VRTL Summit Agenda and Speaker Lineup Announced for April 26 Event

LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - April 05, 2017) - Digital Media Wire, Paramount Pictures and venture capital investor, Sunny Dhillon, today announced the agenda and speakers for the inaugural VRTL Summit, an invite-only thought leadership summit focused on virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) in entertainment and gaming. The event, slated for April 26 at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, will bring together VR/AR executives from Hollywood studios, alongside Silicon Valley founders and investors.

"We felt that the VR/AR industries were saturated with introductory level events," said Ned Sherman, Counsel and Director at Manatt Digital and Founder of Digital Media Wire. "As the industry has evolved, our objective with VRTL Summit is to create a high-level, invite-only event with expert speakers and discussions geared toward those that are knowledgeable in the space," added Sunny Dhillon, Partner at Signia Venture Partners, an early stage venture capital fund.

VRTL Summit speakers include:

• David Alpert, Executive Producer, The Walking Dead
• Anna Sweet, Head of Content, SocialVR, Facebook
• Brenda Freeman, Chief Marketing Officer, Magic Leap
• Thomas Gewecke, Chief Digital Officer & EVP, Strategy and Business Development, Warner Bros. Entertainment
• Csilla Kozma Andersen, Head of VR Content, Nokia OZO
• Chris Heatherly, EVP of Games & Digital Platforms, NBCUniversal
• Peter Levin, President of Interactive Ventures & Games, Lionsgate
• Rob Lister, Chief Business Development Officer, IMAX
• David Liu, Creative Director of Virtual Reality, Viacom NEXT
• Jamil Moledina, Games Strategic Lead, Google Play
• Nonny de la Peña, Founder & CEO, Emblematic Group
• Bei Yang, Art & Media Pipeline Executive, Walt Disney Imagineering
• Jake Zim, SVP, Virtual Reality, Sony Pictures
• Ted Schilowitz, Futurist, 20th Century Fox
• Robert Stromberg Founder & Chief Creative Officer, The Virtual Reality Company, Oscar winner, Visual Effects, Avatar
• Jesse Sisgold, President & COO, Skydance Media
• Joel Breton, Head of Vive Studios, HTC
• Bruce Vaughn, CEO, Dreamscape VR
• Taylor Freeman, CEO & Chief Evangelist, Upload Inc.
• Graeme Devine, Chief Game Wizard, Magic Leap
• Vicki Dobbs Beck, Executive in Charge, ILMxLAB
• Tom Hayes, SVP, Head of New Media, Paramount Pictures
• Tony Parisi, Head of VR and AR, Unity Technologies
• Matt Huang, Partner, Sequoia Capital
• Niko Bonatsos, Managing Director, General Catalyst Partners
• Amit Kumar, Partner, Accel​
• Amitt Mahajan, Managing Partner, Presence Capital & Co-Founder, Farmville
• Anarghya Vardhana, Senior Associate, Maveron
• Brent Bushnell, CEO, Two Bit Circus
• Chris Shoff, Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP
• Cliff Plumer, CEO, The Void
• Doug Griffin, Founder & CEO, Nomadic
• Drew Larner, COO, Within
• Ebbe Altberg, CEO, Linden Lab
• Gil Baron, CEO, Mindshow
• Ikrima Elhassan, Co-Founder, Kite and Lightning
• Jake Rubin, Founder & CEO, AxonVR
• Janko Roettgers, Senior Silicon Valley Correspondent, Variety
• Jon Goldman, Managing Partner, Skybound
• Josh Austin, VP of Worldwide Licensing & Interactive, Paramount Pictures
• Neville Spiteri, Co-Founder & CEO, Wevr
• Nick Tuosto, Managing Director, Global Co-Head of Internet & Digital Media, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
• Peter Akemann, President, Skydance Interactive
• Sam Wick, Head of Ventures, UTA
• Ray Davis, CEO, Drifter
• Seth Shapiro, Governor, Television Academy
• Shiraz Akmal, Co-Founder & CEO, SPACES
• Steve Raymond, CEO, 8i
• Timothy Dodd, SVP, Head of Corporate Development & Strategy, Technicolor
• Tipatat Chennavasin, General Partner, The Virtual Reality Fund
• Zvi Greenstein, General Manager, Nvidia

Topics include raising capital and the technical challenges associated with content creation. The event will feature a series of roundtable discussions and keynotes, followed by audience member Q&As. Sessions include "Challenges and Opportunities Ahead for VR/AR Companies," "What Are Hollywood Studios Doing to Embrace VR/AR?" and "What Are Silicon Valley Investors Investing in?"

Other event highlights include VR/AR exhibitors and live demos, as well as networking opportunities and cocktail reception.

Support for the 2017 VRTL Summit is provided by Paramount Pictures, Technicolor, Intel, Latham & Watkins, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Silicon Valley Bank, Nokia OZO, Jefferies, Moveo, Vrvana, UploadVR, Realities Centre, SAG-AFTRA, VR/AR Association, Westside Digital Mix, Virtual Reality Reporter, CelebrityAccess and JSA Strategies.

VRTL was founded by Ned Sherman and Sunny Dhillon. Sherman, Dhillon and Tom Hayes, SVP/Head of New Media, Paramount Pictures are event co-chairs for the April 26 summit. To learn more, visit www.vrtlsummit.com. For information on limited sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities, please contact Tinzar Sherman at Digital Media Wire.

About VRTL Summit

VRTL Summit is designed to bring together investors and executives defining the future of virtual and augmented reality for entertainment and games. The 1-day event in Los Angeles includes a series of roundtable discussions and keynotes geared towards conversation at a deep level of expertise, as well as live demos, networking opportunities and cocktail reception. Visit www.vrtlsummit.com for more information.