Pickle May 2022 Edition by Pickle -- Indian M&E Biz

www.pickle.co.in MAY l 2022

INDIA’S ONLY MEDIA BIZ MAGAZINE FOR THE WORLD RAVINDRA VELHAL Intel’s Global Technology Content Strategist Intel Corporation

PICKLE NAB SHOW

2022 EDITION

PIONEER

OF IMMERSIVE

CINEMA

From pixels to voxels, Intel’s Global Technology Content Strategist Ravindra Velhal has taken imagemaking to new heights by collaborating with some of the world’s best creative and technical minds. We chart Ravi’s scintillating 25-year journey 1

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SEE THE WHOLE ECOSYSTEM. CREATE.

CONNECT.

CAPITALIZE.

All things pre-production to post.

All things distribution and delivery.

All things reach and ROI.

The 2022 NAB Show is an entirely reimagined experience where everything you could possibly imagine — and then some — is brought to life. We’re talking the entire content lifecycle. And we’re introducing INTELLIGENT CONTENT, where you’ll find industry-wide transformation enabling customized, immersive content. Come along to the most highly anticipated broadcast, media and entertainment industry event...we promise you’ll be in for a surprise!

IF YOU ARE IN THE BUSINESS OF STORYTELLING, THEN YOU BELONG HERE.

23 - 27 APRIL 2022

Contact NAB Show India Representative Anushree Ramchandani to learn all about the benefits of this popular program. aramchandani.nabshow@gmail.com

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We have featured the journey of Ravi Velhal, Intel’s Global Content Strategist and go-to person for immersive cinema in the world. Intel has been following the vision of its former legendary CEO Andy Grove, who established the tech giant’s content/technology policy in the early 1990s with the “Market not Mandate” principle and served as a thought leader for Hollywood, assisting them in embracing digitization. He gave leaders like Ravi the tools they needed to become cinema VR pioneers and experts in new media.

Born and raised in Sangli, Maharashtra, Ravi is a Global Content Strategist at Intel in California. His career has spanned 25 years, with stops at Eastman Kodak, Intel, and other major corporations. Ravi developed an early interest in science and innovation despite having limited resources. While in school, he and his younger brother Ajit developed and patented a prototype on “Genome sequencing and pattern recognition,” which received widespread acclaim. Ravi has seen it all, from thumbnail size digital photos in the late 1990s to 8K live video and now “beyond resolution” volumetric filmmaking. Since 2008, he has been driving Immersive Cinema productions in Hollywood as well as innovations such as 8K live initiatives at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Today, as technology pushes the boundaries of innovation even further, Ravi is playing a critical role in unleashing the power of storytelling. Feel free to email your thoughts and suggestions.

n vidyasagar

pickle media nat@pickle.co.in, www.pickle.co.in

Pickle Volume XV 11th Edition Published by Pickle Media Private Limited Email: natvid@gmail.com l Mumbai l Chennai No.2, Habib Complex Dr Durgabhai Deshmukh Road RA Puram CHENNAI 600 028

S I G N U P T O DAY O N N A B A M P L I F Y.C O M

Access exclusive curated content on NAB Amplify – an interactive digital hub that connects you to the world of media and entertainment. Sign-up is easy and free!

like Ravi, India-US business is thriving like never before. Today, US technology platforms dominate a burgeoning Indian M&E market and one of the world’s largest digital economies. Efforts are already underway to promote digital trade between India and the United States, and people like Ravi will be critical to its success.

FREE* EXHIBITS PASS AND $100 OFF a Conference Pass or Post|Production World Pass. Register with code ID74.

*After 10 April 2022, registration with this code will no longer offer a $100 conference pass discount and an exhibits pass will cost $50 USD.

IMAGINED BY NAB SHOW, POWERED BY YOU.

e are delighted to present the latest issue of Pickle on the special occasion of the 99th edition of NAB SHOW at Las Vegas. Inside NAB SHOW, you get clarity, insights, solutions and answers to anything on the media industry. It is exciting to attend NAB SHOW in person after a two year gap.

