FilmGate Interactive Speakers & Special Guests

Neil Carty is Head of Cosm Studios & Labs at Cosm, an experiential media and immersive tech company reshaping global content experiences. He oversees Cosm’s in-house fulldome production and storytelling lab, guiding original programming across the company's venues and 700+ planetarium partners worldwide.

Jordana Leigh is Vice President of Artistic Programming at Lincoln Center, where she has curated over a thousand performances from 100+ nations, developed 11 series, and commissioned 60 artists. She led the opening of the David Rubenstein Atrium and David Geffen Hall and is now guiding Lincoln Center’s exploration into XR Arts. Previously, she consulted for artists and festivals across the US, Europe, and Africa, and co-created the Africa Contemporary Arts Consortium. She has served as a jury member and panelist for music showcases and holds a BA from the New School and an MFA from Brooklyn College.

Dr. Jan Asmus, CFO and Head of Corporate Development at the MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, has extensive experience in media funding. After completing a doctorate on media identity construction, he transitioned to consulting and funding innovative formats in XR, games, film, and series. Today, he focuses on strategic planning for emerging media formats.

Diliana Alexander is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of FilmGate Miami, FilmGate Interactive, and the Downtown Media Center, driving innovation in Florida’s media ecosystem. She has produced content for platforms like Netflix, HBO, and PBS and currently directs 'Stiltsville VR' for Oculus Meta and programs a monthly dome series for the Frost Science Museum.

Savannah Niles is a multi-disciplinary product and design leader with 9 years in XR. She's currently at Meta, where she leads design for the Quest Core OS. previously, she served as Director of Interaction Design and Product Experience at Magic Leap, where she designed and shipped diverse AR products and holds 20+ patents. An MIT Media Lab graduate, Savannah has crafted interactive experiences for Walt Disney Imagineering and Twitter and has been a SIGGRAPH juror for five years.

Lindsay is an award-winning game designer, developer, author, and professor, currently the Knight Chair and Director of the MFA in Interactive Media at the University of Miami. He is also Vice President of the Higher Education Video Game Alliance and a 2019 Games for Change Vanguard Award recipient. Lindsay has curated major events like the Smithsonian SAAM Arcade and Games for Change Festival, authored over 100 publications, and consults for organizations using playful media for real-world solutions.

James Powderly is an award-winning technology designer whose inventions empower artists to augment reality, with impactful contributions in digital art, open source, and AR technology. His work is featured in MoMA, Snapchat hardware, and even on Mars. As the newest board member at Filmgate Miami, James focuses on supporting diverse creators at the intersection of cryptoart, generative AI, and AR.

Joanna Popper is an award-winning media and technology executive with a strong track record in Hollywood and Silicon Valley, known for launching innovative content and products. Most recently, she was Chief Metaverse Officer at Creative Artists Agency, previously serving as Global Head of XR at HP and EVP of Media & Marketing at Singularity University. Joanna now advises media and tech companies on emerging technologies, including AI and spatial computing, and serves on various boards.

Leigh Tanner is Head of Global Partnerships at VIVE Arts, an arts initiative that supports artists and cultural institutions to experiment with new technologies.

John Canning is the Director of Developer Relations for AMD, focusing on delivering products that support the creator space. With a career spanning XR, games, and virtual production, he previously served as Executive Producer for New Media & Experiential at Digital Domain. John is committed to helping companies leverage dynamic media and transformative technology for impactful storytelling. He has also chaired the New Media Council for the Producers Guild of America, representing producers in broadband video, games, and XR. Prior to AMD, he was VP of Interactive Experiences at NBC Entertainment Digital, where he developed interactive experiences for major TV shows like The Voice and America’s Got Talent.

King Willonius is a creative powerhouse redefining the intersection of comedy, music, and technology. His viral AI hit, BBL Drizzy, showcased his trailblazing approach to merging AI and pop culture. He also launched The Young and The Thirsty, the first live audio soap opera on Clubhouse, demonstrating his limitless creativity. Recognized on the TIME 100 list in AI for his groundbreaking innovations, King Willonius is not just ahead of the curve—he’s setting it.

