Virtual Production Event to Showcase Technology for New York Filmmakers
The Post New York Alliance (PNYA), the Hollywood Professional Association (HPA), and Fuse Technical Group will host a January 26th showcase of virtual production technology for New York filmmakers at Fuse 42, a full LED Volume located in Times Square. The presentation, led by Virtual Production line producers MESH, will focus on how filmmakers can use Unreal Engine to build virtual production assets and projects.
Featuring the virtual production project FATHEAD, produced by the ETC@USC, with presentations by executive producer Ben Baker (MESH), director C. Craig Patterson, and Narwhal CEO Felix Jorge, the event will showcase the benefits of virtual production for projects of all budgets and will demonstrate different workflows and levels of asset creation.
Epic Games will present on their education initiatives and next steps for filmmakers interested in this growing field. Finally, attendees can ask questions and learn more about this exciting technology at the Q&A session.
Event Details
Date: Thursday, January 26.
Venue: Fuse 42 LED Volume Times Square.
Duration: 1 hour with drinks.
Start: Two Sessions - 3pm and 6pm. Capacity of 60 people max per session.
RSVP at: the Post New York Aliance
Ben Baker
Virtual Production Line Producer & Consultant
Baker has supported filmmakers on 3 different continents for 22 years. He was Vice President of Studio Services for HBO, Vice President of Post Production at Vice Media and a head of department at Framestore VFX in the UK. He first started in Virtual Production after recieving the Epic Games Fellowship, and has consulted in Virtual Production for Amazon Studios, Disney TV and East End Studios. After producing the Virtual Production project FATHEAD for the ETC@USC, he established MESH to build the Virtual Production Department for Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis. MESH now produces Virtual Production projects for clients worldwide. He lives in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
C. Craig Patterson
Director
Patterson is a filmmaker from New Orleans’ 7th Ward neighborhood. His work has received distinctions from The Blacklist, Sundance Screenwriters Lab, Sundance Episodic Lab, Hillman Grad’s Rising Voices, the Nicholl Fellowship, in addition to the Award in Screenwriting from Columbia University. His latest film, FATHEAD, shot on an LED Volume stage was made with the help of Warner Bros. Discovery, EPIC Games, Universal, Sony, and Amazon Studios as the recipient of the Innovation in Technology grant from USC. While there, Patterson also received the George Lucas Family Scholarship and the Edward Small Award for writing and directing. Patterson has also produced projects for Carnegie Hall and directed the critically acclaimed one-hour comedy special for Roy Wood Jr, Imperfect Messenger.
Felix Jorge
Chief Executive Officer + Creative Director
A vibrant creative with a genuine passion for creating story-driven, interactive content through real time workflows, Jorge serves as the CEO, Head of Virtual Production, and Co-Founder of Narwhal Studios. His extensive career leading Visual Art Department teams has given him a deep understanding of the creative pipeline in all phases (Pre-Production, Production, and Post). Along with his experience on-and-off set, Jorge's dedication to innovation, enthusiasm for storytelling, and “Filmmaker First” mentality has helped shape Narwhal Studios into the revolutionary studio it is today.
Julie Lottering
Director, Unreal Engine Education at Epic Games
At Epic Games Lottering is building the talent pool of real-time artists that will redefine production techniques in the Games and Film industry. Lottering has more than 10 years’ experience in visualization with a background that combines global education systems, neuroaesthetics and content creation tools such as Unreal Engine, Metahumans, Twinmotion and Houdini. At Epic she sets the vision and global strategy for education, including secondary, post-secondary and upskilling industry professionals across M&E and Games.
Shelly Sabel
Creative Director, Fuse
Sabel is a NYC-based designer and creative director. Her 25-year design career spans art, fashion, theater, dance, live events, immersive experiences, and virtual production. Favorite projects involve storytelling through content and experiences that showcase emergent technologies as well as then getting those technologies into the hands of a broader spectrum of artists. As a creative producer, she communicates clients’ visions with technology teams to create strong communities and push the boundaries of what can be accomplished. Sabel holds an MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she is an adjunct faculty member.
Moderator
Isabel Sadurni
Virtual Production Producer, MESH
Sadurni works as a producer, editor and writer, including collaborating on scripted and non-fiction projects across multiple platforms in partnership with PBS, Amazon Studios, Disney Television, HBO, Discovery, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Recent credits include serving as Virtual Production Producer for Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis, coordinating workflow, technology development, vendor relationships and crewing for their bespoke in-house virtual production department. She now consults for productions, vendors and major studios on virtual production methodologies spanning television, films and commercial projects.