LOS ANGELES — Immersive design consortium 5D Institute (www. 5dconference.com) will explore the world of storytelling in interactive, virtual spaces during their upcoming summit, The City and the Book, being held September 20 and 21 at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. This is the third 5D| flux world building and transmedia summit, with each session running from 7pm to 10pm at the George Lucas Building.
For The City and the Book event, 5D Institute in association with the USC of Cinematic Arts will gather its diverse, creative network of writers, architects and game designers to explore the possibilities of dynamic environments in digital publishing and virtual architecture across media. Provocative and disruptive dialogue will cover how worlds overlap when the City is virtual and the Book is interactive. Each session will feature two moderated panels comprised of a mix of authors looking at the future of the City and architects looking at the future of the Book. Scheduled participants include:
- Alex McDowell, Award-winning production designer, co-founder 5D Institute
- Brandon Oldenberg, CCO and co-founder Moonbot Studios, Academy Award® winner
- Eric John Matthies, filmmaker and transmedia specialist
- Geoff Manaugh, editor, author of BLDGBLOG, co-director of Studio-X
- Greg Lynn, architect and founder of Greg Lynn FORM, studio professor at UCLA
- Habib Zargarpour, senior game designer at Microsoft
- Hernan Alonzo Diaz, architect and founder of Xefirotarch, SCIARC faculty member
- Holly Willis, Ph.D, dir. of academic programs at USC Inst. for Multimedia Literacy
- Jen Stein, design researcher, USC School of Cinematic Arts
- Kevin Slavin, transmedia designer
- Lincoln Wallen, head of research and development at Dreamworks Animation
- Mark Shepard, artist, archietect, researcher
- Michael Backes, technologist
- Michael Siegel, founder of MSA literary management company
- Peter Frankfurt, producer at Imaginary Forces
- Tawny Schieleski, technologist at INTEL
- Tracy Fullerton, gamer designer, USC SCA Interactive Media Division chair
Sessions can be purchased individually for $25 or $40 for a two-day pass, while student pricing is $15 per evening. (www.the-city-and-the-book.eventbrite.com).