Sam Schoonover is a cofounder of Wide Worlds, cofounder of Forward Studio, and Innovation Lead for Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. At Wide Worlds, he and his team empower brands to create IP with their audiences. At Forward, he and his team work at the intersection of entertainment and new technologies to help clients scale online. At Coachella, they produce and manage the festival's technology partnerships and strategy.

Sam Hyken has had a rich and diverse musical career, which has spanned the globe. Currently residing in Miami, Florida, he is in constant demand as a performer, producer, arranger, and composer. Along with Jacomo Bairos, he is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Nu Deco Ensemble, Miami's Genre-Bending Orchestra. He also serves as C.E.O of the organization.

With a background in XR leading fan experience for AR activations at Coachella and Live Nation festivals, Cam now oversees all customer and world-building operations at Wide World. Cam works 1-1 with Wide Worlds clients like Black Mirror, Monad, Humanity Protocol and many others to ensure their worlds are captivating and engaging for their fans, and is looking forward to helping you do the same.

Karen is a product designer for AR and AI. Karen works at Snap Inc. on Spectacles, leading design for core experiences including My AI, Video Calling and parts of Snap OS.

Alec J. Warren, director of the Frost Planetarium since 2023, brings over 15 years of informal education experience to the Frost Science team. He focuses on enhancing the museum's mission through hands-on programming, science shows, exhibits, and technology-based learning activities. Previously, he was the education manager at the Museum of Science & History in Jacksonville, Florida, where he served in various roles and became a nationally certified STEM educator. Alec curated signature exhibitions and developed award-winning K-12 programs.

Rose Bond is an innovative artist who merges cinema and architecture through multi-channel animated installations that illuminate urban spaces with often-overlooked stories. With a background in frame-by-frame, hand-drawn animation, she focuses on creating media experiences beyond the traditional movie theater. Her current work-in-progress, a collaboration with composer inti figgis-vizueta and Roomful of Teeth, explores the intersection of animated projection and live performance in new spatial and audio dimensions.

Lauren Schroeder is a new media artist and XR developer based in Austin, Texas. Her interactive work has been showcased at events like the Bumbershoot Arts and Music Festival and dadaLab. Recently, she participated in the CATS+ Residency to create a social VR world made entirely of cardboard. Lauren’s projects blend various mediums and technologies, drawing inspiration from magical realism, science, and psychology, to craft immersive experiences that provoke thought and foster meaningful connections.

Melanie Coombs is a producer of award-winning film and television, including the Oscar® winner Harvie Krumpet, Annecy Grand Cristal winner Mary and Max, and co-producer on Guillermo del Toro's Oscar®-winning Pinocchio, produced by ShadowMachine. Currently, she is the producer of In The Know for Peacock NBCU at ShadowMachine. Melanie is an Ambassador for Screenrights and a member of Women in Animation, Women in Film, and the Animation Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences®.

Lilian Hess is an artist and filmmaker based in Berlin and London, with a BA in Modern Literature and an MFA in Screen Documentary from Goldsmiths University. Her work spans film, photography, and immersive formats, focusing on the politics of the body and personal histories. Her feature documentary Observations at 65º South was acquired by Netflix in 2022. She has directed acclaimed XR projects like Cosmos Within Us, Haunted Hotel, and Ekhos, featured at major festivals, including the Venice Film Biennale and BFI Film Festival. Her latest installation, Duchampiana, premiered at the 81st Venice Film Festival and will exhibit in Prague, London, Brussels, and Miami in autumn 2024.

Camille Baker is an artist-performer, researcher, and curator specializing in immersive experiences, participatory performance, and interactive art. Her work explores non-verbal communication and embodiment in real and mixed reality contexts, utilizing XR, haptics, e-textiles, and wearable devices. Camille is a Senior Tutor for the Digital Direction Master's Programme at the Royal College of Art and serves as a Professor of Interactive & Immersive Arts.

