VIEW Conference 2017 Announces Final Program

TURIN, Italy -- More than 50 speakers are confirmed for VIEW CONFERENCE 2017, Italy’s largest digital media conference. The 18th annual event promises to offer inspiring and practical content to artists, animators, game developers, storytellers, content creators and other students and professionals who work with computer graphics.

Six visual effects Oscar winners, two Academy Sci-Tech award winners, animated feature film directors, virtual reality pioneers, computer graphics researchers, game developers, photographers, writers and studio executives will converge in Turin, Italy from October 23-27.

“One of the special reasons to attend VIEW is that our speakers like to stay for the entire week and attend talks given by the other speakers, so our attendees have many opportunities to interact with them,” conference director Dr. Maria Elena Gutierrez commented. “VIEW brings together the world’s best and brightest minds across multiple disciplines, in a uniquely intimate and collaborative place where creatives can incubate and celebrate.”

Newly confirmed speakers include:

• Scott Stokdyk Academy Award winner (VFX Supervisor, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets) will showcase VFX from Luc Besson’s visually complex and stunningly beautiful Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets – from concept, design and inspiration to final color timing.
• Paul Debevec, Academy Award winner (Senior Staff Engineer, Google VR, ICT) will give attendees a glimpse inside the latest work from Google VR and ICT.
• Martyn Culpitt (VFX Supervisor, Logan, Image Engine company) who will breakdown the hit film Logan, highlighting the visual effects behind Wolverine’s gripping final chapter.
• Jan-Bart Van Beek (Studio Art Director, Guerrilla Games) will take attendees through the journey that Guerrilla Games underwent to design the majestic post-apocalyptic world of one of the hottest new game franchise of the year, Horizon Zero Dawn.
• David Rosenbaum (Chief Creative Officer, Cinesite Studios) and Warren Franklin (Executive Producer, Cinesite Studios) present at talk titled ‘It’s All Just Funny Business: Looking for IP, Talent ad Audiences.’
• Elisabeth Morant (Product Manager for Google’s ‘Tilt Brush’) discusses the company’s acclaimed VR painting application in a talk titled ‘Real Decisions, Virtual Space: Designing for VR.’
• Donald Greenberg (Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Computer Graphics, Cornell University) discusses the ‘NEXT-Gen of Virtual Reality.’
• Shawn Walsh (Visual Effects Executive Producer and General Manager, Image Engine)
• Simone Kraus (Managing Director and Animation Supervisor, Trixter)
• Steve Muench (Early Investor ‘Loving Vincent’) will present ‘The Labor of Loving Vincent: Animating Van Gogh to Solve a Mystery.’
• Deborah Fowler (Professor of Visual Effects, Savannah College of Art and Design/SCAD) will showcase ‘Procedural and Production Techniques using Houdini.’
• Daniele Federico (Co-Founder and Developer, Toolchefs) will present ‘Make us Alive. An In-Depth Look at Atoms Crowd Software.
• Dylan Sisson (Internationally recognized toy designer, cartoonist and digital artist) speaks about ‘Creating Characters in Virtual Reality.’
• Jason Bickerstaff (Character Artist, Pixar Animation Studios) will present ‘Crossing The Dimensional Rift.’
• Steve Beck (VFX Art Director, ILM) will discuss ‘The Future of Storytelling.’
• Nancy Basi (Executive Director, Film and Media Centre – Vancouver Economic Commission)

These newly announced speakers join a spectacular slate of world-renowned keynote presenters including:

• Joe Letteri, the four-time Oscar winner (Senior VFX Supervisor, Weta Digital), who will present the evolution of visual effects technology and artistry behind his latest film, War for the Planet of the Apes.
• Rob Pardo, legendary videogame designer (CEO, Bonfire Studios) whose career work includes World of Warcraft.
• Eric Darnell, (Chief Creative Officer, Baobab Studios) whose career includes co-directing & co-writing all DreamWorks’ Madagascar films and projects including Invasion, Asteroids, Rainbow Crow and more, showcases the immersive storytelling possibilities of VR.
• Cinzia Angelini, (Director, Mila) presents ‘The Making of Mila: A Quality Animated Film Via the World Wide Web.’
• Vicki Dobbs Beck, (Executive in Charge of ILMxLAB) presents ‘Step Inside Our Stories,’ an exciting showcase of ILMxLAB’s adventures and learning’s in the VR, AR and mobile spaces.
• John Nelson, an Oscar winner who will share the visual effects work on the highly anticipated film Blade Runner 2049.

For a complete listing of speakers visit: http://www.viewconference.it/speakers

VIEW CONFERENCE 2017 also includes the Second Annual Game Development ‘Boot Camp’:

For aspiring game developers, VIEW conference has also offered its second annual Games Development Boot Camp Accelerator Program (applications due August 31). An international panel of judges will give six early-stage game companies the chance to be mentored for two weeks by industry experts and equity partners who invest in the industry or have a financial interest in the sector. For complete information: http://www.viewconference.it/games-bootcamp/

Also featured are the VIEW Awards:

The VIEW Conference’s popular awards competition recognizes animated short films and videogames created between January 1, 2015 and September 15, 2017 (submissions due September 15). For complete information: http://www.viewconference.it/awards-and-social-contest/.

Source: VIEW Conference 2017

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.