VIEW Conference Unveils Speakers
July 13, 2017

VIEW Conference Unveils Speakers

#VIEWCONFERENCE2017 , Italy’s renowned VFX, computer graphics, digital media games and VR conference ,  announces the addition speakers to the show’s line-up of industry leaders who will present at the 18 th  annual event October 23-27, 2017 in Torino, Italy.     

Among those JUST ANNOUNCED to attend are four-time Oscar winner Joe Letteri, Oscar-winner John Nelson, two-time Oscar-winner Bill Westenhofer, and Oscar-winner Martin Hill. These top talents join the roster of more than 25 industry professionals already confirmed. Weta Digital Senior VFX  

Supervisor Joe Letteriwill present the evolution of visual effects technology and artistry behind  War for the Planet of the Apes, the final film in the trilogy. 

 

John Nelson will share the visual effects work on the highly anticipated film Blade Runner 2049, scheduled for release October 6.

Bill Westenhofer brings Wonder Woman, this summer’s critically acclaimed, superhero blockbuster.

 

Martin Hill, a Sci-Tech award winner, supervised Weta Digital’s visual effects work on Luc Besson’s visually complex and beautiful Valerian.

 

Other speaksers include:

Randy Lake, President, Sony Pictures Imageworks 

Larry Cutler, CTO, Baobab Studios 

Leslie Iwerks , Director, Iwerks & Co .  

Elaina Scott, Animation Supervisor for the popular CW television series Super Girl

Bernard Yee, Executive Producer and Program Manager, Oculus Games 

Megan Brain, Artist and Paper Sculpture Designer 

LK Shelley, Managing Partner, Affiniti Ventures, AV(M), an investor in early stage mobile first startups 

Jason Bickerstaff, Character Artist, Pixar Animation Studios

 “VIEW is special not just because we bring so many amazing people to Torino, but because of the collaboration we see among our speakers and our attendees,” said conference Director Dr. Maria Elena Gutierrez. “VIEW has become not only a place where ideas are presented, it’s a time and place where ideas are incubated.”

 

For aspiring game developers, VIEW conference proudly announces a call for submissions for its second annual Games Development Boot Camp Accelerator Program, with 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 (one week mentoring online and one week during the VIEW conference itself). At the end of the boot camp, winners will be invited to pitch their project to potential investors. This exciting opportunity is open to console, mobile, social, casual, and online start-up game companies with no restriction on genre, platform, or distribution method, as well as to middle-ware, publishing and distribution companies.  

 

In addition to keynote speaker Eric Darnell, who co-founded Baobab Studios to explore animation in virtual reality, other VR artists and practitioners coming to VIEW 2017 include Phil Chen, co-founder of HTC Vive; Sci-Tech Award winner Paul Debevec, a senior staff engineer at Google VR; Vicki Dobbs Beck, executive in charge of ILM’s XLab; Maureen FanCEO of Baobab Studios; Larry Cutler, CTO at Baobab, Shannon Tindle, director of the Google Spotlight Story On Ice; Eloi Champagne, technical director for the National Film Board of Canada’s VR; Bernard Yee, executive producer and program manager for Oculus Game VR; and David Putrino, director of rehabilitation innovation at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai.

 

Animation aficionados will applaud the addition of speakers Kris Pearnwho directed  The Willoughbys; Kim White, Pixar’s lighting director on Disney/Pixar’s  Cars 3; two-time Oscar nominee  Rob Coleman head of animation for the   Lego Batman Movie; two-time Osca nominee Mark Osborne, director of The Little Prince; Noelle  Triaureau, production designer on  Smurfs: The Lost Village; Carlos Zaragoza , production designer on  The Emoji Movie; Cinzia Angelini, director of Mila, and Francesco Filippi, director of  Mani Rosse; as well as legendary animator and acting teacher Ed Hooks.

President of Sony Pictures Imageworks Randy Lake will bring a celebration of the visual effects and animation studio’s 25th anniversary to VIEW.  Since its founding, the studio has contributed imagery to more than 100 live-action and animated productions.

The VIEW Conference’s popular awards competition recognizes animated short films and videogames created between January 1, 2015 and September 15, 2017. The awards categories are: Best Short, Social Contest, Game Contest, and ItalianMix.