As son of a magician Steye likes to create magic with the newest media and technology. He specialises in making the audience play the main part in his stories and experiences. Like for example with his latest project: The Smartphone Orchestra.

Bianca Shonee Arroyo-Kreimes, known as Shonee, is a Montreal-based Costa Rican-Canadian digital media artist and MFA candidate in Intermedia at Concordia University. A recipient of the 2021 EQ Bank Emerging Digital Artists Award, her work has been showcased at MUTEK, the National Film Board of Canada, and Filmgate Miami. Drawing inspiration from her upbringing on the edge of a rainforest in Costa Rica, Shonee creates virtual worlds where 3D embodiments of organisms reflect the shapes and stories of plants and animals, aiming to foster appreciation for the endangered non-human world amid ecological crisis.

Kim Grinfeder is an artist, designer, and creator focused on using emergent technologies to address social and environmental issues. As the founding Chair and Professor of Interactive Media at the University of Miami, he leads the Institute of Data Science and Computing’s creative computing efforts and runs UMVerse, driving over 50 interdisciplinary research projects. His work, which explores socially impactful narratives using immersive media, has garnered global recognition at festivals like the Webby’s and has been exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

Nyla Innuksuk, a filmmaker and Mixtape VR owner, co-created Marvel's Snowguard and directed Slash/Back, premiering at SXSW 2022. Her short Trapped debuted at the Venice Biennale, and she's developing her next feature, In The Heart of the South.

Mélanie O’Bomsawin uses video in all its forms. Born to one W8banaki parent and another one quebecois, she uses her installations, her documentaries and her projections to explore her connexion to the ones who were here before her and the ones who will come after.

Kim Picard, of Innu, Kanienkehaka, and Anishinaabe descent from Pessamit, designs high-end Indigenous collections and represented Canada at the 2010 Indigenous Fashion Showcase during the Vancouver Olympics. She co-created the Espace Hubert Reeves in Charlevoix, Quebec, and has performed sacred chants and rituals at events like DOMAGAYA and Fous de dieu. Kim is co-director of the 360° immersive animation project 'Laissez-nous raconter notre lien au territoire, aux rêves et aux astres,' showcased at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

Elodie Pollet has over ten years of film production experience, starting in animation at Mikros Image in Montreal. In 2018, she co-founded Extérieur Jour, focusing on auteur cinema and producing impactful documentaries and narrative films like ADONIS and OSKAR. Elodie is committed to exploring new formats such as 360° immersive films and VR. She serves on the board of UPPCQ and participates in leadership programs like Allia and EAVE's Producers Workshop 2022. In 2019, she joined Indigenous production company Terre Innue to support projects like the immersive animation 'Laissez-nous raconter notre lien au territoire, aux rêves et aux astres,' showcased at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

Sarah Ticho is a multi-award-winning artist, entrepreneur, and change-maker focused on health, wellbeing, and embodied storytelling through immersive technologies. She creates transformative experiences that enhance self-awareness and compassion. As the director of the XR experience "Soul Paint," narrated by Rosario Dawson, Sarah has received multiple accolades, including the Unity for Humanity Award and the SXSW Special Jury Prize in 2024.

Niki Smit is an interactive artist creating playful experiences at the intersection of art, science and education. As co-director of Monobanda he has directed several award winning experiences including Explore Deep, Remembering, In My Absence and The Shape of Us. In 2020 he was awarded the Dutch Directors Guild award for Best Digital Storytelling.

Sarah Silverblatt-Buser is a dancer, director, choreographer, educator, and writer from New Mexico. She is currently directing the VR experience "Collective Body," produced by Atlas V and commissioned by Lincoln Center. Recently, she choreographed an interdisciplinary concert blending Steve Reich's music with French parkour and created a motion capture performance for an AR experience at the Musée d’Orsay. Previously, she held positions at cultural institutions like the Aspen Institute and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. A member of Onassis ONX, Sarah is based in Paris.

