Kickoff the New Year with the Dallas Producers Association and an amazing case study conversation focusing on the Emmy-nominated VR experience MLK: Now is the Time. Join the team from Flight School Studio and the Audio Director from Skywalker Sound as they discuss the concept and commissioning of this experience with Time Studios, the techniques they used to bring historical archive footage and audio into virtual reality, and the creative process in bringing a message that transcends time into a medium that transcends two-dimensional screens.

This conversation is perfect for beginners and experts in innovative tools. While this event utilizes incredible immersive tech, our conversation will focus on creativity, ideation, story, and the blending of traditional media methods with new tools and technology all while telling an important story for top their clients.

This is the perfect event if you want to learn how creatives at the top of their game develop award-winning work that innovates.

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It’s been sixty years since Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech, but the messages from that speech still resonate today.

“MLK: Now is the Time” is an immersive journey that explores key themes of Dr. King's speech and highlights systemic inequities that persist in our society. Through first-person stories and interactions, “MLK: Now is the Time” drops you into a thoroughly modern interpretation of a contemporary March on Washington that will inform and inspire a new generation of activists.

The experience examines three topics addressed in Dr. King’s speech: housing, policing and voting. Audio from the “I Have A Dream” speech is layered throughout, culminating in a scene that depicts the continued legacy of Dr. King's words through modern-day protests.

** WINNER: Audience Award: 2023 SXSW XR Experience Spotlight
** NOMINEE: Emmy: 2023 Outstanding Emerging Media Program
** NOMINEE: Social Impact Award: 2023 AIXR VR Awards

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In the hour before the presentation, VR headsets will be available to those interested in viewing this engaging experience. Have an Oculus Quest at home? You can download it for FREE on the Oculus Quest store.

TIME:
6PM: Networking - Light bites and beverages will be provided during the networking hour.
7PM: Presentation
8:30PM: Open Q&A

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LOCATION:
XR 214 Studios
A Dallas Based Virtual Production Studio. We house a 42x13ft Absen LED wall inside our 7,500 sq ft studio. Full ICVFX studio with Motion Control and camera tracking. This is a new studio at of 2023 and the DPA's first event here! If you're interested in checking out this incredible space, get a ticket!

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SPEAKERS:

Director - Limbert Fabian
Creative at The Experience Trust and Co Founder of The Dept. of Wonder

Limbert Fabian is an Emmy Award-winning director, co-Head of Creative and co-Founder of The Dept. of Wonder. His directorial work always begins with the underlying message and a question, ‘What do I want the audience to feel?’. Alongside the team at Experience Trust, a creative collective of technologists and artists, Limbert takes the answer to that question and crafts beautiful worlds and engaging characters that are true to the story. In Oct of 2022 he and his partners opened The Dept. of Wonder — an immersive theater experience, leveraging actors set against fantastical digital installations. Most recently he wrapped up direction on “MLK: Now Is The Time” — a VR project for TIME Studios and Meta - that aims to make the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tangible.

His co-directorial work on the film and game experience for Chipotle Mexican Grill, “The Scarecrow”, has won every major advertising award including Cannes Lions, Clios and Webby Awards.

Prior to The Experience Trust he was an essential creative leader at the Academy-award-winning Moonbot Studios, and the immersive design studio, Flight School Studio. His freelance illustration work has appeared in The Village Voice, Playboy, The Atlantic and published multiple times in the prestigious industry annuals American Illustration and the Society of Illustrators.

The New York City native of Dominican descent is married and a proud father of three children, who serve as his most demanding audience and source of constant inspiration.

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Producer - Sulivan Parker
Senior Creative Producer, Head of Production at Flight School Studio

Sulivan is an award-winning producer, designer, and writer with more than 20 years' experience at the intersection of narrative, games, and emerging technology.

He's worked with teams to develop interactive toys and animated short films, and develop and publish mobile, console, VR, and AR games and experiences, based on original IP and in partnership with brands, agencies, and other collaborators.

At companies such as Leapfrog Toys, Gazillion Entertainment, Moonbot Studios, and Flight School Studio, Sulivan has led and produced products which have been featured on the iOS App and Playstation stores, have been nominated for or won Emmy, Annie, Cannes Golden Lion, Clio, Webby, and Toy of the Year awards, and have earned Academy Award shortlist and New York Times Bestseller designations.

He’s produced original work in collaboration with Sony London and Sony Santa Monica studios, Meow Wolf, and Google, as well as branded content for companies such as Radio Flyer, Dolby, Nickelodeon, and Chipotle, among many others.

Most recently, Sulivan produced - in collaboration with TIME Studios, and Meta’s VR For Good - “MLK: Now is the Time”, a VR experience which explores how the remarks delivered by Dr. King at 1963’s March on Washington are still urgent and relevant today.

Sulivan is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the Producers Guild of America.

Audio Director - Kevin Bolen

I supervise Skywalker Sound’s interactive audio teams, which combine decades of cinematic audio experience with bleeding-edge technologies to create unforgettable immersive audio experiences including the Academy Award-winning location-based VR experience "Carne y Arena", the Emmy-nominated VR experiences "Star Wars: Vader Immortal" and “MLK: Now is the Time”.

I collaborate with partners like Disney, Lucasfilm, Marvel, Legendary, ILM Immersive, and Flight School Studio to extend the power of cinematic storytelling into location-based experiences and home entertainment alike, from feature films like "The Fabelmans" to theme park attractions like "Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run".

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Discussion Moderator - Tramaine Townsend

A strong purveyor of aesthetics, my works take on the role of narration as well. Creating bodies of work that go along a story usually within itself or for a larger construct that I’m ever building. I explore a minimal approach with calculated production and intensive design. Utilizing subjects in various mediums for viewers to align it as an experience. One through simple and direct imagery.

My years of experience in production and post-production, have branched me into working across many industries including advertising, branding, marketing, and entertainment. My role at times exceeded more than my job title for particular projects, taking on the role of art and creative direction. Utilizing my skills as a photographer, I quickly took on filmmaking and directing. From fashion films to music videos and more recently, commercial directing. Simultaneously, I’m active in the art community locally and abroad, to activate my exhibitions, events, and installations.

Clients include Stetson USA, Crown Royal, eBay sneakers, Haggar, Nike, A&E TV, d magazine, New York Times, patron magazine, JCPenny, Sony, Def Jam Records, Columbia Records, Warner Bros. Music, JBW watches, Breda watches, Capital One.