Ravi has evolved into a leading voice, significantly contributing to policy advocacy and regulatory corrections in India. He has been member of top business delegations lending his voice to harmonise and intersperse technology between mature and emerging markets. If there’s one thing that gets Ravi excited, it’s seeing VR for the first time in the hands of filmmakers and creatives. Because of the contributions of leaders

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Editorial Coordinators : M Sai Design: Sunil, Kitcha, Jose, Julie Photo Editor : K K Laskar Email: natvid@gmail.com

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INDIA OPPORTUNITY

INDIAN M&E NUMBERS Smart Phones

TV Internet Films Produced Channels Connections

OTT PLATFORMS

1818 900 900mn 650mn

INDIA THE WORLD’S AUDIO VISUAL FACTORY

1.4

BILLION PEOPLE 4

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Fastest Growing Audio Visual Market in the World Ease of Doing Business 100% FDI in Film, TV, Animation, Gaming, Sectors Excellence in Entertainment Services Massive Digitizaiton Champion Sector Technology Expertise 5

BILLION MOBILE PHONES

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NAB SHOW 2022

NAB SHOW SURPASSES 900 EXHIBITORS AS INDUSTRY RETURNS TO FACE-TO-FACE BUSINESS Broadcast, media and entertainment industries prepare for largest tech event of the year

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NAB Show the world’s largest annual conference for broadcast, entertainment and technology professionals, will host attendees from 154 countries and exhibiting companies from 38 nations at the 2022 NAB Show, held April 23 – 27 in Las Vegas, Nev. Attendees from outside the U.S. make up nearly one-quarter of all pre-registered 2022 NAB Show attendees, which closely mirrors the 2019 NAB Show percentage. “At a time when content can travel around the world in a blink of an eye, there is nothing like NAB Show to help the content community discover the tools, trainings and insights that will unleash the next global phenomenon,” said Chris Brown, NAB executive vice president and managing director of Global Connections and Events. “We are excited to welcome back our friends and partners from all across the globe as our industry gets back to doing business in-person.” NAB Show participates in the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Trade Event Partnership Program, which recruits international trade delegations to select U.S. trade shows and connects international buyers with U.S. suppliers.

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Delegations attending NAB Show include Brazil, Columbia, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Turkey, Vietnam and more. NAB Show’s exhibit floor, located in the North Hall, Central Hall and the newly constructed West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, will host 358 exhibitors from 38 countries outside of the United States, including United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Belgium and France. The exhibition will also host the following pavilions: • Bavarian Pavilion – Central Hall • Brazilian Pavilion – North Hall • French Pavilion – West Hall • Great Britain & Northern Ireland Pavilion – North Hall • Global Trade Show Row – West Hall Additionally, several international organizations, including the Brazilian Society of Television Engineering (SET), will host meetings for their members at NAB Show. Demonstrations of global technologies currently deployed outside of the U.S. will also be conducted by broadcasters and other media and entertainment companies throughout the Show.

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NAB SHOW 2022

REIMAGINED NAB SHOW 2022 NAB Show SVP of Business Development Eric Trabb shares his perspective on the reimagined NAB Show experience and what you can expect on the show floor in 2022. The 2022 NAB SHOW is slated for April 23–27 in Las Vegas

NAB Show has been working on a reimagined experience for the 2022 show in Las Vegas. What will this mean for show attendees? Ultimately, it means that whether you’re a broadcaster, cinematographer, streamer or podcaster — really anyone involved in creating content, connecting with audiences or capitalizing on that content through monetization — you can find all the tools you need to do your work, all at the 2022 NAB Show. You can make the most of your time and get more out of the experience too. Because the new event design is built around real-world applications and workflows, you can easily navigate your way to the right solution, the right vendor, the right contact. You’ll also discover, right on the show floor, experience zones that bring products, technologies and workflows to life. Focusing on inspiration, innovation and implementation, these zones will give you a clearer sense of the big picture, new directions and opportunities within the industry, and the tools and technologies you can use to move ahead, whether with a new project or a new phase in your career. Walk onto the show floor, and you’ll find we’ve curated the journey for you. The show is organized around three pillars of the content life cycle — Create, Connect and Capitalize — and the Inspiration, Innovation and Implementation experience zones

