Ana Serrano
Managing Director
IDEABOOST (Digital Entertainment Accelerator at the Canadian Film
Centre)
Bio
Ana Serrano is the Chief Digital Officer of the CFC and Founder of CFC Media Lab, the world-renowned institute for interactive storytelling created in 1997. Serrano is driving the digital transformation of the CFC into a unique blend of talent, product and company accelerator and creative production house. Most recently, she launched Canada's first digital entertainment accelerator IDEABOOST and serves as its Managing Director. To date, Serrano has directed the development of over 130 digital media projects, mentored over 70 start-ups, and produced some of Canada’s seminal works in interactive media. Such projects include tthe most recent award-winning Webby-Honouree Body/Mind/Change, starring David Cronenberg, an interactive narrative experience that generates a physical 3D printed object, and its VR extension Body/Mind/Change Redux, She has received numerous awards from the digital media, film, and theatre industries in both Canada and the U.S., including a Digital Media Trailblazing Award in 2015 from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
Sessions
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What Should Matter in VR09:50 AM - 10:10 AM Jun 1Today we know the impact of networked, digital media in cultural production has been vast bringing both opportunities and challenges/threats to creators. We have accessible and cheaper tools of production, but also new incumbents acting as gatekeeping monopolies; we have direct engagement with our audiences, but also major issues regarding privacy and big data; and we have faster and faster broadband but unevenly distributed around the world. This next evolution of technology, called the “final platform” by Oculus Rift’s chief scientist, brings full-blown immersion into this networked digital world we live in. But this next evolution of technology – VR - will also more than likely amplify the pressures that define the Internet as we know it today. How then, do we ensure that we design this “final platform” in a way that addresses these pressures and indeed creates a more inclusive, mindful and intentional media space? This talk addresses not only why VR matters but what should matter to VR