Carson Center students network in Los Angeles | Nebraska Today | University of Nebraska–Lincoln - Nebraska Today

Twenty-one students and 3 module and unit from the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts program, on with the Johnny Carson Endowed Director successful Emerging Media Arts Megan Elliott, and Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts Dean Andy Belser, attended the Infinity Festival-Hollywood Nov. 2-5.

Described arsenic the spot wherever Hollywood meets Silicon Valley, the Infinity Festival celebrates communicative enabled by technology. The festival featured panels, exhibitions, screenings and a virtual accumulation store with Erik Weaver, each driven by today’s apical innovators, creators and thought leaders.

The travel to Los Angeles was made imaginable with enactment from the caller endowed directorship for the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts created by a $2.5 cardinal acquisition from the Johnny Carson Foundation.

“Overall, this was an eye-opening acquisition for the 21 students who went to Los Angeles,” said Jenna Brende, who is formerly the world and internship advisor for the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts. “We got to conscionable and larn from manufacture professionals from crossed the committee — from tech successful AR and VR, virtual accumulation and acquisition design. Our students got to link and chat one-on-one with truthful galore talented radical successful a assortment of industries. Our students besides got to amusement disconnected their enactment astatine a array wherever they represented the Carson Center, and galore of them made connections that could pb to imaginable internships, full-time jobs and adjacent investments to commencement their own companies.”

The week of workshops, tours and networking opportunities besides included a circuit and luncheon astatine Disney Imagineering with Mikhael Tara Garver, an immersive and experiential originative manager astatine Walt Disney Imagineering and a lecturer successful the Carson Center, a circuit of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, and a virtual accumulation store with Nonny de la Peña, the founding manager of Arizona State’s Narrative and Emerging Media programme who is often acknowledged arsenic the “godmother of virtual reality” and a subordinate of the Carson Center Advisory Council.

“We got to spot this astonishing immersive theatre portion by Alterea, Inc. called ‘Stardust,’” said Olli Jenkins, a inferior emerging media arts large from Lincoln. “It was truthful refreshing and empathetic. I got to link with their CEO a time aboriginal astatine the Infinity Festival, and talking astir the process was incredibly inspiring. I loved networking and engaging alongside my EMA peers. Being successful an situation afloat of professionals and students successful our tract reminded maine of however talented and up of the curve we all are.”

Attending the Infinity Festival gave students an thought of what emerging media are being explored presently successful the industry.

“My favourite league held astatine the Infinity Festival presented connected AI-generated creation and its imaginable uses successful conception design, photograph and video,” Hannah Pedersen, a inferior emerging media arts major, said. “While I don’t person overmuch acquisition successful AI-generation, I deliberation it is an innovative mean I’d similar to research successful the future.”

Kicking disconnected the week was a peculiar L.A. Connectors Dinner, organized by the Nebraska Coast Connection and Nebraska Alumni Association. Students were matched one-on-one with Hollywood professionals and alumni from the area.

“The lawsuit was large due to the fact that it was purposeful successful matching students with nonrecreational alumni moving successful the aforesaid fields the students are studying,” said Kirstin Wilder, elder manager of publications for the Nebraska Alumni Association, who helped signifier the dinner. “Students were matched up of clip and fixed bios connected who their meal companion would beryllium and vice versa. The guests came to the lawsuit having immoderate thought of who they would beryllium eating with. It was besides tiny — 54 guests full successful a country that lone sat 60, truthful the mounting was intimate. The professionals were truthful excited to beryllium successful a country with students from Nebraska and to stock their contented and tips.”

Andrew Stewart, vice president of strategical communications astatine 42West, had meal with emerging media arts elder Abby Hall.

“Mostly, we talked astir what it means to beryllium intentional successful your choices, however to beryllium and deliberation strategically astir your ain vocation path, but besides the value of embracing your mistakes,” Stewart said. “We talked astir what it’s similar to unrecorded successful L.A, what my ain travel was like, what the LGBTQ acquisition is similar successful L.A. and however that differs from Nebraska, and however to win successful a large metropolis by taking the bully and the atrocious and embracing — portion not needfully loving — both.”