within each of those areas. We’ve added complementary activities and resources that align with each pillar, making it easier for you to learn in your interest area, to network with like-minded people and to find the new products you need. Why overhaul the long-familiar NAB Show model, and why now? Rapid, ongoing change — and particularly convergence across different areas of the media industry — over recent years has transformed the way media is created, managed, distributed, consumed and monetized. We’ve seen this change happening. We’ve also spent a lot of time seeking input from attendees and exhibitors from various communities about their needs and how the NAB Show can better facilitate networking, discovery and education. The old model, with a radio hall, a broadcast hall, a film hall and so on, simply doesn’t apply to today’s media ecosystem. Building on expertise gained over decades producing a vital industry trade show and on extensive feedback gathered over the past year and a half, the reimagined 2022 NAB Show offers a new and different experience. That’s going to be true whether you’ve been attending for 25 years or you’re going to your very first show. The reimagined NAB Show experience accounts for the fact that we live and work in a cross-platform world. High-end professional products and technologies previously within reach only for larger companies have become more

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accessible to smaller businesses, and those tools are no longer confined to different silos within the industry. The 2022 NAB Show design makes it easier for exhibitors to showcase their innovations and recent product development for this much broader audience. Attendees will find it easier to find and learn about tools and solutions that support their work. Given all this change, who should attend the 2022 NAB Show and why? The 2022 NAB Show is unique in addressing the full scope of the modern media industry while also guiding attendees towards the tools and expertise appropriate to their niche within that industry. If you’re someone who started up a podcast during the pandemic or built-up a following on Instagram, YouTube or TikTok, the show will not only help you find that camera or mic you’ve been needing, but also help you to see future possibilities for your work and your career. Maybe you know media is your future. Or maybe you’re not sure. The 2022

NAB Show is the perfect place to explore your options. You can delve into educational and inspirational programs in your interest area, or stop by a social event to exchange ideas with other people working in the same space. So often, meetings at the show lead to lifelong connections with colleagues — and a larger professional network — that help catapult a small business toward further success. If you’re a longtime NAB Show attendee with an extensive history in broadcast or film, the 2022 NAB Show gives you the opportunity to reconnect with friends and colleagues, to see the latest best-inclass products implemented as part of modern, real-world workflows, and to learn more about what industry convergence means for you and your business. In fact, the 2022 NAB Show will feature a brand-new showcase dedicated to one of the most notable areas of change across the media industry. The new Intelligent Content showcase will explore the ways in which data, artificial intelligence, and automation are

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NAB SHOW 2022

SELF-GUIDED TOUR OF ALL THINGS DATA, AI & AUTOMATION Why is Intelligent Content a key destination — along with the Create, Connect and Capitalize pillars — at the 2022 NAB Show? Because it has become a real, transformational element of today’s media and entertainment ecosystem, with practical applications all across the content value chain.

influencing the full content life cycle, from the way content is created and managed to the manner in which it is delivered, consumed and monetized. The 2022 NAB Show is where you’ll find the people, technologies and inspiration that will help your business adapt and thrive going forward, and it delivers these benefits within a much richer experience — one tailored to provide fresh opportunities for learning, discovery and engagement. If I’m an exhibitor at the 2022 NAB Show, how does the new approach benefit me? One of the biggest changes in 2022 is that we’re really bringing the applications and action to the show floor. In creating this experience, we make it easier for attendees to lock onto the workflows and solutions of interest to them. At the same time, we’re delivering real, measurable value for exhibitors. We’re helping to drive the right person to their booth so that there is alignment on both sides. We’re also expanding the ways in which exhibitors can showcase their products and technologies. Through the experiential zones associated with each content life cycle pillar — Create, Connect and Capitalize — exhibitors gain added

opportunity to highlight their solutions. While exhibitors might take advantage of the “Inspiration” theater within their pillar area to demonstrate a new innovation or present a case study, they can also reach beyond their core area with a presentation, networking event or other educational program in the Inspiration, Innovation or Implementation zone of another pillar area. This is a great way to feature a new or expanded use case for established solutions — and to boost overall awareness of your brand and product offering in the process. Any words of advice for first-time attendees? You don’t have to be an NAB Show alum, or even consider yourself part of the media industry, to go to the 2022 NAB Show and find valuable information, contacts and solutions. If you’re even thinking about coming into the industry, it’s a fantastic resource. In past years the whole experience might have been a bit overwhelming. When you go to the 2022 NAB Show, though, you can let your interests and curiosity be your guide. And, if you’re a content creator of any kind, you’re already part of the NAB Show community.

