Carlos Cruz, who worked for more than fifteen years in video production in Brazil, came to NYFA to learn about the emerging VR technology. “It was a great opportunity to come to NYFA,” said Cruz. “To study here was like a dream.” Cruz’s project allowed us to explore a blossoming relationship which began as an accidental encounter in Grand Central Station.
“I find VR absolutely captivating as a medium,” added Catherine Dionne Henry, a NYFA VR student who is a native New Yorker. “We are at the forefront of a technological transition and I feel that this is a very exciting medium to be in.”
Henry’s final project “Welcome to Harlem USA!” captures the legacy and culture of Harlem, which she says is a neighborhood in a period of transition and change.
The projects were all impressive, making the 8-Week program a huge success. The Academy looks forward to its next batch of VR pioneers and wishes the best of luck to its recent graduates.
In VR Faculty news, NYFA VR instructor Caitlin Burns headed a panel discussion on Virtual Reality at the Las Vegas Convention Center on April 23. Burns and other panelists tackled questions as to whether the technologies will be around for the long run and explored how to use and take advantage of the growing technologies, uncover how the experiences will look down the road, and the potential revenue strategies.
Currently serving as Vice Chair of the Producers’ Guild of America New Media Council, Burns has spent a decade working with narrative intellectual property franchises, independent artists, brands and philanthropic initiatives. Developing content strategies, overseeing multiplatform storyworlds and supervising localization campaigns spanning the globe, she understands what it takes to create a success story.
Her past work includes: “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Disney Fairies,” “Tron Legacy” and “Disney Descendants” for The Walt Disney Company, James Cameron’s “Avatar” for Fox, “Halo” for Microsoft, “The Happiness Factory” for The Coca-Cola Company, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” for Nickelodeon and “Transformers” for Hasbro.
She has also worked with Sony, Showtime, Pepperidge Farm, Scholastic, Tribeca New Media Fund, FEMSA, Diageo, Wieden+Kennedy, Odd Division, Tool of North America, Hush, Campfire, Reebok, Stratasys and UNICEF. Her independent feature McCarren Park, a film distributed by geolocated mobile app, premiered at the Tribeca Film Institute’s Interactive Day and screened at New York Film Festival.