2020 VIEW Conference Is Offering Free Registration to Stream Its Upcoming Program
The VIEW Conference is offering free streaming access to its 2020 program, which runs from Oct. 18-23 in Turin, Italy.
“There has been so much bad news in 2020, so I’m thrilled to be able to share some great news for a change,” said conference director Maria Elena Gutierrez. “Everyone could use some extra light and joy in their lives, so we have made the unprecedented decision to make this year’s conference completely free.” Those who register will have streaming access to the conference’s 125 online and on-site talks, workshops, master classes and panels.
“Every session will be available online, allowing anyone to attend anywhere in the world,” said Gutierrez. “This is a fantastic chance to grow the VIEW community and to welcome into our family participants who are unable to travel to Torino or buy a full access pass.”
Keynote speakers include Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull, Industrial Light & Magic’s Dennis Muren, and director and Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Phil Tippett. In addition, GoogleVR senior engineer Paul Debevec will keynote the VIEW 2020 Business Innovation Summit.
“Our keynotes bring such an extraordinary depth of talent and experience to the conference,” said Gutierrez. “Yet they are only the start. This year, I’m especially proud of the diversity of topics and speakers. For example, 43 of our speakers are women, including studio heads, animated film directors, producers, visual effects artists and game developers. We have a number of highly topical talks and panels addressing the challenges of production during the COVID-19 pandemic, plus others looking at the latest production tools and techniques – including a panel on virtual production with ‘Westworld’s’ Jay Worth, Sam Nicholson of Stargate Studios and Habib Zargarpour from Unity. We have panels on storytelling, lighting, women in virtual production … the list goes on.”
More than 30 studio heads and creative executives will be participating in the event. A panel on women in the animation industry will include Paramount Animation president Mireille Soria; Osnat Shurer, producer of Disney’s “Moana” and the upcoming “Raya and the Last Dragon”; and Maureen Fan, co-founder and CEO of Emmy-winning VR shop Baobab Studios.
Ramsey Naito, Nickelodeon’s president of animation, will take part in a panel on diversity and inclusion in the industry, and will also host a showcase of work by Nickelodeon’s Miguel Puga (“The Casagrandes”) and Niki Lopez (“Santiago of the Seas”). ILM’s Rob Bredow will speak about the future of entertainment.
A number of directors are on the slate as well including, Kris Pearn (“The Willoughbys”), Sergio Pablos (“Klaus”), Kyle Balda (“Minions”), Peter Ramsey (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”), Walt Dohrn (“Trolls World Tour”), Joel Crawford (“Croods: A New Age”), Conrad Vernon (“The Addams Family”), Eric Darnell (the “Madagascar” movies) and Jeff Rowe (Nickelodeon’s upcoming “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”).
A panel featuring Jorge R. Gutierrez (“The Book of Life,” Netflix’s upcoming “Maya and the Three”), Tony Bancroft (“Animal Crackers”) and Cartoon Saloon co-founder Tomm Moore (co-director of “Wolfwalkers”) will focus on the future of cinema.
Animation supervisor Bobby Podesta, lead lighting technical director Max Bickley and technical director Markus Kranzler will discuss the making of Disney-Pixar’s animated feature “Soul” in a special presentation.
Other speakers and panelists include top VFX pros Roger Guyett, Hal Hickel, Stefen Fangmeier, Anders Langlands, Jay Worth and Tim Webber; AR/VR/XR and real-time media pros Ron Martin of Unity, Sebastien Deguy of Adobe, and Baobab’s Kane Lee, Larry Cutler; and game developers and artists Nikola Damjanov of Nordeus, concept artist Sebastien Hue, “Respawn” art director Todd Sue, Guerilla Games’ Jan-Bart Van Beek, Nordeus co-founder Milan Jovovic, and Naughty Dog’s John Sweeney and Erick Pangilinan.
Before the VIEW Conference opens, it will host one more free PreVIEW streaming event featuring “Animal Crackers” co-director Tony Bancroft. Details will be announced later.
“The impact of COVID-19 has challenged the entire world. Like so many businesses around the globe, the digital media and entertainment industries have risen to these challenges, committing to daring and innovative solutions while maintaining focus and optimism. VIEW Conference is proud to celebrate the remarkable achievements of so many extraordinary people in this turbulent year,” said Gutierrez. “Earlier this year, I wondered how we could create a conference in 2020 with the same value as previous years,” she added. “But when we reached out to our international VIEW family, the response was fantastic, and I’m immensely proud to say we have gone beyond anything I could have imagined. VIEW 2020 will be interactive, innovative, inspiring – and free for everyone to enjoy. I couldn’t be more excited.”
Registration is open on the VIEW Conference website.
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