Visual Effects Society Present "What Is Real?" At 8th Annual VES Summit

The Visual Effects Society (VES) has announced the theme of their eighth annual VES Summit - "What is Real?"" The annual day-long event will be held Saturday, October 29th and will feature top leaders in the visual effects industry, educational panels and break out sessions as well as a networking lunch and mixer at the conclusion of the event.    This year's event will be presented  at the Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills on  Saturday, October 29^th. 

The VES Summit will extend the idea of “What is Real?” beyond visual constructs to the many new business models in our changing industry. Whether captured or created, images are representations of reality. Experiences, whether virtual or physical, generate their own realities. And new technologies, storytelling forms and platforms take us further into uncharted territories. What is real in the end, and do audiences care — as long as they're enjoying the experience?    Top creatives, executives, thought leaders and visionaries from diverse disciplines will explore this evolution of visual imagery and the VFX industry landscape in a TED Talks-like atmosphere.

This year's key not speaker is Peter Loehr, CEO of Legendary East, Legendary Pictures' China joint venture.   He is one of the producers of The Great Wall - directed by Zhang Yimou, starring Matt Damon, Willem Dafoe, Pedro Pascal and Andy Lau – the largest ever U.S.-China co-production and the largest production ever shot in China, slated for release in China on December 16 and worldwide release through Universal Studios in 2017. He has forged a storied career as a producer with deep expertise and experience working with and within the diverse Asian film market.   In addition to Loehr, the VES has announced Albert "Skip" Rizzo will be a featured speaker during the event.  Rizzo, an award-winning psychologist/neuropsychologist, is the Director of Medical Virtual Reality at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies and Senior Editor of the MIT Press Journal, Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments.  Rizzo conducts research on the design, development and evaluation of Virtual Reality systems targeting the areas of clinical assessment, treatment and rehabilitation across the domains of psychological, cognitive and motor functioning in both healthy and clinical populations.

Among the panel discussions that will occur during the day are "Cinematography and VFX: What Constitutes "Real"and  "Visual Effects in the Wild" which will focus on the relationship VFX plays with new mediums and new technologies.  This year's business round tables will feature discussions on technologies including 360 video, VR cinematography and AR production presented by leading companies including: All These Worlds LLC, Animatrik Film Design, Chaos Group Labs, Deluxe Creative Services, Jaunt Studios, Limitless Ltd., Mikros Image, Radeon Technologies Group, The Mill and VFX Legion.

To learn more about the VES Summit and to purchase your tickets, please visit:

https://www.visualeffectssociety.com/news-events/summit.