Elizabeth Walker is a brand marketing and publicity expert with significant experience in VR. She held roles in marketing at ILM Immersive, overseeing publishing and brand strategy, and at HTC Vive, where she led B2C marketing for Viveport, including launching its VR subscription service. Elizabeth also contributed to brand marketing at Lucasfilm and managed marketing campaigns at ILMxLAB. Additionally, she has a background in journalism and merchandising, with early experience at Pacific Coast Feather Company and Ernst & Young. Elizabeth earned a Bachelor’s in Business from Washington State University and studied briefly at Universitat de Barcelona.

Eric Jellson is the Area Director of Sales & Marketing for Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants’ properties in
Florida, where he brings more than forty years of experience in the hospitality industry to his role. As
the first employee of Kimpton EPIC Hotel, he also supported the opening of all Kimpton Hotels &
Restaurants in Florida and Grand Cayman. The portfolio of hotels that he oversees today includes
Kimpton EPIC Hotel, Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel, Kimpton Angler’s Hotel, Kimpton Palomar South Beach,
Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel & Spa.

Before founding Floréal in 2014, Avi Amar worked
with several production companies before joining
Orange Studio. Since the creation of Floréal, he
has passionately produced films from different
universes and formats that have been selected
and won awards at many prestigious festivals
(Cristal d'Annecy, Grand Prize in Venice, selected
at the Directors' Fortnight, nominated at the
Emmy Awards, etc...). Avi Amar has always sought
to support and fervently defend the talents who
trust him, placing high standards, innovation,
desire and artistic sensibility at the heart of his
company.

Kirsty is a strategic leader and multidisciplinary producer with a strong record in securing international commissions and partnerships, driving organizational change, and producing award-winning, ambitious works. She is the Managing Director of Anagram, a creative studio that pioneers interactive storytelling and immersive experience design to inspire fresh perspectives. Anagram’s accolades include an Emmy nomination, the 2021 Grand Jury Prize for Best VR Work, and the 2024 Venice Immersive Achievement Prize, alongside previous wins at Tribeca and Venice.

Audrey is a seasoned French-Canadian XR producer who began her career in film and TV, producing over 40 films, series, and web series. In 2010, she led Canada’s first OTT platform at the public broadcaster, pioneering digital rights and original content strategy. In 2016, Audrey transitioned to VR and AR, establishing herself as a sought-after consultant, executive producer, and industry mentor. She launched *Marco and Polo Go Round*, a VR film on love and relationships, which gained global acclaim. In 2023, Audrey joined Blanca Li’s team, driving distribution, production, and new projects for their innovative XR studio.

Mohammed Bouabdallah, 45, is seasoned diplomat who has held significant leadership roles advocating for French culture on the global stage. Prior to his appointment as Cultural Conselor of France and Director of Villa Albertine, he served as Cultural Conselor of France in Cairo and Director of the French Institute in Egypt (2016-2019), and Head of the Political Affairs Department at the United Nations Directorate of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, in charge of the Security Council (2019-2023).

Paul Mourey is an expert in communication and digital strategy. After more than a decade advising both French and international top-tier brands, institutions, and start-ups on their innovation and communication strategies (including ELLE, Thalys, Orange, Yuka, Caisse des Dépôts, the Agence Française de Développement, and France Télévisions), he has been leading the digital strategy for the Centre Pompidou in Paris since 2018.

Margot is a Swiss-American curator based in the United Kingdom. She is the Head of Curatorial at Superblue, a groundbreaking enterprise dedicated to producing, presenting, and engaging the public with experiential art.

Alain C. Brusch holds the position of Global Head of Digital Platforms at Art Basel, where he is integral to the digital evolution of one of the world’s most influential art fairs.

Nonny de la Peña, the "Godmother of Virtual Reality," is a journalist and VR pioneer. Founder of Emblematic Group, she creates immersive VR experiences highlighting social and humanitarian issues, blending storytelling and technology to evoke empathy.

