yondr academy podcasts

After 4 years building mobile apps startups, frustrated by the limited options to efficiently monetize content, Sam Huber started Admix. 

Sam believes that immersive technologies (XR) are a change of interface, that will have an impact on humanity similar to the printing press or the screen. It is an inevitable transition. However, XR doesn't have a scalable business model yet. Admix aims to solve this problem and maximize revenue for the content creators while creating a better future for advertising.

Under 2 years, Admix has grown to a team of 26, helping 150 creators monetize their VR/AR/gaming content, and have raised over $2.4M along the way.

Co-Founder and CEO at VISUALISE, the virtual reality production studio and author of Virtual Reality Marketing. Henry Stuart is one of the industry leaders in producing VR content for marketing, brands and storytelling for editorial and entertainment.

A regular speaker at Virtual Reality events around the globe, Henry is a recognised thought leader on VR with articles published in Wired, the BBC, Marketing Magazine, the Financial Times, the Drum and many more of the UK and world's top press. Listen to Henry Stuart's podcast in which he describes Visualise's journey during the Gartner Hype Cycle, the challenges of hardware and the future of qualitative cameras.

Ricardo Laganaro is one of the most innovative filmmakers in Brazil, partner and Chief Storytelling Officer at ARVORE Immersive Experiences. His many-sided knowledge blends live-action, stop-motion animation, computer graphics and writing. Ricardo Laganaro entered the immersive world directing a full dome experience for Museum of Tomorrow in Rio. During 2016, he has directed 360º musical and advertising projects that sum more than 60 million views. At VR Days, we had a brief talk with Ricardo discussing the state of mind of VR in Brazil, his role in ARVORE and the story behind “The Line”.

Ricardo Laganaro is one of the most innovative filmmakers in Brazil, partner and Chief Storytelling Officer at ARVORE Immersive Experiences. His many-sided knowledge blends live-action, stop-motion animation, computer graphics and writing.

Laganaro entered the immersive world directing a full-dome experience for Museum of Tomorrow in Rio. During 2016, he has directed 360º musical and advertising projects that sum more than 60 million views. 

In this keynote session at VR Days in Amsterdam, Ricardo Laganaro gives us insights in the creation process of his newest experience 'The Line'.

Daniel started his career at a large Dutch corporate (ING) where he gained lots of hands-on experience with Scrum, Agile and Lean Startup techniques. He put his experience to good use mentoring start-ups at Rockstart in Amsterdam and has been involved in their smart energy accelerator program.

Spring 2014 he started the Dutch community VRNL with over a thousand members currently, bringing together everyone passionate about VR in the Netherlands. A year later he organised the first European meetup at NUMA in Paris, uniting the Dutch, German, Belgian and French communities and co-founded VRDAYS Europe.

In august 2015 he joined the Parisian-based startup VideoStitch as their VP Strategic Partnerships. Recently he founded VRBASE in Amsterdam with the goal of uniting several physical hotspots in Europe and to create a true VR/AR ecosystem. VRBASE is an incubator/co-working space and (experimental) content production company.

A Brussels-based spatial computing expert. Previously Leen worked for 10 years with several technology startups in Ghent, London, and Brussels. Since 2011, she has been focused on the democratisation of media across platforms and devices which led her to start LucidWeb in 2016. Today, LucidWeb is working with many broadcasters & VR/AR agencies across Europe. Recently the company also launched its white-label app-less distribution platform LucidWeb.pro. Leen is the co-founder of Women in Immersive Tech Europe.

Anastasia has been creating VR experiences for the travel industry since 2017 under the brand Frugal Hedonist. She has produced projects for international clients, government bodies, luxury hospitality brands, and non-profit organizations. In 2018, she received the “Best VR Travel Experience 2018” award at VR Festival in Las Vegas for her work in Mozambique. Her latest venture, Globetrotter VR, is creating immersive travel guides that use VR to help travelers research and plan their trips. Prior to venturing into VR, Anastasia worked in Private Equity in London. She holds a European Law LLB from the University of Warwick

Amy Hedrick is CEO and Co-Founder of CleanboxTechnology. As a thought leader providing insights into the immersive technology, she brings solutions and innovation in smart tech hygiene. Having led multiple teams from project inception and execution through profitable completion, she has proven herself an effective leader in diverse venues over the past decade. Most recently, Amy was Manager of Content and Digital Media for the think tank division of Li and Fung, a leading global consumer goods sourcing and manufacturing company based in Hong Kong. Her expertise includes conducting bespoke research and C-level reports within technology, retail, and cross-genre applications. Amy was one of four writers for the Fung Business Intelligence Center (FBIC). Previous to that, Amy’s focus was on content creation at the intersection of entertainment and education. Amy spent her early career working with international aid organizations, managing multiple teams of 50-150 healthcare, construction, and emergency intervention professionals, and overseeing direct-aid projects. Amy has worked in fundraising in both the profit and non-profit sectors.

Kiira Benzing is a director crossing the mediums of theater, hybrid cinema and virtual reality. “Cardboard City” her first venture in Virtual Reality won the Samsung Gear Indie Milk VR contest (2016). Following this VR film her interactive installation for “Cardboard City” combining VR and AR premiered at the 54th annual New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center. Her short film “Hilda” had its World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2017 and was distributed to Amazon and her recent film Diptych had its world premiere at Lincoln Center’s Dance on Camera (2018). She has been selected twice for the Oculus Launch Pad Program, Google’s Jump Start, and as a JustFilms Fellow in partnership with the Made in NY Media Center by IFP. She is currently working with live actors performing in social VR with the open software platform High Fidelity and she writes for the Medium blog “Alive in Plasticland”. 

World-building, especially crafting storyworlds that center on social good and provide the player with a sense of agency resonate with Benzing’s core mission. She loves working in all formats – 2D, 360, volumetric capture and 3D animation. Whether VR, AR, film or game she firmly believes the story must dictate the medium. She enjoys uniting technologists and creatives to inspire and push each other.

Kiira is proud to announce that her most recent project, Runnin’, is an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival 2019.

Benjamin de Wit is Founder and Festival Director of VR Days Europe. Since its first year in 2015, VR Days has the ambition to be Europe’s leading professional and creative XR event. With the 5th edition of VR Days coming up, Benjamin has found time and space in his hectic time schedule to discuss the future and past of VR Days and his expectations of the upcoming event. Benjamin goes deeper on the program of VR Days and recommends some must-see experiences / must-hear panel discussions at the festival.

In today's podcast, we're featuring Loren Hammonds, Senior Programmer at Tribeca Film Festival in New York City and the man in charge of feature-films and immersive. Tribeca Film Festival was founded by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal in direct response to the events on 9/11 to revitalize the community. Immersive is a significant part of the festival that is growing exponentially every year. In this episode, we'll talk about the evolution beyond film at Tribeca, how Loren is following up artists and why sustenance is essential to artists.