2022 AIS Summit at Skywalker Ranch Guests

Barbara has spent 30 years in the media & entertainment industry with organizations such as the BBC, Autodesk, Epic Games and now HP Inc. As the Global M&E Industry Lead at HP, she oversees initiatives and industry partnerships that drive adoption of Z by HP technology solutions in entertainment content creation. She has led marketing and PR teams both in-house and agency-side, consulted for several start-ups and was also technology editor with Broadcast Magazine in the UK. She has a strong commercial and analytical background, having started her career as a commodity analyst/trader and holds a BSc in Agricultural Economics from University of London.
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Steve May’s tenure at Pixar Animation Studios spans more than 25 years, where he is currently Chief Technology Officer. In this role, he leads all technology at the studio, including software R&D, information systems, RenderMan, and the development of visual effects tools and processes for each film. Steve began his tenure at Pixar Animation Studios in 1998 as a technical director on TOY STORY 2. For Pixar’s next film, MONSTERS, INC., he helped to pioneer the fur technology and overall look for the character Sullivan. He went on to work as a supervising technical director for FINDING NEMO, CARS, UP, and BRAVE. Prior to Pixar, Steve was a member of the research faculty at The Ohio State University. He received a Ph.D. in computer science and engineering as well as bachelor’s of science and master’s of science degrees from The Ohio State University.
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Richard is the CEO of Brompton Technology, the LED video processing company whose technology has been supporting the fast growth of virtual production using LED, which he has recently led through a successful private equity growth capital funding round. Brompton Technology is an innovative market-leader and has received many awards including a Lumiere award, NAB and Infocomm Product of the Year and a Queen’s Award for Enterprise. Richard is a UK-based entrepreneur specializing in building innovative and best-of-class control systems for the entertainment industry, and in 2023 he received an Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy from the Television Academy for leading the development of the industry-leading SX40 LED processor. He has 19 years’ experience as a CEO with Carallon, Pharos Architectural Controls and Brompton Technology – all businesses he co-founded – and is also sought after as a non-exec. With a degree in Physics from Oxford University, he started his career as a software developer, progressed to leading development teams and gained experience in product management and marketing in Europe and the US, before starting his first business in 2004. He lives in London with his wife and young daughter.
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Gianluca is driven by a profound passion for seamlessly intertwining creativity, technology, and business to captivate and astonish audiences—a passion ignited since his first viewing of Star Wars in 1977. During his tenure at PricewaterhouseCoopers, later PwC, he spearheaded the Digital Transformation domain, where he embraced the very essence of adaptive change, winning the 2017 PwC Global Innovation Challenge on AI and Robotics. Gianluca’s next journey at IBM included allowing him to take the helm of the Strategy & Design division and also lead the IBM Studios, fostering collaboration, creativity, and edge innovation. Now, with V-Nova Studios, the mission is to elevate the film industry to unprecedented heights, a cinematic singularity. This endeavour represents the second most significant innovation in movie history, rivalled only by the introduction of sound. The goal is to beckon viewers into a realm of genuine Hollywood-grade movies, allowing them to immerse themselves in the narrative. Beyond his role at V-Nova Studios, Gianluca serves as an advisor at Berkeley Skydeck, he is an author, and also the proud founder of the non-profit organization Scuola++, dedicated to advancing and supporting digital education.
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Guido Meardi is the Co-founder and CEO of V-Nova, a leading deep-tech firm committed to advancing the digital future through innovative data compression technologies in video, imaging, and volumetric data. Recognized by international standards bodies such as ISO MPEG and SMPTE, V-Nova's groundbreaking technologies have been transformative across multiple sectors. MPEG-5 LCEVC generates step-change efficiencies in traditional video workflows, SMPTE VC-6 enhances AI media indexing multi-fold, and V-Nova PresenZ redefines VR/AR entertainment by delivering unprecedented 6 Degrees of Freedom (6DoF) volumetric experiences with offline-ray-tracing quality. A prolific inventor, Guido has co-authored over 500 patents and played an essential role in the development of V-Nova's core technologies. Before founding V-Nova, Guido served for 16 years at McKinsey & Company, where he was a senior Partner and served global corporations and financial institutions in a wide range of sectors and geographies. A member of the global Transformational Change leadership team, he led the Organization and Operations Practices for the Mediterranean Complex, and played a key role in several of McKinsey's own business-building initiatives. His extensive consulting work also included collaborations with governments around the world, focusing on transformational change and economic development. Guido holds an MBA from MIT Sloan, where he was awarded Siebel Scholar, and an M.Sc. in Computer Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, where he was an Intel Scholar. He also studied at the University of Texas at Austin.
