yondr academy podcasts

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 VFX...

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 all ...

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 Podcast....

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 4D ...

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 lea...

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!

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.

A.R. Rahman

Red carpet events were absent in the basement of the Palais, but on Tuesday the buzz and excitement (and photographers) surrounding A.R. Rahman felt like one. On stage to talk about Le Musk, a sensory virtual reality experience. Rahman is multi-Academy and Grammy award-winning musician, composer and singer, most famous for his music in Slumdog Millionaire . He talked about his collaboration with Intel Studios and his debut as VR director....

Ravi Velhal

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! Global Content Technology Strategist, Ravi Velhal talked about the enormous amount of data that goes into these productions to enhance storytelli...

Gayatri Parameswaran: "Tips on Filming VR in War Zones"

Bombay-born but Berlin-based, Gayatri Parameswaran, another selectee of the Kaleidoscope Development Showcase shared some of the harrowing behind the scenes from her documentary piece Home After War and her Kaleidoscope piece Kusunda , which immerses the viewer in the world of a dying language.

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.

XRDB: "The online database for Cinematic VR experiences"

Fabio Hofnik (Brazil) & Mathieu Gayet (France) have joined forces to create XRDB, a new resource for the immersive community. An online database, XRDB is dedicated to all digital immersive content such as 360 films, VR, AR and other immersive experiences.

Kane Lee: On Bonfire and Celebrities

Kicking off our Cannes XR podcast series is Kane Lee, Chief Content Officer at Baobab. This San Francisco-based studio is led by CEO Maureen Fan and Chief Creative Officer Eric Darnell (Director Madagascar ). Kane talked about the newest Baobab project Bonfire and how the Studios have continued to evolve stylistically with each consecutive piece. Among other topics covered are the ways named talent in VR production is helpful.

Lucas Wilson: Supersphere Makes It Super Live

VRTL spoke with Lucas Wilson of Supersphere, the VR and live 360 production powerhouse, about how to best deliver an exceptional audience experience. From sporting events to live concerts, Supersphere has been behind the scenes hauling flypacks, checking sound, and setting up cameras so viewers feel like they are smack in the middle of the action. They debuted capturing a musical performance in a festival setting at SXSW and recently were the partner for livestreaming in Oculus Venues, at F8. Lu...

Ian Nelson: 5G is Gonna Mean a Ryot for VR

Growing up with Southern California in his backyard, Ian Nelson chose to go into the entertainment industry, a decision that seemed almost inevitable. Though he had a true, deep love for film, he soon felt that Hollywood was not as innovative a sector as he wanted and so made the leap to immersive. In this episode, Ian shares with us how he went from some of the most renowned Industry companies to Ryot Studios (right after Jaunt) and also lets us in on how 5G will shake things up for immersive....

Yelena Rachitsky’s Search for Storytelling Treasure

The path to experimental storytelling was pretty much uncharted terrain, but that didn’t faze Yelena Rachitsky. Her quest to learn about interesting new forms of narrative eventually got her to Oculus, where she is now Executive Producer for Experiences. VRTL met with Yelena at her office in Los Angeles to hear the backstory behind integrating more participation and engagement with storytelling. Most recently, Yelena was part of the team behind Traveling While Black a powerful immersive project ...

Story as a Protective Device: Skip Rizzo on VR Storytelling

Albert “Skip” Rizzo, Research Director at University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies for Medical Virtual Reality is a legend. Having done research into virtual reality’s impact on psychological, cognitive and motor functioning for decades, Skip shares in this episode how storytelling can go beyond pure entertainment and have life-altering consequences. Justine Harcourt de Tourville, VRTL’s Editor-in-Chief, dives right into this fascinating conversation with the “Ayat...

Light Sail VR: Interactive Stories are Both Art and Process

The two Co-Founders behind Light Sail VR and makers of Speak of the Devil (the VR horror project that embraced multiple outcomes) spoke with VRTL about the art of narrative in virtual reality. Matthew Celia & Robert Watts put in serious hours to thinking about how to tell a story and what effect presence and perspective will have on viewers. They share their insight and findings with us in their usual friendly and engaging manner.

Canaan Rubin Exclusive - How Production Pros Can Tame Technology

Canaan Rubin, currently with Iconic Engine, but most recently Executive Producer with Jaunt VR in London, shares his path from broadcast television to immersive. Despite the differences between the two mediums, Canaan reveals the important common requirement to getting good work produced.

Avinash Changa: "Why You Can Connect with Tree Bark"

Avinash Changa believes in VR. As part of the team behind Ahorse , one of the projects selected for SXSW 2019’s Virtual Cinema, Avinash from WeMakeVR was happy to share his reasons why virtual reality is still a relevant and necessary medium. But what happens next? VRTL’s Editor-in-Chief, Justine Harcourt de Tourville, was happy to have the discussion—especially since Avinash spent time conducting neuro-scientific research (on frame rates or connecting with tree bark, for example) to support his...

Hell Yeah for Kaleidoscope’s New Model

Kaleidoscope’s René Pinnell is a humble man, but he gets positively animated when it comes to talking about getting VR made. After significant time looking at other funding mechanisms, and holding a lot of conversations, René gave a talk at SXSW 2019 describing alternative ways for creators to get VR projects made. We were pleased that René joined us for a podcast at VRTL going more into detail on how and why....

Behind the Scenes with Three Projects at Virtual Cinema

To give a sample of this year’s programming, VRTL spoke with three teams behind projects exhibited at Virtual Cinema during SXSW 2019. Wiebe van den Ende (the Netherlands) directed Incitement which uses virtual reality to explore both “outer” and inner dialogue between a two young lovers. Next, Zillah Watson (UK), from BBC VR Hub, commissioned Nothing to be Written , an artistic look at soldiers during WWI and the limited communication they were allowed. The piece features beautiful music to int...

Antoine Cayrol: For VR to Grow, Credibility is Essential

Atlas V’s Antoine Cayrol joins us at the poolside podcast studio where he, among other things, instructs us on the importance of using the correct language when referring to VR makers. Cayrol does not take a doom and gloom approach to VR, but rather advocates for using commercial projects (which pay the bills and keep the lights on at many a VR studio) as time to hone one’s craft. Antoine also talks about the importance for VR to develop credibility with its audience (and ways to make that happe...