yondr academy podcasts

Karen Palmer: "Breaking through the Fear Barrier"

In this conversation with Karen Palmer, a multi-disciplinary immersive filmmaker who uses art, AI, gamification, neuroscience and behavioral psychology in her work, VRTL learns about her anti-empathy approach. Palmer's RIOT, an installation that required bespoke artificial intelligence, used storylines triggered by the viewer’s response to calm, anger and/or fear. Palmer tells how fear has significant relevance to her creativity, and she reveals her unique way of grappling with it.

Hasraf Dulull: "Straight Out of Unreal Engine"

Recently I had the honor and pleasure of being able to speak to a wonderful and passionate person about the future of Virtual production and how the workflow of feature films as such has changed in recent years. His name is Hasraf Dulull, better known as HaZ.  He’s a filmmaker who started as a visual effects supervisor on feature films on TV before making his directing and producing debut with the hit indie sci-fi feature film THE BEYOND which was a commercial success on all VOD platforms b...

Alvin Graylin: "The Next Normal"

Alvin Graylin is the President of HTC China. He is leading all aspects of the HTC business in the China Region and is responsible for Vive VR, phone, Viveport content platform and investments. And recently he has taken on the global responsibility for running the Software Business Unit for HTC as well. The company has launched the Vive XR Suite, a collection of software applications that enable users to work, learn, socialize and share live experiences in an immersive environment.  I spoke ...

Carl Boel: "How To Build Powerful Stories for XR Training"

Carl is an e-learning expert passionate about learning via virtual reality and MOOCs. He’s programmed as one of the speakers for the virtual event of the VR Days Europe. Carl and I talk about blended learning and XR, how to build a strong story for an XR training and how this pandemic is fueling the learning and development industry in general. Please enjoy another episode of the VR Days / VRTL podcast series. Listen to Carl Boel and learn how to build powerful stories for XR training.

VR Days Europe take a small step back in order to take three forward

Last year in Amsterdam, VR Days Europe made its ambitions for growth clear and the Fifth Edition brought them one step closer to maturity. But when the pandemic arrived in the Netherlands and events started canceling, Co-Founder Benjamin De Wit and his team had to forge a new path. And they certainly did. Just like last year, they have developed an extensive program for a hybrid event. As in recent years, VR Days will take place in the Kromhouthal in Amsterdam, a portion which will be strea...

Inga Petryaevskaya: "Animate and Quickly Prototype without 3D Animation Experience"

Inga Petryaevskaya is a CEO and Co-Founder of Tvori, VR animation and prototyping software. Tvori is an award-winning technology startup located in San Mateo, California and Saint Petersburg in Russia. VRTL was honored to welcome Inga as a guest on our podcast. We talked about the emergence of XR teams within large companies, the importance of spatial design as a future proof skill and how Tvori makes it possible to ideate, visualize and communicate your ideas, all within virtual reality. En...

Michel Reilhac: "Monetization of XR Content is Key for Mass Adoption"

Michel Reilhac is a narrative architect and long-time transmedia and immersive media pioneer. He's is known as a leading international expert for innovation in hybrid storytelling across participatory, interactive and immersive experiences. As the Head of Studies at the Venice Biennale College and the VR competition curator for the Venice Biennale International Film Festival, Michel is regularly invited to speak and teach at major international events, including the Cannes International Film...

Jeffrey Travis: "Why 360 films can be as captivating as 6DOF experiences"

Jeffrey is a filmmaker, engineer, and virtual reality pioneer. As the founder and CEO of Positron, he created Voyager®. Jeffrey and his team have worked with studios such as Universal, DreamWorks, Disney, Warner Bros, Adult Swim, Felix & Paul, and others to craft premium VR content for XR Cinemas using the Voyager platform. In this episode of the VRTL podcast, we talked about the impressive quality of the submissions, the go-to-market strategy of Positron and how the business model for LBE w...

Jingshu Chen: "How the Chinese Market Responds to XR Content"

Jingshu Chen, nominated in Forbes 30 under 30 Asia 2018, co-founded VeeR VR with Aiden in 2016, with a mission to bring the best immersive entertainment to the world. VeeR is a leading VR entertainment platform available worldwide, across all major VR headset, web, and mobile. VeeR acquires, produces, and distributes best-in-class immersive stories and light-weight interactive experiences. In this podcast Jingshu Chen talked about how the Chinese market responds to XR content and how artist...