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Intelligent Content is relevant and important to your business. Whether you’re ready for it or not, it is the future. Perhaps that sounds like a bold statement, but if you look at the modern media business, you already see Intelligent Content everywhere, in broadcast, OTT and all manner of digital and social platforms. Intelligent Content is content that uses smart technology before, during and after creation. It is informed by and embedded with data that can be traced, analyzed and applied. Thanks to this data, intelligent content can more easily be discovered, reused and adapted. It can be used for more than one purpose and on more than one platform. And in the end, intelligent content can make great storytelling more intuitive and enable a curated viewing experience for every single consumer. Using Intelligent Content, Fox Entertainment and Blockchain Creative Labs have built on the hit show “The Masked” singer with the launch of “The MaskVerse,” an NFT marketplace and community designed to make buying, selling and trading of digital goods — Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) — part of the mainstream consumer experience. Intelligent Content also drives the Squid Game NFT collection, which is likewise engineered to increase

engagement with fans and develop a broader reach, with greater revenuegeneration potential. Fans can purchase “Squid Game” NFTs, such as characters, honeycomb candy (Dalgona) and backgrounds, and eventually use them to participate in online games mirroring those in the popular show (with big cash prizes but without so much gore). How does it actually work? Data, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning are being used to make content work harder. It’s a circular flow in which data informs content creation, and the data harvested through delivery and consumption across various devices and platforms informs further content creation and delivery. Used in this way, data drives smarter, richer and more meaningful connections between the producers and consumers of content. It supports new channels of engagement and new ways to generate revenue. This is the Intelligent Content showcase you’ll discover at the 2022 NAB Show. Within Intelligent Content, you’ll find three focus areas: AI and Automation, New Engagement Channels, and New Business Models. It’s no accident that these areas respectively align well with Create, Connect and Capitalize, though AI and automation truly make an impact along the entire value chain, from camera to consumption.

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As broadcasters, streamers and networks pursue more direct relationships with consumers, AI manages the data that drives better-informed decisions that lead to greater success. Supporting behavioral analytics and demand-led commissioning, it allows for more accurate viewership predictions, enabling more effective monetization of content, and even helps media organizations extend their reach, target new audiences, try new ideas and capitalize on new opportunities while minimizing risk. In conjunction with integrated tech stacks, AI also enables greater automation of production workflows, improving efficiency and reducing costs across the board. All of these gains give media organizations the opportunity to explore new engagement channels and to connect with consumers in new ways. As audiences increasingly expect personalization at scale, content creators and distributors will need to engage with them differently

2022 NAB SHOW IS THE PERFECT PLACE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT INTELLIGENT CONTENT, HOW IT RELATES TO WHAT YOU’RE DOING TODAY AND HOW IT WILL AFFECT YOUR MEDIA BUSINESS IN THE COMING DAYS, MONTHS AND YEARS.

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and empower them to consume content in different ways. They will need to consider new business models, new methods for capturing data about audiences and viewing patterns, and additional platforms through which to reach consumers. (Social influencers, mobile and other alwayson platforms, wearable devices, connected electronics, appliances and homes, and more!)They also need to understand the infrastructure and technical requirements needed to support all these new efforts and ventures. The 2022 NAB Show will offer an in-depth look at all these aspects of engagement, giving you a better understanding of how your business can move forward in making content work harder for you. Building on that idea, the New Business Models focus area will examine exactly that: new business models. More specifically, it will reveal how consumer data is redefining the value exchange between content creators and content consumers — and driving the shift

