Lindsey Ramey, Head of Global Film, Wattpad Webtoon Studios, is the latest speaker to be announced for the event alongside Charlie Chan, award winning composer for film and television, piano virtuoso, and creative technologist. They will join Ted Schilowitz, Futurist at Paramount Global; Tony Clark, Academy Award winning innovator and entrepreneur of Rising Sun Studios who helped put the Australian visual effects industry on the map, Nathan Anderson, CEO of New Canvas an award winning XR Studio and Tracey Vieira, President of Screen Producers Australia as speakers at this inaugural event.
Lindsey Ramey is responsible for building the studios’ domestic and international film slate. Her recent work includes the Netflix streaming sensation “Through My Window” (“A través de mi ventana”) and sequel “Through My Window: Across the Sea” (“A través del mar”), which debuted as the #1 non-English film on the streamer in June 2023, with 14.5 million total views and over 27 million hours viewed since its June 23 premiere. A third film in the series is also in development.
Other recent and upcoming projects include “Perfect Addiction” from Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, Constantin Film and JB Pictures, and the upcoming feature film adaptations “Float” from Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, Lionsgate, Collective Pictures, and Brightlight Pictures, and “Boot Camp” from Wattpad WEBTOON Studios and Great Pacific Media.
Prior to joining Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, Ramey oversaw the Sundance Now original series “This Close” and Fullscreen’s original series “Magic Funhouse” for Super Deluxe. Ramey also served as Vice President at Doug Liman’s Hypnotic and David Heyman’s Heyday Pictures where she oversaw development for their feature film slates. Ramey began her career at Lionsgate where she spent five years in feature film production and development.
“At Wattpad WEBTOON Studios we have a deep understanding of the unique relationship between storytelling, creators, and their audience,” says Ramey. “Fandoms thrive on participation, and fans want to feel like they are part of a story’s journey to new formats. I’m thrilled to be part of this year’s Futures Conference and share more about how we make fandoms and fan insights a cornerstone of our development process.”
Wattpad WEBTOON Studios brings together technology, a diverse new generation of creators, and passionate global fandoms to create data-backed, audience-driven TV shows, films, and books. Leveraging incredible stories and insights from WEBTOON and Wattpad’s combined audience of more than 170 million people, Wattpad WEBTOON Studios has pioneered a bold, global, fan-first approach to entertainment. Wattpad WEBTOON Studios has worked with Netflix, Sony Pictures Television, The Jim Henson Company, Vertigo Entertainment, Constantin Film, Penguin Random House, and many other leaders in entertainment and publishing.
A true digital innovator, Charlie Chan operates at the intersection of technology and creativity. In 2017, as Artist-in-Residence at Accenture, they taught Baxter the Robot, powered by AI, to play along on the marimba with the Interactive Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House.
More recently Charlie has been developing ChAI – Charlie’s own AI – teaching it to improvise and play just like them. ChAI will make its world premiere at Supernova, filling in during the 24+hr performance to allow Charlie to have micro naps, meals, massages, and toilet breaks.
“A lot of people in our industry are scared of AI and I understand that,” said Chan.
“But there is also a great opportunity if artists lead the way in developing how the technology can be used in ways that allow us to spend our time doing the truly creative part of our work, rather than other tasks that we can utilise the technology to drive,” they said.
ChAI is just the latest technological tool in Charlie’s compositional and creative arsenal: In 2018 they developed Conductor Cam to connect musicians from 350 orchestras around the world to perform in exact sync as the Global Orchestra.
The conference also includes attendee’s an opportunity to ask questions, engaged in lively discussions, hear from innovators from other industries and have hand on experiences with a range of technology as well as opportunity to network.
Co-founder of the Future Conference and Screen Producers Australia, President, Tracey Vieira shares that the conference offers new insights into the future at a time where we need to have these discussions.
“We can’t wait until the artificial intelligence in film, virtual production and blockchain technology is all in play and then try to catch up. We must understand the myriad of emerging technologies that will affect production, distribution and audiences and we can learn so much from people in this space now, from within our industry but also from other sectors that are advancing so quickly.
Other speakers at the event include Dr. Anousheh Ansari, CEO of XPrize, USA, Matt Hunt, Chief Operating Officer, SmartMedia Technologies, Asia Pacific, Amanda Johnstone, Founding CEO, Transhuman, Daniel Puzny, Co-Founder NuREAL, Dr. Jane Thomason, Chair, World Metaverse Council, Dr. Catherine Ball, Scientific Futurist, Australia, and conference Co-Founder amongst many others.
https://www.futuresconference.com.au/