Jingshu Shen: "How the Chinese Market Responds to XR Content"

Jingshu Shen, nominated in Forbes 30 under 30 Asia 2018, co-founded VeeR VR with Aiden in 2016, with a mission to bring the best immersive entertainment to the world. VeeR is a leading VR entertainment platform available worldwide, across all major VR headset, web, and mobile. VeeR acquires, produces, and distributes best-in-class immersive stories and light-weight interactive experiences. In this podcast Jingshu Chen talked about how the Chinese market responds to XR content and how artist...

Robin Stethem: “Inspiring A New Generation of Artists”

Featuring immersive work from VR artists around the world, the Museum of Other Realities is a virtual art gallery that provides a place to connect, share, and experience new media together with others. Founded by Colin Northway and Robin Stethem in 2017, the MOR encourages visitors to step into and interact with the multidimensional artwork, transcending the limits of more traditional gallery experiences. In this episode Robin Stethem uncovers how the Museums of Other Realities works with ar...

Robin Stetham: “Inspiring A New Generation of Artists”

Featuring immersive work from VR artists around the world, the Museum of Other Realities is a virtual art gallery that provides a place to connect, share, and experience new media together with others. Founded by Colin Northway and Robin Stethem in 2017, the MOR encourages visitors to step into and interact with the multidimensional artwork, transcending the limits of more traditional gallery experiences. In this episode Robin Stethem uncovers how the Museums of Other Realities works with ar...

Jimmy Cheng: "The Acquisition, Licensing and Distribution of XR Content"

When you go to a film festival, it is almost impossible not to bump into this man. Jimmy Cheng focuses on the acquisition and licensing of immersive/interactive XR content as Director of Content / Business Operations at Iconic Engine. Currently, he represents 140 studios, including GoPro, Atlas V, Secret Location, and supporting six telecoms for finding content. In this episode of the VRTL podcast, Jimmy talks to Pieter about the recent trends in demand for the type of XR content and how he ...

René Pinnell: "Vision with action can change the world for XR artists"

I think it must have been about a year since René and I last met each other in real life. That must have been during Cannes XR if I remember correctly. In the meantime, a lot has happened with Kaleidoscope and the pandemic has certainly accelerated the implementation of the new business model. René Pinnell is Founder and CEO of Kaleidoscope and has a clear mission and vision where he wants to go with the platform. Just like last year, Kaleidoscope and Cannes XR are teaming up and René gives ...

Sean Rodrigo: "Spatial Creation - Designing inside Virtual Reality"

This week on our VRTL podcast we welcome Sean Rodrigo. Sean's a London-based, Virtual Reality Artist / Technologist working with innovative XR technology such as virtual reality as a core creative tool to achieve engaging, insightful and meaningful experiences. Over the last 13 years, Sean has worked in film, television and advertising with extensive experience in technical and creative campaigns. His current work ranges from installation artwork to designing prototype products in super fas...

Nina Salomons: "Diversity Can Help Close the XR Skills Gap"

Nina is an award-winning filmmaker and XR Creative, Producer & Consultant. She has worked in the XR space since 2015. She is one of the co-founders of the Women in VR meet up group, an XR journalist for two and half years, and has worked on creating, developing, and using immersive technologies for various companies and brands. She is currently working on bringing VR into UK prisons, executing UK immersive events, and working on her own VR film. Nina Salomons talks about her career path and ...

Rosh Singh: "Where Expectations Far Outweighs Reality"

Rosh is Managing Director at UNIT9 a global Innovation Studio. A seasoned leader, passionate about the creative application of technologies for brands, and has been involved in the agency, production and start-up worlds running successful businesses and executing innovative and award winning work for some of the worlds biggest brands. Previous to UNIT9 he ran a record label, sold a business to WPP, started an embedded creative agency at WPP and founded a start-up incubator launching a new vi...

Rosh Singh: "Where Expectations Far Outweighs Reality

Rosh is Managing Director at UNIT9 a global Innovation Studio. A seasoned leader, passionate about the creative application of technologies for brands, and has been involved in the agency, production and start-up worlds running successful businesses and executing innovative and award winning work for some of the worlds biggest brands. Previous to UNIT9 he ran a record label, sold a business to WPP, started an embedded creative agency at WPP and founded a start-up incubator launching a new vi...

Marta Ordeig: “Co-Creative XR Workshops at Film Festivals”

Marta Ordeig is a filmmaker and entrepreneur traveling between Silicon Valley and Barcelona. In 2016 she founded Garage Stories, a content lab where she gathers creatives minds from various background to co-create and explore the possibilities that emerging technologies are bringing into the table and take an active part in shaping the future of entertainment. In this episode Pieter and Marta talk about how her idea generation methodology makes sense for XR projects and about her collaborati...