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Richard Miller leads the TrueCut Motion technology team at Pixelworks.  He has worked in 3D gaming, music and video technologies at companies ranging from Atari to Apple, NVIDIA, PortalPlayer, and for the last ten years at Pixelworks.  He is currently focused on filmmaker tools that he hopes will provide creative options for the way motion looks, as well as faithful delivery to the screen.
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Macy Mills leads Strategic Partnerships for Unity's artistry tools. She is driving Unity's efforts to better support artist workflows in 3D and is responsible for striking and supporting strategic partnerships in the entertainment space related to various products, including Ziva, Speedtree, and Wētā Digital. Macy has been at Unity for over 5 years, in various business functions including Director of Emerging Products at Unity, where she built and led a team focused on validating product-market fit for Unity's new products and acquisitions. Prior to that, she successfully ideated and launched the Verified Solutions Partner program globally, which still exists at Unity today. Prior to Unity, Macy served as the Head of Business Development at GameInfluencer and the Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Hitcents.com, a gaming company. Originally from Kentucky, she recently moved to Los Angeles from Munich, Germany.
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Jim Nottingham is currently the SVP & Division President of HP’s Advanced Compute Solutions business within the Personal Systems organization. In this role, Jim leads the Workstations, Retail Solutions, Remote Access solutions, and Data Science Global Business Units. HP’s Advanced Compute Solutions business delivers $5B in annual revenue. Previously, Jim held several senior leadership roles across HP’s Print Business. As Managing Director for HP Printing Korea, he led integration activities associated with the acquisition of Samsung’s printing business in South Korea. Prior to this role, Jim served as worldwide VP & GM of the Value LaserJet Hardware Business. Jim joined HP’s Boise Printer Division in 1992 as an R&D engineer and architect. In 1997, he left HP to join In System Design Inc., serving in multiple capacities. He returned to HP in 2001 as an R&D Manager and completed his master’s degree in Technology Management. Jim also holds BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from Utah State University. He and his wife Sherry have three children and nine grandchildren.
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Rob Partington is an industry leader in the media and entertainment technology space. He currently serves as Industry Partnership Manager, Media & Entertainment, for NVIDIA, where he leads a team focused on supporting the development and adoption of next-generation production technologies and workflows for content creation. Prior to NVIDIA, Partington worked at Apple for twelve years on the Worldwide Developer Relations team as Senior Partnership Manager, building and supporting the creative professional ecosystem for products like Mac, iPad, and AR/VR technologies. He began his career in New York City working in animation production at Nickelodeon and MTV Animation, eventually branching into live production, leading the Viacom/MTV Networks Production Technologies team. Partington brings decades of experience developing technologies and processes to enable creative workflows for animation, visual effects, and extended reality.
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Chris Peariso is a well established technologist in the entertainment industry. Currently he serves as the Vice President of Production Technology Architecture at HBO & MAX. Here, he works to lead his team to develop state of the art systems that carry original programming from post vendors to the studio. Most recently, Chris and his team are helping lead WBD into the future, by optimizing and deploying cloud production and deliverable tool sets across HBO Productions. Chris has been impacting the industry since 2009 when he played a fundamental part in co-founding Light Iron, a first of its kind award winning post house, where he then served as Chief Technology Officer. He was instrumental in establishing the Onset Dailies / Post market with the companies “Outpost Mobile” suite of tools and workflows. While at Light Iron he oversaw many firsts in the industry, including the first 6K DI, Gone Girl, the first studio feature to cut on on FCPX, Focus, and Amazon Studios first HDR series, Transparent. When he’s not pushing the future of technology, Chris is restoring the past with his vintage Mini or his 1972 Scout II. He can often be found by the side of his clever and creative wife, Brodie, or with his adventurous children Hanley and Alexander.
