Chris Pfaff produced and moderated the ‘Building Infrastructure for a Better Metaverse: How to Ensure Seamless VR and AR Experiences’ panel at the VR AR Association’s Metaverse Platforms & Avatars event, on December 17, 2021, with panelists including:

• Cindy Mallory, emerging tech strategist, American Tech Services/chairman, New York Chapter, VR AR Association
• Aaron Pulkka, producer, Pulkka Creative/co-chairman, Location-Based Entertainment Committee, VR AR Association
• Marcin Klimek, CEO/co-founder, ExplodedView/chapter president, Poland, VR AR Association
• Luis Bravo Martins, CMO, Kit-AR/former co-chapter president, Portugal, VR AR Association
• Chris Pfaff, CEO, Chris Pfaff Tech Media LLC/co-chairman, Storytelling Committee, VR AR Association (moderator)

This session discussed the tools and methodologies necessary for more adaptive and readily integrated VR and AR experiences, across the enterprise, consumer, and industrial domains. Breakthrough design, including UX/UI and UE, as well as accessible WebXR and AR, were also discussed, as pathways to a more inclusive and seamless immersive future.

Cindy Mallory (upper row, left); Aaron Pulkka (upper row, right); Luis Bravo Martins (middle row, left); Chris Pfaff (middle row, right), and Marcin Klimek (bottom row)

Aaron Pulkka shows off recent work, Cryptostream

Aaron Pulkka discusses his work with Amber Labs

Marcin Klimek shows off a cat avatar

Luis Martins shows off some AR for industrial use

Chris Pfaff produced and moderated the ‘Producing in XR: How to Navigate Challenges’ panel at the VR AR Association‘s VR AR Global Summit Online North America, on Friday, June 4, 2021, with three of the leading producers in the VR/AR space, including: Voyelle Acker, from Small Creative; Tupac Martir, from SATORE STUDIO, and Michael Owen, from MediaCombo.

You can watch the full panel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlWUMPIBNWY

The group discussed how VR/AR producers are having to overcome challenges regarding on-set production, approval in VR app stores, and navigation of evolving mobile AR technologies to deliver compelling stories for audiences that are more distanced than ever.

Voyelle Acker, from Small Creative

Voyelle shows off recent work

Michael Owen, from MediaCombo

Michael Owen shows off the Morgan Library AR tour

Tupac Martir, from Satore Studio

Tupac Martir shows off recent work

Chris Pfaff moderated ‘The Multi-Device, Multi-Platform Challenge’ at Streaming Media West Connect on November 4, 2021, with panelists including:

• Rema Morgan-Aluko from Fandango
• Aaron Rosenthal from Conviva
• Byron Saltysiak from WarnerMedia
• Nick Colsey from Sony Electronics

You can watch the entire session at:

Byron Saltysiak (upper left); Chris Pfaff (upper row, 2nd from left); Aaron Rosenthal (upper row, 2nd from right); Rema Morgan-Aluko (upper row, right); Nick Colsey (lower row, left), and Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen (lower row, right)

Chris Pfaff moderated the ‘Subscription Fatigue: Are There Too Many OTT Services?’ panel at Streaming Media West 2021 on November 1, 2021. An incredibly diverse panel that featured Jeff Allen, from ShortsTV; Jeanne Sachs, from Penthera; Rivka Golomb, from WarnerMedia, and Paul Pastor, from STRUUM.

You can view the entire session at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLaKOgdHucQ

Chris Pfaff (upper row, 2nd from left); Jeff Allen (upper row, 2nd from right); Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen (upper row, far right); Jeanne Sachs (lower row, right); Rivka Golomb (lower row, middle), and Paul Pastor (lower row, right).

Chris Pfaff produced and moderated the ‘Virtual Theatre: The Metaverse Smashes the Four Walls’ panel at the VR AR Global Summit Online, Europe, on Friday, October 1, 2021, with some of the leading producers of virtual theatre and dance:

– Lorne Svarc, CEO/artistic director, Technodramatists

– Kiira Benzing, director/producer, Double Eye Studios

– Brandon Powers, creative director/choreographer, Brandon Powers Projects

– Blair Russell, theatre producer, Blair Russell Productions/producer, Crux

This panel discussed the emergence of XR theatre production, including VR and AR integration with narrative original and adaptive works, as well as how to blend XR technologies with live and virtual audiences. The theatre world has developed communities for live, virtual productions that will continue to evolve as the COVID-19 pandemic rages.