Rafael Pavon: “Narrative Structures in Immersive Storytelling”

Rafael Pavon is an award-winning Creative Director and Producer at AtlasV, the production studio behind Spheres, Gloomy Eyes, Battlescar, and Vestige. Rafael started as Director and Creative Director for virtual reality in 2015 at VR studio Future Lighthouse, where he worked on 30+ VR productions from idea to delivery, creating award-winning original content from scratch, like Melita and Ray, and also working with partners like Sony, Oculus and HTC on projects like Campfire Creepers. After F...

François Fripiat: “The Essence of Spatial Sound in VR Storytelling”

François Fripiat has been a sound engineer for over 12 years. He worked in many different fields such as sound design, audio mix, and he's been a sound supervisor for many different animation films, feature films, documentaries, etc... Passionate about spatial sound for a decade, François Fripiat founded the company Demute, a creative sound studio dedicated to new media (XR / Video Games / Immersive experiences). Demute is focusing on tech by developing new technological tools to improve imm...

François Fripiat: “The Essence of Spatial Sound in VR Storytelling”

François Fripiat has been a sound engineer for over 12 years. He worked in many different fields such as sound design, audio mix, and he's been a sound supervisor for many different animation films, feature films, documentaries, etc... Passionate about spatial sound for a decade, François Fripiat founded the company Demute, a creative sound studio dedicated to new media (XR / Video Games / Immersive experiences). Demute is focusing on tech by developing new technological tools to improve imm...

Bob Cooney: “Words of Wisdom for LBE Operators”

Bob Cooney is widely considered the world’s leading authority on the location-based virtual reality (LBVR) business. As an innovator in immersive entertainment for nearly 30 years, he is a frequent keynote speaker at VR and amusement industry conferences and is a renowned and skilled moderator. Next to being a mentor and speaker, Bob is the author of the new book “Real Money from Virtual Reality”, a guide for entrepreneurs entering the LBVR space. While Bob has a tight schedule, he managed t...

Dominic Eskofier: “The Single Most Influential European VR Specialist”

Dominic Eskofier co-founded the largest unofficial community for VR (reddit.com/r/oculus), started the VR Germany meetup group and is co-founder of EUVR.org – a non-profit organization pushing the European XR industry. After co-founding the VR startup realities.io at Boost VC, an accelerator in Silicon Valley, he gathered international corporate experience at Nvidia as their Head of Virtual Reality (EMEAI). Now, as Head of Eden Europe, he develops the European business for Eden, a startup fr...

Sam Huber: "How To Make Money From VR/AR and Games"

After 4 years building mobile apps startups, frustrated by the limited options to efficiently monetize content, Sam Huber started Admix.  Sam believes that immersive technologies (XR) are a change of interface, that will have an impact on humanity similar to the printing press or the screen. It is an inevitable transition. However, XR doesn't have a scalable business model yet. Admix aims to solve this problem and maximize revenue for the content creators while creating a better future for ...

Henry Stuart: “The Agency’s Ride On The Gartner Hype Cycle”

Co-Founder and CEO at VISUALISE, the virtual reality production studio and author of Virtual Reality Marketing. Henry Stuart is one of the industry leaders in producing VR content for marketing, brands and storytelling for editorial and entertainment. A regular speaker at Virtual Reality events around the globe, Henry is a recognised thought leader on VR with articles published in Wired, the BBC, Marketing Magazine, the Financial Times, the Drum and many more of the UK and world's top press...

Ricardo Laganaro: “The Brazilian Award-Winning VR Evangelist”

Ricardo Laganaro is one of the most innovative filmmakers in Brazil, partner and Chief Storytelling Officer at ARVORE Immersive Experiences. His many-sided knowledge blends live-action, stop-motion animation, computer graphics and writing. Ricardo Laganaro entered the immersive world directing a full dome experience for Museum of Tomorrow in Rio. During 2016, he has directed 360º musical and advertising projects that sum more than 60 million views. At VR Days, we had a brief talk with Ricard...

Ricardo Laganaro: Creating ‘The Line’ @ VR Days

Ricardo Laganaro is one of the most innovative filmmakers in Brazil, partner and Chief Storytelling Officer at ARVORE Immersive Experiences. His many-sided knowledge blends live-action, stop-motion animation, computer graphics and writing. Laganaro entered the immersive world directing a full-dome experience for Museum of Tomorrow in Rio. During 2016, he has directed 360º musical and advertising projects that sum more than 60 million views.  In this keynote session at VR Days in Amsterdam,...