Jeanne Marchalot, with over 25 years in TV production and post-production, specializes in narrative storytelling and training in TV writing. She joined France Télévisions in 2018 to build the Chronicles of the Sun VFX studio and now leads France.tv StoryLab, focusing on immersive VR content.

Nancy Baker Cahill is a transdisciplinary artist and filmmaker exploring systemic power, consciousness, and the human body through hybrid, research-based projects in AR, immersive media, and drawing. Founder of 4th Wall, an AR public art platform, she creates works addressing equity and civic engagement. Her acclaimed AR installations have been exhibited globally, and her groundbreaking film SEEK premiered at Cosm Los Angeles in 2024. A recipient of numerous awards, including the LACMA Art and Tech Grant and Harvard metaLAB affiliation, her work is held in major collections such as the Whitney Museum of American Art and LACMA.

Salomé Chatriot (b. 1995, Paris) creates procedural performances and multimedia works exploring the intersection of art, technology, and biodata. Using a spirometer to capture her breath in real-time, she generates data informing her paintings, sculptures, videos, and installations. Selected by Cécilia Alemani for the 59th Venice Biennale's Biennale College Arte workshop in 2021, she directed Our Symbiosis Infected Her Fertile Systems, shown at the Shed Museum and HEK Basel. Chatriot has performed internationally and is currently featured in Between Pixel and Pigment at Germany's Marta Herford Museum.

Katayoun Dibamehr, based in Canada and Paris, is a producer and curator specializing in immersive media. Formerly with Montreal’s FNC EXPLORE, she now works at Floréal Films, producing award-winning projects like The Hangman at Home-VR and Goliath: Playing with Reality.

François, CEO and co-founder of Digital Rise, is an award-winning producer specializing in immersive storytelling. Since 2018, he has developed multi-format projects blending real and virtual worlds, including a groundbreaking entertainment format for location-based venues in 2023.

A user experience designer, educator, and visual artist with expertise in organizational leadership, human-centered design, and a genuine passion for design thinking. Starting as an arts educator, Corbin honed his skills in creating meaningful learning experiences designing visual arts curricula, empathizing with learners, and fostering collaboration among diverse individuals in his home state of North Carolina and then in Brooklyn NY. This drive to understand and assist others encouraged his deeper dive into UX design, earning an MFA in user experience research/strategy and user interface design from the University of Miami. During his time at the University of Miami, he co-led a student UX team acting as a liaison with clients such as the Florida Audubon Society and The Melissa Institute. With experience teaching courses in weblab and design thinking at the University of Miami. Corbin served as the former Interactive Media Director with the Miami Museum of Contemporary Art of the African Diaspora, where he integrated his experiences in planning and executing usability testing, design thinking workshops, and AR workshops in partnership with the Miami Dade public library system. Currently, he is the Manager of Interpretive Media and Gallery Programing at the Pérez Museum of Art where he works with an exceptional team of teaching artists and creative media specialists to create in-gallery experiences from digital exhibition guides to long-form audio conversations.

Lauren Monzón is a Miami-based producer and cultural organizer specializing in film, video games, and digital storytelling. Her work, exploring economic science fiction, has screened at Sundance, SXSW, Berlinale, and more. A 2023 Ford Foundation JustFilms Fellow, she manages Digital Engagement at Pérez Art Museum Miami, is a resident at Bakehouse Art Complex, and serves on the board of Third Horizon Film Festival.

Leo Castañeda (b. 1988, Colombia) is a multimedia artist and game designer blending Latin American Surrealism with digital media. His episodic games and immersive installations combine painting, video, mixed reality, and sculpture. A Knight Foundation Arts + Technology Fellow, he has exhibited globally, including at Pérez Art Museum Miami, Bronx Museum, and Museu do Amanhã. Featured in outlets like PBS and Vice, he is currently a resident at Miami's Bakehouse Arts Complex.