away from subscription and advertising dependent models. Here you’ll learn more about monetization and reaching the connected consumer in a data-driven media ecosystem. While data has powered various parts of the industry for some time now, the idea of Intelligent Content isn’t necessary intuitive. That’s why this area of the 2022 NAB Show will feature a self-guided tour of all things data, AI and automation, complemented by a new content series on NAB Amplify. Exhibitors are utilizing Intelligent Content to help showcase a more holistic approach to how these technologies are impacting all levels of the workflow from create to connect to capitalize. Eliminating much of the technical jargon while also providing opportunities for deeper learning, the show will make it easy to build foundational knowledge and discover the possibilities for your business. You’ll learn what Intelligent Content actually means for you, whether you’re in broadcast, streaming, or another area of content creation or delivery. Ultimately, if you’re an attendee, this approach will help you to make meaningful connections so that you can make informed decisions, which in turn can allow you to create better content, connect with the right people, and make money. That’s always been the strength of NAB Show, and it’s truer than ever as the media and entertainment industry expands into new forms of creating, connecting and capitalizing on content. If you’ve been in the industry for a while, you’ve seen that every time a new form of media is invented, people throw up their arms and say, “The world is over. That’s the end.” But in reality, the way people consume media is multifaceted and varied. It depends on the moment, how people feel, what they want to do, how much time they have. There is always a place for these additional forms of media, the new along with the old. NAB Show is the only show that focuses on all of it — the entirety of the media and entertainment ecosystem. That’s why the 2022 NAB Show is the perfect place to learn more about Intelligent Content, how it relates to what you’re doing today and how it will affect your media business in the coming days, months and years.

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NAB SHOW 2022

NAB SHOW TAKES CONTENT CREATORS BEHIND THE SCENES OF HIT FILM, TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS

FCC CHAIRWOMAN JESSICA ROSENWORCEL TO HOLD FIRESIDE CHAT AT 2022 NAB SHOW

The 2022 NAB Show will explore the latest technologies and techniques reinventing the storytelling process through special sessions, deep dive examinations and panel discussions. Content creators will gain exclusive insight into the creative choices and innovations behind recent hit film and television productions during NAB Show, held April 23–27 in Las Vegas, Nev. On Sunday, April 24, the session “Creative Camera Conversations: Nightmare Alley” will feature camera operators Gilles Corbeil and Doug Lavender discussing the challenges and creative solutions in making the Academy Awardnominated film. During the session, produced in partnership with Createasphere and Society of Camera Operators, Corbeil and Lavender will discuss working with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and the unique artistic collaboration that is created on his sets. Also on Sunday, the session “Merging Reality With Fantasy: Virtual Production & Visual Effects on HBO Max’s ‘Our Flag Means Death’” will feature a discussion on how to use modern production tools in new ways to fit any budget level. Produced in partnership with BlackMagic Design, Stargate Studios CEO and founder Sam Nicholson and visual effects supervisor Dave Van Dyke will talk about using modern virtual tools and massive, high-resolution imagery to create the most compelling story possible. Produced in partnership with American Cinema Editors (ACE),

“Good Is No Fun at All: The Making of ‘The Bad Guys’” on April 25 will take attendees on a deep dive into the just-released animated feature “The Bad Guys.” The Hollywood Reporter’s Carolyn Giardina will discuss with director Pierre Perifel and editor John Venzon the creative decisions behind their adaptation of the New York Times best-selling book series. On April 25, “Remote Collaboration: The Making of Everything Everywhere All At Once” will explore how the creative minds behind the sci-fi action adventure overcame the challenges of the pandemic, lockdown and a far-flung roster of filmmaking talent. Editor Paul Rodgers will sit down with Meagan Keane, principal product marketing manager at Adobe Pro Video, to discuss how he created the film through cloud-based collaboration and shared technology. The Tuesday session “Out of This World: Virtual Production on Roninfilm’s ‘Gods of Mars’” will feature a discussion between the creative team behind the sci-fi epic about utilizing cutting edge realtime virtual production techniques. Academy Award-winning DP/VFX supervisor David Stump, director/ producer Peter Hyoguchi, virtual production producer Joan Bevan Webb, lead Unreal tech Charles Jones and editor Robert Dias will discuss building a world in the Unreal Engine, pre-viz, live-action Smart Stage lensing, work-flow and more.

