community based issues, by placing the viewers at the various nexus points of gentrification, from the front lines of the protest, to the bedrooms of activists and inside the white-walled art galleries so they could see for themselves the human complications of gentrification. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019, has been taught in colleges and has been watched around the world, inspiring activism from Hong Kong to New York City.\r\r\r\rIn 2020 he founded The Mercantile Agency, a creative agency and production company producing branded documentaries and marketing videos as well as 360° videos, AR and VR for Fortune 500 companies, tech startups and other businesses and brands that want to change the world.  \r\r\r\rHis commercial VR work includes 360° documentaries about the history of the Los Angeles River, a tour of the Ketel One Distillery, a 360° commercial of Cascadian Farms for General Mills, Star Wars Galaxies Edge at Disneyland for Disney’s internal advertising Agency, Yellow Shoes, and many others. \r\r\r\rHe is currently in production on a VR Documentary about the Los Angeles Fires, OUT OF THE ASHES, which he is co-Directing and EPing along with Nonny de la Peña. \r\r\r\rMitchell lives in Los Angeles with his wife and young daughter.",
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