Ricardo Laganaro: "The Evolution of VR in Brazil"

Ricardo Laganaro is one of the most innovative filmmakers in Brazil, partner and Chief Storytelling Officer at ARVORE Immersive Experiences. His many-sided knowledge blends live-action, stop-motion animation, computer graphics and writing. Ricardo Laganaro entered the immersive world directing a full dome experience for Museum of Tomorrow in Rio. During 2016, he has directed 360º musical and advertising projects that sum more than 60 million views. At VR Days, we had a brief talk with Ricard...

Leen Segers & Anastasia Pash: Women in XR

A Brussels-based spatial computing expert. Previously Leen worked for 10 years with several technology startups in Ghent, London, and Brussels. Since 2011, she has been focused on the democratisation of media across platforms and devices which led her to start LucidWeb in 2016. Today, LucidWeb is working with many broadcasters & VR/AR agencies across Europe. Recently the company also launched its white-label app-less distribution platform LucidWeb.pro. Leen is the co-founder of Women in Imme...

Daan 'Kip' Doornink: The Slope of Enlightenment

Daniel started his career at a large Dutch corporate (ING) where he gained lots of hands-on experience with Scrum, Agile and Lean Startup techniques. He put his experience to good use mentoring start-ups at Rockstart in Amsterdam and has been involved in their smart energy accelerator program. Spring 2014 he started the Dutch community VRNL with over a thousand members currently, bringing together everyone passionate about VR in the Netherlands. A year later he organised the first European ...

Amy Hedrick: "The Straightforward Solution of Cleanbox Technologies"

Amy Hedrick is CEO and Co-Founder of CleanboxTechnology. As a thought leader providing insights into the immersive technology, she brings solutions and innovation in smart tech hygiene. Having led multiple teams from project inception and execution through profitable completion, she has proven herself an effective leader in diverse venues over the past decade. Most recently, Amy was Manager of Content and Digital Media for the think tank division of Li and Fung, a leading global consumer goo...

Kiira Benzing: A Multidimensional Director on a Volumetric Journey

Kiira Benzing is a director crossing the mediums of theater, hybrid cinema and virtual reality. “Cardboard City” her first venture in Virtual Reality won the Samsung Gear Indie Milk VR contest (2016). Following this VR film her interactive installation for “Cardboard City” combining VR and AR premiered at the 54th annual New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center. Her short film “Hilda” had its World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2017 and was distributed to Amazon and her rece...

High Five to VR Days: The Best is Yet to Come

Benjamin de Wit is Founder and Festival Director of VR Days Europe. Since its first year in 2015, VR Days has the ambition to be Europe’s leading professional and creative XR event. With the 5th edition of VR Days coming up, Benjamin has found time and space in his hectic time schedule to discuss the future and past of VR Days and his expectations of the upcoming event. Benjamin goes deeper on the program of VR Days and recommends some must-see experiences / must-hear panel discussions at th...

Loren Hammonds: "Create A Story With The Matching Immersive Medium"

In today's podcast, we're featuring Loren Hammonds, Senior Programmer at Tribeca Film Festival in New York City and the man in charge of feature-films and immersive. Tribeca Film Festival was founded by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal in direct response to the events on 9/11 to revitalize the community. Immersive is a significant part of the festival that is growing exponentially every year. In this episode, we'll talk about the evolution beyond film at Tribeca, how Loren is following up a...

Siqi Chen: "China Way Ahead On Retail Experience Because Of LBE"

Today’s podcast is a fifteen-minute talk with Siqi Chen, CPO of Sandbox VR. Sandbox VR has recently received 16 million dollar funding, which is the largest amount of fundraising that’s been into VR since the original Oculus company. Listen to what Siqi Chen has to say about the expansion of the company, why China has taken a big leap in terms of retail experiences in shopping malls and why narrative is becoming more and more important in the experiences they offer.

Julian Sarmiento: “Where Technology Meets Creativity”

This podcast episode is with Julian Sarmiento, the Chief Creative Officer of Iconic Engine. He's had a career that is basically the technicolor fusion of art and technology. In two decades, he rose to leading the computer graphic teams on some of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters for example 'I, Robot' or the Oscar-winning 'the curious case of Benjamin Button'. He's worked with the top creative thinkers on products on films because he inhabits that rare space of both artistry and knowledge of...

Cassandra De Klerck: "Acting In VR, A Whole New World"

In what way is the future of acting influenced by technical innovations such as VR/AR? That's the fundamental idea of the reason why the Dutch Cassandra De Klerck founded Virtual Acting, a company specialized in teaching and consulting how to act in a different environment such as immersive worlds. 