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Rosenworcel to discuss state of broadcasting industry with NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt will participate in a fireside chat on the NAB Show Main Stage on April 25, 2022 at 10 a.m. in Las Vegas, Nev. The conversation between Rosenworcel and LeGeyt immediately following the NAB Show Welcome will discuss the Chairwoman’s priorities for 2022 and beyond, her thoughts about the state of the broadcasting industry and her approach to the complex issues facing the FCC. “In today’s hyper-competitive media landscape, a regulatory framework that allows local radio and television stations to evolve, adapt and better serve their audiences is of vital importance,” said LeGeyt. “Broadcasters look forward to hearing from Chairwoman Rosenworcel about her role as the head of a critical agency and her outlook on the future of our industry.” Rosenworcel was designated as acting FCC chair by President Joe Biden on January 21, 2021 and became permanent chair following her Senate confirmation for another five-year term in December 2021. She was first confirmed as an FCC commissioner in May 2012 after serving as senior communications counsel to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and

Jessica Rosenworcel Transportation. She previously worked at the FCC for the Wireline Competition Bureau and as a senior aide to then-Commissioner Michael Copps. Rosenworcel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and English literature from Wesleyan University and holds a J.D. from the New York University School of Law. LeGeyt became NAB’s president and CEO in January 2022 after serving as the organization’s chief operating officer. He joined NAB in 2011 and served as executive vice president of Government Relations from 20152020. Previously, LeGeyt served as the senior counsel to then-Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy. LeGeyt holds a B.A. in quantitative economics from Providence College and a J.D. from Cornell University Law School.

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India’s imprint at NAB

Harish Bharadwaj,

Goutham Belliappa,

Lead AI Scientist,

Vice President,

Prime Focus Technologies, will make a paper presentation on broadcast technologies, intelligent content, AI and machine learning at the Broadcast Engineering and IT Conference (BEIT).

Insights & Data Practice, Capgemini; and Madan Sundararaju, Vice President, Media & Entertainment Practice, Capgemini will be part of a panel discussion on streaming and OTT, and the future of Delivery & 5G.

Vice President,

Chakri Devarakonda,

Product Management and Customer Success, Firstlight Media, will be part of a paper presentation on streaming and OTT at Broadcast Engineering and IT Conference.

Quality Engineering, Tavant, will participate in a fireside chat at Capitalize Innovation Zone.

Vice President,

Co-founder & CEO Americas at Amagi Media Labs, will be part of Devoncroft Executive Summit. He regularly speaks at global industry events, evangelizing the use of cloud for channel creation and monetization.

Badhrinath Krishnamoorthy, Vice President & Markets Head, Cognizant, will be part of a panel discussion on Intelligent Content, AI, and Machine Learning at Intelligent Content Inspiration Zone.

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Shiv Sehgal,

President & Co-Founder, igolgi, will participate in a panel discussion on Streaming & OTT and The Future of Delivery & 5G. The session will go in-depth on meeting the demand for a content everywhere future.

EVP, Audience Analytics, RSG Media, will discuss ‘Fast Data Platforms For Media: Moving From Data Management Efficiencies To Data Science Proficiencies’. This presentation will showcase how M&E executives have turned to the RSG Audience platform to quickly pivot from data management efficiencies to data science proficiencies.

Yaya Selva,

Reggie Shah,

Global Marketing Director,

Senior Director, Research and Insights, Audacy, will talk on ‘Audio Megatrends: What the Biggest Shifts in Listening Mean for Broadcasters’ Future’. He and other speakers discuss how broadcasters are already adapting to these rapid changes and how they can prepare for the future.

Kumar Ramaswamy,

Vice President, CTO & Head of Emerging Media, Whistling Woods International, will make a presentation on metaverse and immersive experiences at Connect Inspiration Zone.

Senior Director, International Business Development Evertz Microsystems, and Nagesh Puppala, General Manager, Intel Corporation; Edge & Cloud Video Division, will discuss innovations in video processing, AI, and edge computing.

Arjun Ramamurthy, K A Srinivasan,

Saravanan Shanmugam, Global Lead Solution Architect, AWS Edge Computing, will be part of a panel discussion on ‘Transforming Broadcasting With 5G And Mobile Edge Computing’. It will cover realworld architectures, best practices and how content providers can leverage the right infrastructure to deliver improved experiences over 5G for end consumers.

Chaitanya Chinchlikar,

Mo Goyal, Prabu Chelladurai,

A string of people from India or Indian origin are going to deliver their address at this year’s NAB Show. A quick look into who are they and what are they upto.