The full panel can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/VctoD3e-qAc

Kiira Benzing (upper left); Brandon Powers (upper middle); Blair Russell (upper right); Lorne Svarc (lower left), Chris Pfaff (lower right)

Brandon Powers shows off virtual choreography

Kiira Benzing discusses her Virtual Repertory Theatre

Blair Russell shows off recent work

Lorne Svarc discusses Technodramatists’ work

Lorne Svarc shows off some of Technodramatists’ landmark ‘AliBi’ production

Chris Pfaff produced and moderated the ‘Producing in XR: How to Navigate Challenges’ panel at the VR AR Global Summit Online, Europe, on Wednesday, September 29, 2021, with some of the leading global producers of VR and AR content:

– Tupac Martir, founder, Satore Studio

– Michael Owen, co-founder/principal, MediaCombo

– Rafael Pavon, creative director, The Mill

The group discussed their experiences in overcoming production and distribution challenges in various VR and AR projects, including a recent NFT project by Tupac Martir.

You can view the entire panel at:

https://youtu.be/4Tg4S6ZA6Ak

Michael Owen shows some of his 360-degree documentary production of Lake Baikal

Rafael Pavon shows some of his amazing work on ‘Memoria,’ inside the La Garma cave in Spain

Tupac Martir shows off a VR NFT sculpture

Tupac Martir in action

Tupac Martir shows off ‘Dr. Crumb and the School of Disobedient Pets’

Michael Owen shows off recent work

Chris Pfaff appeared on the production finance panel at the Catalyst Story Institute Festival (at the Kitchi Gammi Club in Duluth, Minnesota) on Friday, October 1, 2021 with (left to right):

Seitu Jemel Hart, CEO, Careers in Entertainment, Chris Pfaff, CEO, Chris Pfaff Tech Media LLC, Michelle Miller, Viviana Zarragoitia, VP at Three Point Capital, Sonja O’Hara, from Bohème Film, and Matthew Valentinas, Esq., Of Counsel at Sennott, Williams and Rogers, LLP. Many thanks to Philip Gilpin, Jr., Nikki Coble, and Jennifer Plotzke, and the entire Catalyst Story Institute team for producing an exceptional four days of exuberant creativity.

Chris Pfaff and Viviana Zarragoitia before the panel

Viviana Zarragoitia discusses film financing as Michelle Miller (near left), Sonja O’Hara, and Matthew Valentinas (right) listen

Sonja O’Hara discusses financing of her projects

Chris Pfaff moderated the ‘Live Events in the ‘New Normal’ panel at the Streaming Media Magazine Connect event, on Thursday, August 26, 2021, with Bonnie Comley, CEO/founder of BroadwayHD; Fabrice Sergent, managing partner of Bandsintown Group, and Jordan Gremli, VP, artist development at DICE.

The panel discussed the return of live events to venues across the globe, yet the virtual live market – music, theater, dance – has been alive and well since the start of the pandemic, and will likely evolve into a hybrid model for venue owners, artists, promoters, and audiences.

You can watch the full panel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWq7bHRTeYo&t=22s

Bonnie Comley (upper left), Chris Pfaff (upper middle), Jordan Gremli (upper right), Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen (bottom left), Fabrice Sergent (bottom right)

Chris Pfaff moderated the ‘Built to Scale: Growing Your OTT Service with Your Audience’ panel at Streaming Media Connect 2021 on Wednesday, August 25, 2021, featuring Rick Allen, CEO of ViewLift; Emily Powers, head of BritBox LLC North America; Dave Lankford, VP of Product, The Walt Disney Company Streaming (Hulu, ESPN+, Disney+, and Star+), and Nicole Fencel, senior manager, the Roku Inc. Channel.

The panel discussed the record OTT usage in the summer of 2021, and how the OTT viewing trend that accelerated during the first year of the pandemic has continued unabated. In this session, we will discuss how operators and content providers deal with subscriber growth and unpredictable viewing spikes.

‘Built to Scale: Growing Your OTT Service With Your Audience’ can be viewed in its entirety at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNMegTfXWFg&list=PLcSb1s2U3uyBx4h76YL2Dzt56k-c60ygq&index=7

Chris Pfaff (upper left), Emily Powers (upper middle), Nicole Fencel, (upper right), Dave Lankford (lower left), and Rick Allen (lower right)

Chris Pfaff produced and moderated the ‘Virtual Theatre: The Metaverse Smashes the Four Walls’ session at the VR AR Global Summit Online North America on June 3, 2021, featuring some of the leading producers of immersive theatre and dance, including: Kiira Benzing, from Double Eye Studios; Blair Russell, from Crux; Brandon Powers, from Brandon Powers Projects, and Lorne Svarc, from Technodramatists.

You can view the entire session at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQdKsKS3qnw

The panel discussed the emergence of XR theatre production, including VR and AR integration with narrative original and adaptive works, as well as how to blend XR technologies with live and virtual audiences.

Kiira Benzing (upper left); Brandon Powers (upper middle); Blair Russell (upper right); Lorne Svarc (lower left), Chris Pfaff (lower right)

Brandon Powers shows some of ‘Queer Skins’

Kiira Benzing shows off some of ‘Finding Pandora X’

Blair Russell demos new work

Lorne Svarc demos new work

Lorne Svarc shows some of ‘AliBi’

Blair Russell introduces a new virtual world