Exclusives

Kiira Benzing, executive creative director of next-generation production firm Double Eye Studios, and founder of the XR and virtual reality entertainment group Virtual Repertory Theatre, has been announced as the closing keynote at the July 21 inaugural, all-virtual Entertainment Evolution Symposium event.

Benzing’s discussion — “Storytelling, Live Performance & Data” — will focus on the emerging world of live performance in VR, and why data plays a crucial role in determining outcomes for the VR audience experience. She’ll take attendees behind the curtain of the Venice Film Festival award-winning production “Finding Pandora X” and share insights into participatory storytelling, how to engage with audiences in virtual environments, and the role of branching narrative.

Other main stage highlights of the Entertainment Evolution Symposium include:

• It only seems like yesterday Comcast/NBCUniversal launched the first-of-its-kind AVOD streaming service, Peacock. Now, one year later, Jenny Burke, EVP of advertising strategy for NBCUniversal, will pull back the feathers, showing how the service first took flight … and how it’s since soared to new heights.

Attendees will hear a Peacock perspective of the larger video ecosystem, get insights into the lessons NBCUniversal has learned along the way, learn about the streaming service’s unique advertising strategy, and get a glimpse at what viewers can expect next, in the presentation “Bird is the Word: 1 Year Later, Look Behind Peacock’s Feathers.”

• “Stick and Balls, Sports and Gaming” will feature a collection of sports entertainment experts discuss how eSports and gaming are redefining what fans watch, how users interact and new avenues for programming distribution. NFL legend Ahman Green, host of “Ahman Green Gamer’s Lounge” on the iHeartPodcast Network, Gary Kleinman, founder of Skins.GG and WHAM Network, Harley Parks, CEO of BearClaw Gaming, and Eric Yoon, president of ESTV (eSports TV) will be on hand.

• Superna Kalle, president of international networks for Starz, will be interviewed by Eric Iverson, CTO of the global M&E vertical for Amazon Web Services, in the presentation “Streaming Wars and the Global Connected Consumer.” They’ll examine how a data-driven strategy is crucial when it comes to finding opportunities in end-to-end efficiencies throughout the international distribution supply chains.

• “Productions Go Virtual: A New Evolution of Content Creation” sees Derick Stace-Naughton, SVP of strategy and business operations for Quixote Studios, and Jonathon Lee, head of the Innovation Lab at Amazon Studios, look at how new formats for creating worlds and universes are being revealed on a regular basis, with new advances in virtualization allowing teams to work anywhere, at any time and at nearly any budget.

The Entertainment Evolution Symposium event is produced by the Hollywood IT Society (HITS), Pepperdine’s Graziadio Business School, and MESA. The event is sponsored by Whip Media, PacketFabric, 5th Kind, EIDR and the Trusted Partner Network.

To register for the Entertainment Evolution Symposium, click here.

To activate an Entertainment Evolution Symposium sponsorship contact Evie Silvers at [email protected] or Garrett Finley at [email protected].