CTO, Ateliere, will be part of a panel cloud technology, streaming and OTT at Capitalize Innovation Zone. He will be joined by Doug Rousso, EVP Chief Technology Officer, MGM Studios; Greg Young, SVP, Cloud and Content Services and Engineering MGM Studios; and Mark Harrison, Chief Executive Officer, DPP.

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Net Insight, will take part in a panel discussion ‘Diversity Is The Mother Of Innovation And Success’. Featuring media technology vendors, industry associations and service providers, this panel will look at the progress the M&D industry is making in terms of diversity and inclusion.

Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global, and Sean Gupta, SVP, Streaming Strategy, Paramount+ and Pluto TV, will be part of a panel discussion titled ‘Bundling and Distribution Strategies for Growing Subscribers (Track A)’. This will discuss factors including content and bundling strategy, billing and customer service, marketing, and product features.

Jasveer Sidhu, Art Director, Capacity, will be part of a discussion on ‘How to Fix Your 3D Motion Graphics Pipeline’. AR/VR/XR will be the hot topics the panel will take up for discussion.

Ravindra Velhal,

Sunil,

Director - Global Content Technology and Strategy

Additional Director General, Prasar Bharati India, will be part of a presentation on ‘Key Transformations with India’s Public Service Broadcaster Prasar Bharati: Direct-toMobile and Integrated BroadcastBroadband Convergence’. India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati is marching toward Direct-to-Mobile (DTM) architecture

Intel, will take part in a conference on ‘Capitalizing on Hollywood Technology’. During this, technology leaders will discuss the top trends in enterprise technology driving the future of Media and Entertainment.

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RAVI

VELHAL HAS BEEN

TRANSFORMING GLOBAL MEDIA

INDUSTRY FROM LIGHTS. CAMERA. ACTION TO LIGHTS.

COMPUTE. 18

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ACTION 19

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INDIA’S ONLY MEDIA BIZ MAGAZINE FOR THE WORLD RavindRa velhal Intel’s Global Technology Content Strategist Intel Corporation

PICKLE NAB Show

2022 EDITIoN

RAVINDRA VELHAL

PIoneeR

oF ImmeRSIVe

CInema

DRIVING MEDIA TRANSFORMATION From a humble upbringing in Sangli, Maharashtra, Ravi struck a chord with imaging, which grew into a passion since his internship at Siemens Medical R&D and has taken it to a whole new level over the last 25 years with Eastman Kodak Research, Intel Research, and since 2008 with Hollywood initiatives, Immersive Cinema productions, and driving 8K live initiatives at the Olympic games in Tokyo 2020 on Intel’s behalf from Portland, USA

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INDIA’S ONLY MEDIA BIZ MAGAZINE FOR THE WORLD RavindRa velhal Intel’s Global Technology Content Strategist Intel Corporation

PICKLE NAB Show

2022 EDITIoN

PIoneeR

oF ImmeRSIVe

CInema

From pixels to voxels, you have been part of the digital transformation in the media. How has been the 25-year journey? Intel has been at the forefront of computing innovation for more than five decades.

Ravindra Velhal, Intel’s Global Technology Content Strategist Intel Corporation

Ravindra Velhal, Intel’s Global Content Policy Strategist and 8K lead, wants to democratise technology and make it affordable and accessible to even the novoice immersive and volumetric filmmakers in order to help transform the creative industry from Lights, Camera, Action to Lights, Compute, and Action. The man behind many revolutionary ideas and creations opens up in a candid interview with Pickle explaining how technology is pushing the boundaries of filmmaking globally 22

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It’s been a thrilling ride, to say the least. For more than five decades, Intel has been driving innovation in computing that touches every human being on the planet. We have been at the forefront of emerging technologies used by the entertainment industry worldwide to deliver rich content and provide consumers with exciting immersive digital experiences for the past 25 years. In the early 1990s, under the visionary leadership of Intel’s CEO Andy Grove, and now current CEO Pat Gelsinger (Andy’s Tech Advisor and Jeff Lawrence, Andy’s Copyright Lawyer back then), Intel began driving and establishing content/ technology policy with the “Market not Mandate” principle between US Regulators, Hollywood, Consumer electronics, and Technology providers. It all started in the 1990s with the creation of the Broadcast Flag, contributions to DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) regulation, the DVD standard, the first CDN (Content Delivery Network),