Jenkins was paired astatine the meal with Ted Schilowitz, a futurist astatine Paramount and a subordinate of the Carson Center’s Advisory Council.

“He’s fundamentally the coolest antheral alive. We spoke astir the fundamentals of communicative and what virtual world tin unfastened america up to experiencing, and it was incredibly honest,” she said. “My imagination vocation is originative absorption and worldbuilding, and I felt similar I saw a clearer pathway to occurrence aft talking with him. Plus, gathering idiosyncratic truthful high-profile, yet truthful down-to-earth reassured maine that putting the enactment successful and being authentic are the qualities that matter most.”

Pedersen was paired with philharmonic theatre writer, manager and shaper Ryan Bergmann.

“We had a fabulous clip discussing the imaginable of 3D projections to beryllium utilized wrong an interactive theatre space,” she said. “During the dinner, I besides got to web with different professionals connected to Nebraska. I met Craig Albrecht, an enforcement producer, and Alexis Dvorak, a 2nd adjunct director. As an aspiring producer, I americium gladsome I got the accidental to talk with producers of some films and emerging media. These interactions gave maine penetration to however to get started successful the manufacture and resources to scope retired to successful the future.”

Erica Larsen-Dockray, an experimental creator and entrepreneur who co-founded the Calibraska Arts Initiative and is simply a subordinate of the Carson Center Advisory Council, was paired with emerging media arts elder AmunRa Jordan astatine the dinner.

“The meal was precise peculiar for maine due to the fact that it brought unneurotic immoderate of my favourite groups of people: the emerging media arts students, educators and director, arsenic good arsenic the caller dean, the Nebraska Coast Connection, and UNL alumni,” she said. “I chiefly prosecute with these groups separately and rather often the conversations are astir however tin we harvester efforts. This meal was honestly thing I person been hoping would hap for rather immoderate time. It was conscionable truthful chill to person everyone unneurotic connecting. The vigor was solid gold.”

Larsen-Dockray said assemblage is 1 of the astir important resources 1 tin have, particularly successful the arts and entertainment industries.

“Taking it a measurement further, Nebraskans, particularly those of america who person struck retired connected our own, repeatedly connection the astir heartfelt enactment and encouragement,” she said. “We truly privation to assistance others and dodge barriers we whitethorn person experienced. This aforesaid benignant of assemblage gathering and accomplishment sharing is wherefore I started the Calibraska Arts Initiative. This meal was an hold of that aforesaid enactment and solidified however indispensable a supportive assemblage tin be. Knowing radical who tin guide, enactment and advocator you is SO important.”

Wilder said everyone benefitted from attending the dinner.

“I deliberation students were impressed to conscionable moving professionals successful Hollywood who had akin backgrounds to them—be that a grade from Nebraska oregon an upbringing successful Nebraska,” Wilder said. “The professionals benefited by getting connected to 1 different (lots of concern and aboriginal luncheon dates were being acceptable up amongst them), to the Carson Center professors (I deliberation galore volition extremity up arsenic aboriginal impermanent speakers). The professionals besides conscionable emotion to beryllium astir Nebraskans — they each took their acquisition bags location and proudly enactment connected the alumni pins connected their place cards.”

The travel provided invaluable networking for the students and faculty.

“It’s cardinal that Nebraska-based emerging media artists person connections connected the coasts,” Jenkins said. “One of my goals is making the Midwest celebrated for the multimedia enactment my cohort is putting retired there, but it tin beryllium isolating and discouraging to not physically beryllium successful a abstraction filled with akin tech and art. If we’re going to marque it here, we request to cognize what the champion of the champion looks similar everyplace else, truthful we tin instrumentality it further than ever ourselves.”