Talks from experts at Netflix, Paramount and Framestore as well as a free full-day virtual production course for filmmakers are part of the Cannes’ first Global Virtual Production Summit.

Attendees of Cannes Film Festival will be able to access five days of virtual production activities powered by disguise’s platform at the film festival’s inaugural Virtual Production Summit. Created in partnership with Film Soho, Marché du Film and Cannes Next, the summit will feature talks, demos and workshops on the future of entertainment with studio heads and filmmakers at Netflix, Paramount, Framestore, Nordisk Film and more.

The Cannes Film Festival, which was one of the first to embrace Virtual Reality and the technologies it brought to the film industry, takes another step towards the future with this summit, which brings free training, talks and demos to festivalgoers. For anyone that wants hands-on experience, the summit will offer a taster of disguise’s Virtual Production Accelerator course, which provides in-depth training on everything from lighting techniques to the color science behind LED walls.

Hosted in a dedicated virtual production studio running on the disguise real-time production platform, the course will take participants on a journey from fundamental technical knowledge to on-set production techniques and beyond, enhancing skills with backgrounds such as video plates, 2.5D and Unreal Engine scenes. By the end of the day, participants will have the essential in-camera VFX knowledge to break into this emerging sector.

“The Cannes Film Festival is integral to the history of the movie industry. That’s why, as lovers of film, we’re delighted to be a part of how the festival is embracing the future,” says Alex Wills, CXO at disguise. “Our team has years of experience helping creatives and technicians work with LED volumes to create films and shows for studios like Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon Studios. By launching Cannes’ first Virtual Production Summit, we hope to use all we’ve learned to help the next generation of filmmakers tell stories that don’t just blur the line between real and virtual, but also between the audience and the big screen.”

Discussions and seminars on virtual production

Chris Greenhill, Co-Founder and Director of Film Soho, said, “We are delighted to be official partners of Marché du Film and Cannes Next at this year’s festival, and to be collaborating with our friends at disguise to curate this incredible global event!”

Annabel Martin, Director of V-Studios and Operations at Film Soho, added, “V-Studios are hugely proud to be at the forefront of this cutting-edge technology, bringing our 1.5 mm pixel pitch LED screen powered by disguise from London to Cannes exclusively for the first Cannes Film Festival Global Virtual Production Summit.”

To showcase the future possibilities of virtual production, disguise will be showcasing several technologies during the summit. These will include Invisible, an AI-driven markerless mocap software built in collaboration with Move.ai. By making it easy for any actor to map their movements onto a digital character in real time, Invisible can be used to drive digital twins, gesture-triggered particle effects like smoke or fire and even avatars in metaverse experiences. There will also be an exclusive drinks reception hosted by the disguise team on Saturday, May 20, where they will unveil the teaser for disguise’s first virtual production short, “Space Ryder.”

For those interested in attending, the summit will kick off on May 17 and its VP-dedicated events will take place across the Marché du Film venues, Palais des Festivals and Film Soho’s Innovation Hub. Further panel discussions and seminars on virtual production and all of its disciplines will be held on the Main Stage, located in the heart of the Palais des Festivals.

Follow the link to register for disguise’s Virtual Production Accelerator at Cannes. Follow this other link to learn more and see the full program of Virtual Production Summit events.