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Steven Poster ASC has always been fascinated with the art and science of capturing images. Beginning with still photography, Poster knew he wanted to make movies by the time he was fourteen. Poster's fascination with a neighbor, a news cameraman who later became his mentor, sparked an unwavering desire to make movies, and instilled a permanent preoccupation with the cinematic beauty of still images. A Chicago native, Poster began his college education at Southern Illinois University as a member of a special program conceived by Buckminster Fuller, the master of problem solving through deductive reasoning. Transferring to the Los Angeles Art Center College of Design, where he is now teaching. Poster learned how to 'see light' and was taught a true professional discipline. Returning to Chicago, he graduated from the Institute of Design of the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he was greatly influenced by the philosophy of Bauhaus design: Form should fit function. Steven Poster launched his cinematography career in Chicago, at age twenty-one, and began with filming television commercials, Cinéma Vérité documentaries, and industrial films. He soon moved on to feature films, working as Second Unit Director of Photography on "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", and did significant additional photography on "Blade Runner". As Director of Photography, Poster has filmed a variety of motion pictures including "Stuart Little 2", "Daddy Day Care", "Rocky V", "The Cemetery Club", "Life Stinks", "Opportunity Knocks", "Next of Kin", "Big Top Pee-wee", and "Testament", as well as the controversial, award-winning music video for Madonna, "Like a Prayer". He received an ASC nomination for Best Cinematography for Ridley Scott's "Someone To Watch Over Me" and has the distinction of being the only American cinematographer to shoot a French language film in France, "Une Chance sur Deux", for director Patrice Leconte. Steven Poster began collaborating with, innovative writer/director, Richard Kelly, in 2001, with the ingenious cult-favorite "Donnie Darko", and continued with "Southland Tales", in 2006, which was chosen for full competition at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. In 2008, Poster and Kelly completed "The Box", starring Cameron Diaz, Frank Langella and James Marsden. In 2009 Poster filmed "Spread", Director David Mackenzie's first American movie starring Ashton Kutcher. Poster also photographed “Amityville Awakenings.” for Blumhouse Films. In addition, Poster has done work on numerous television pilots and filmed the critically acclaimed television movies "Roswell", "Mrs. Harris", "The Color of Justice" and "Courage", as well as several episodes of “Master’s of Sex”. In 2012 Poster completed the pilot for the Netflix series "Hemlock Grove", by Director Eli Roth. Steven Poster is Past President of the International Cinematographers Guild, a ten thousand- member trade union representing camera workers for movies and T.V. and publicists across the United States. In that position, he spearheaded the transition from film to digital. Poster is a former President of the American Society of Cinematographers and a current member of the board of governors at the ASC. He was also an Executive Board member of the International Documentary Association. Poster has also served on the finalist judging committee for the Nicholl Fellowship of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, on the Board of Directors for the PBS Series Craft in America. Steven Poster has a passion for mentoring young filmmakers, students of Cinematography, and even high school students around the world who are interested in the motion picture industry. Steven was a 10-time advisor to the Sundance Institute Directors Laboratory. He has taught master classes and mentoring at USC, UCLA, Art Center College of Design, Brandeis University, Southern Illinois University, Baylor University, University of Oklahoma, University of Wisconsin, and Southeastern Missouri University. Steven has personally mentored dozens of young artists and cinematographers. Many of who have gone on to have successful careers in the motion picture industry. Poster is currently teaching Cinematography at Art Center College of Design. Poster has also been a fierce advocate for the development and transition to digital imaging in the motion picture industry. During his tenure as President of the American Society of Cinematographers, Poster was responsible for re-forming its Technology committee (now referred to as Motion Imaging Technology Council or MITEC). This committee is at the forefront in standard-setting recommendations for the paradigm-changing use of digital tools for cinematography, and the post-production control of images. Poster has also spoken on the subject of cinematography and digital technology internationally at events in England, France, Amsterdam, Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, Australia, India, Canada and Mexico. Steven Poster has been engaged as a consultant for major motion picture related corporations that supply technology and services to the industry for many years. Poster is currently engaged as a board member on BAYLOR 6P Color Inc., a for-profit technology company developing new and innovative ways to see color. His invaluable insights on current practices and future trends have been integral in guiding the productive decisions of these institutions. This work is in adjunct to the extensive writing Poster frequently publishes. During his thirteen-year Presidency at the ICG, Poster wrote a monthly editorial for International Cinematographer magazine. He is currently a columnist for British Cinematographer Magazine. He has also contributed to American Cinematographer magazine and his insights have been featured in many technology related publications and podcasts. When asked what inspires him, Steven Poster said: "Telling worthwhile stories with images, moving or still, is what ultimately inspires me. I am energized when those images elicit a palpable response from an audience. That is the magic of sharing my work with others. The spark that occurs when I am engaged with others in imparting ideas, the action of exploring what it takes to tell visual stories, hashing out what it takes to enter, and have a successful life in, the world of show business...These moments of understanding are the foundation of my enthusiasm for this business.”
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