Liz Rosenthal: "The Secrets of Submitting Successful Immersive Projects"

Liz Rosenthal, Founder & CEO of Power to the Pixel and Programmer of immersive content for Venice International Film Festival, had a tête-à-tête with our Editor-In-Chief Justine Harcourt de Tourville. In this VRTL podcast, Liz gives us a sneak peek behind the scenes of the selection of immersive works at Venice International Film Festival and tells us why creating value around a project is highly important.

Matthieu Labeau: "How Gaming Clears the Path for Cinematic VR"

Matthieu Labeau is the International Business Developer at Starbreeze Studios which you will probably know better as the creators of PAYDAY. With studios in Stockholm, Barcelona and Paris, the gaming developer, creator, publisher and distributor, Starbreeze targets the global market. In this VRTL episode, we discuss the social aspect of multiplayer games and cinematic VR, the future of headsets and the critical link between technology and storytelling.

Lucas Rizzotto: “Push the Boundaries of VR/AR Storytelling”

Springboard VR: "LBE is Bridging the Gap"

VR comes from all over the world–including places you don't immediately think of–like Oklahoma! In this episode, VRTL speaks with the two founders of Springboard VR, Will Stackable & Brad Scoggin, whose move into the VR space started 2.5 years ago. Brad came across virtual reality and immediately had to discuss it with his hometown pal, Will, who was already well aware of VR's impact on education, healthcare, etc. Brad and Will both soon realized that they wanted to enter the VR space, but h...

Tupac Martir: “From La Loteria to the Cosmos Within Us”

Martir Tupac is the creative soul behind Satore Studio and Satore Tech, two companies he raised as his own babies. Starting out in London, Tupac now has offices in New Mexico, New York and Paris. Martir has worked for numerous brands, celebs, and festivals (just to name a few: Coachella, Bon Jovi, and Beyoncé). In this podcast Tupac firstly goes deeper on his experience in the industry of emerging technology. Secondly, VRTL made a stop at Satore Studio to wonder why it's so important having ...

Eddie Lou: "VR is Booming in China"

Founder and Director of Sandbox Immersive Festival, Eddie Lou stepped on stage at Cannes XR bringing good news: “VR is booming in China.” How can it not? With a population of 1.3 billion, just a small fraction of users makes for a respectable market. The biggest tech companies of Japan (Ali Baba, WeChat, Tencent, Baidu) are all investing in VR ventures. Together with telecom companies the investments in XR content will only increase. Let’s listen to what Eddie Lou had to say on our VRTL Podc...

Amit Chopra: Iconic Engine’s Holometric Theatre Gives the Power Back to the Creatives

It’s barely over six months since Iconic Engine spun off from Digital Domain and they’re awareness is already going through the roof. Iconic Engine CEO Amit Chopra explains how his forward thinking XR company combines service projects with a global streaming platform and 60+ Location Based Entertainment centers already in China. Key to the seamlessness are the people working at Iconic Engine; they’re all industry veterans. Early April the company launched their newest product the ‘Holometric...

Joanna Popper: Roomscale VR is on the Rise

Next in our Cannes XR series is Joanna Popper, Global Head of Virtual Reality for Location Based Entertainment at HP. She has experience in both Hollywood and Silicon valley as a media executive within the TV, Digital, Film and Marketing space. While traveling the world from conference to festival, Joanna has become not only a thought leader and advisor to our community but also an inspiration. Within her position at HP, and by partnering with fellow operators and content creators, Joanna is...

Elie Levasseur: The Future of Cannes XR & NewImages Festival

The debut of Cannes XR was certainly not the first event on immersive for conference veteran Elie Levasseur. As a Head of Programming behind Paris’ Cross Video Days for five years, he is used to scouting for the best XR work from across the globe. 

Danilo Moura: "Experimenting with the strenghts of 360 video and volumetric"

Longtime Sony post- and production technologist Danilo used photogrammetry and volumetric video capture to make 7 Miracles. The seven-part episodic feature runs over 70 minutes, making it the first feature-length cinematic experience from Vive Studios. Danilo discussed some of the techniques involved to produce images in 8K. 

Diego Prilusky

Chief Creative and General Manager at Intel Studios, Diego Prilusky details the timeless magic of Grease and how it was re-imagined in newer technology from pixels to voxels. A big believer in volumetric capturing, Diego tells what it was like to work with Randal Kleiser, the original director for the film version of Grease–released over 40 years ago!

Julie Perion & Wiebe van den Ende: Working on Multimedia IP

While Incitement is performing well and getting traction in a lot of festivals, its makers, a Dutch-French duo, is hot on the trails of new work. Their new transmersive VR series is part of the Kaleidoscope Development Showcase and will consist of five thrilling chapters of two episodes told in non-chronological order.