Paramount Hires Ted Schilowitz as Futurist in Residence

Paramount Pictures has named virtual and augmented reality Ted Schilowitz to the new position of futurist-in-residence, the studio announced Thursday.

Schilowitz, who joins from a consulting role at 20th Century Fox, will report jointly to Paramount Chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos — a former Fox film chief — and Chief Operating Officer Andrew Gumpert.

At Fox, Schilowitz was in charge of creating strategy for future technologies as the studio looked toward the next generation of cinema entertainment. Prior to that, he was a founding member and part of the product team at digital camera company RED Digital Cinema.

Also Read: Fox's Resident Futurist (Yes, They Have One) Uses 'The Maze Runner' to Showcase Future of Film

While at Paramount, Schilowitz will maintain his role as chief creative officer at Barco Escape, where he has worked with the company on its immersive theater concept that includes additional screens on the walls perpendicular to the main screen to provide a cockpit-style viewing experience.

“Ted has been an integral part of the film industry’s innovation into next generation visual storytelling,” Gianopulos and Gumpert said in a statement. “He has been a pioneer throughout the industry’s constant technological evolution and can identify what is and what will be relevant and important to movie-goers. He will be an incredible asset to the Paramount team.”

“From Immersive Cinema to Augmented Reality and beyond, I’m excited to work with the Paramount and Viacom teams to discover and implement the latest technological advancements and create strategies that will enhance the audience’s experiences across Paramount’s movie, television, and interactive content,” Schilowitz said in the statement.

These Virtual-Reality Films at Tribeca Hint How Far VR Can Go (Photos)

Short film "Sens" is the first project to adapt a graphic novel into a virtual reality.
Joan E. Solsman
"Sens" leads viewers on a black-and-white journey, in which the point of view alternates between exploring a strange landscape through the main character's eyes and floating above the character, watching him do things like grip an edge of a cliff.
Sens
"Deep VR" combines a underwater fantasy world with a specialized belt the viewer wears around the waist, which monitors deep breathing. You control your movement in the experience by breathing in and out deeply, causing an initial rush of oxygen to the brain followed by a Zen-like meditative calm as you continue to play.
Joan E. Solsman
"Deep VR" is set in an underwater seascape, and is meant to explore the ways in which VR can change our relationship with both body and mind.
Joan E. Solsman
"The Turning Forrest" is a virtual-reality tale that takes viewers on a journey with a fantasy beast. At the Tribeca Film Fest's main hub, the creators bring viewers into hut before immersing them in the experience.
Joan E. Solsman
"The Turning Forrest" is a fully computer-generated movie, but the creators combined the viewing of it with a rumble pack that viewers wear to feel percussions that match the action.
BBC R&D / VRTOV
"Notes on Blindness" is a VR film that images the internal visions of John Hull, who -- after losing his sight in 1983 -- began recording an audio-diary documenting his discovery of “a world beyond sight.” His original recordings form the basis of this interactive experience, which uses real time 3D, virtual reality, and binaural sound to explore the interior world of blindness.
"Notes on Blindness"
"6X9: An Immersive Experience of Solitary Confinement" attempts to explain the effects solitary confinement of prisons, people who spend 22-24 hours a day in their cells, with little to no human contact.
Joan E. Solsman
"6x9" put virtual-reality viewers inside a cell, to hint at how the sensory deprivation prisoners live with can cause psychological damage.
Guardian