Production Challenges and Lessons from Making VR Films

Speaker(s):
James Fong
CEO, Jaunt China
Ido Banai
CEO/Founder, Plenoptic Cognition
Jake Kahana
Cofounder, Caveday

Summary: Get a behind the scenes look from Industry pioneers into the production processes, experimental techniques and on the ground challenges of making story driven VR Films and life changing VR experiences.

The Deserted - Led by the well-known director Mr. Tsai Ming-liang, coproduced by Jaunt China and HTC VIVE, The Deserted (Chinese name: Home at Lanre Temple), is the first Chinese VR film to be selected at Venice International Film Festival. James Fong, CEO of Jaunt China will take audiences through the production process of making the film using Jaunt ONE for shooting and Jaunt Cloud Render System for post processing.

Speaker Bio: James Fong,CEO, Jaunt China
Since August, 2016, James Fong has been appointed as the CEO of Jaunt China, heading up Jaunt VR's operation in Greater China. He knows entertainment, sports as well as hi-tech well with more than 20 years of leadership and management experience in these industries.

Before working at Jaunt China, James Fong was the CEO of Oriental DreamWorks. During his tenure, Kung Fu Panda 3, produced by Oriental DreamWorks, became the first animated film co-production with an American company in China. Previously, his contribution to the development of seller service and advertising of Amazon China, has attracted thousands of Chinese online retailers to the largest global internet-based retailer in the world.

From 2007 to 2010, James Fong served as the Managing Director of NBA China, responsible for performance venue and the development of NBA league game. Before 2007, as the Managing Director of Microsoft China, James Fong was in charge of 165 million investment funds of Microsoft in China, as well as sales and promotion in 32 cities among 17 provinces. Earlier in his career, James Fong had been a U.S. Air Force captain.


Assassin's Creed VR Experience - To celebrate the theatrical release of "ASSASSIN'S CREED", AMD and Alienware teamed up with 20th Century Fox and New Regency to launch a virtual reality (VR) experience that takes the viewer into the world of the Spanish inquisition through the lens of an Assassin. Ido Banai, Creative Director, will walk audiences through the production process and how Practical Magic went about making this ground breaking experience.

Speaker Bio: Ido Banai,CEO/Founder, Plenoptic Cognition
Ido Banai has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade,Starting as a Flame/Smoke finishing artist in the advertising world he worked his way up the ladder to supervise VFX on feature film productions around the globe.

Since 2010 he has been working with the studios and VFX vendors alike as a production pipeline consultant specializing in Stereoscopic content VR and sustainable business practices. For the past 3 years Ido has been fully focused on cinematic narrative VR production, Supervising VFX on some of the highest end Live action, moving camera, 360 VR experiences. Including the worlds highest resolution 360VR Live action experience, the Assassin's Creed VR experience and most recently the Dunkirk VR experience. Aside from his production work Ido is also the founder and CEO of Plenoptic Cognition.

An Optogenetics Medical VR company. Its core focus is brining new content delivery methods and technology for the medical and wellness markets.

BettVR with Age - While most people are using VR to explore the world, entertainment, and gaming, Virtual Reality has the potential to improve the lives of one of the fastest growing populations in the world, Senior Citizens. In this talk, Jake Kahana will discuss his project, BettVR with Age, and the research behind creating VR for home-bound seniors.

Speaker Bio: Jake Kahana, Cofounder, Caveday
Jake Kahana is an award-winning designer and entrepreneur who uses storytelling, art, and technology to instigate positive social change and grow mission-driven businesses.
With over 10 years of experience, his recent projects include BettVR with Age, a virtual reality film series created for senior citizens and Caveday, a productivity company redefining our relationship to work through events and products. He regularly gives talks and teaches, most recently Parsons and HyperIsland, where he taught a course in branding and a workshop on Design Thinking.
His projects have been nominated for Emmys, parodied on Late Night TV, appeared in The New York Times, WIRED, FastCo, and the Reddit top 10, among others. Today, he is proud to showcase his work in both the permanent collection at MoMA in NYC and on his parents' refrigerator.

*This session is proudly sponsored by Jaunt China

Presentation Language: English