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and DRM for content access. A typical media format transition cycle lasts 7 years (e.g., from SD (DVD) to HD (Blu-Ray)/4K/8K). Work begun in the mid-1990s and early 2000s with a slew of associated technologies and standards (H.264/H.265, DVD, BluRay, DRMUltraViolet, USB, WiFi, HDMI, Cloud, AI, now 5G) was critical in bringing high-quality media playback of Hollywood blockbusters to PCs, laptops, gaming consoles, STBs, Smart TVs, and mobile devices. Intel technology has powered the digitization initiatives in Hollywood and the global media industry for the last three decades and continues to drive the future of storytelling through 8K, immersive Cinema, and beyond by constantly engaging with global studios and innovators to bring the first ever Volumetric and immersive Cinema experiences to life.

FOR MORE THAN FIVE DECADES, INTEL HAS BEEN DRIVING INNOVATION IN COMPUTING THAT TOUCHES EVERY HUMAN BEING ON THE PLANET

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INDIA’S ONLY MEDIA BIZ MAGAZINE FOR THE WORLD RavindRa velhal Intel’s Global Technology Content Strategist Intel Corporation

Intel technology is used in the creation, distribution, content protection, consumption, and other stages of nearly every major Hollywood and global film. To provide the best viewing experiences for consumers, major studios, postproduction houses, virtual production and visual effects companies rely on Intel technologies such as Intel® Xeon® Scalable and Intel® CoreTM processors, memory technology, AI, 5G networking solutions to drive transformation at network-edge-cloud, and OneAPI, development toolkits like SDVis for open source raytracing.

From the time you had landed from India to the US, you had a breezy journey. Could you share some of the most memorable moments in the convergence of tech and content?

I had a humble upbringing in Sangli, Maharashtra, India, where I completed my Engineering degrees despite numerous setbacks. We had few technical resources, but our college library had every issue of IEEE journals. During our school days, my younger brother Ajit Velhal and I developed and patented a prototype and research paper on “Genome sequencing and pattern

recognition,” which received awards from the Instrument Society of America and widespread attention in 1994. This sparked my interest in imaging, which grew into a passion during my internship at Siemens Medical R&D and has taken it to a whole new level over the last 25 years with Eastman Kodak Research, Intel Research, and since 2008 with Hollywood initiatives, Immersive Cinema productions, and driving 8K live initiatives at the Olympics games in Tokyo 2020.

WE HAVE BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES USED BY THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY WORLDWIDE TO DELIVER RICH CONTENT AND PROVIDE CONSUMERS WITH EXCITING IMMERSIVE DIGITAL EXPERIENCES FOR THE PAST 25 YEARS

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In 1998, I was working at Eastman Kodak Research in the outskirts of Washington, DC, on an early consumer grade flagship digital camera and “film to digital” consumer project, which was producing only thumbnail quality digital pictures. Within a year of joining Intel, I began working on the Proshare initiative, which allowed users to video conference with someone on the opposite side of the world over the internet. That was just wow. At Intel Research, I worked on several early stage media encoders technologies, media devices and phone that can consume media. The rate of invention and convergence of “Tech Meets Story” has been exceptional, from thumbnail size digital photos in the mid 1990s to 8K quality live video and now “beyond resolution” volumetric filmmaking. From the legendary “Thousand songs in your pocket” moment to today “Million movies and TV episodes at your fingertip delivered from the cloud,” technology and the art of storytelling are revolutionising our lives on a daily basis, and I’ve been able to do my small part. Platforms are continuously multiplying and borders are blurring day by day.

What is the most ambitious global initiative in media and entertainment that you want to fulfil?

Help transform creative industry from Lights, Camera, Action to Lights, Compute, Action to drive tech meets story globally along with democratization of technology and affordable access to anyone who desires. More than 100 high resolution cameras filmed everything that light can see during the production of Grease in Volumetric at Intel Studios (the world’s largest Volumetric stage), generating and processing more than 5 Trillion pixels in less than three minutes. This is a cutting-edge technology production from Hollywood. How can this be democratised and made available to even the most inexperienced volumetric filmmaker? We did just that with the Museum of Tomorrow lab in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where a small but dedicated team of filmmakers and technologists used a less than $1,000 setup to capture

THE RATE OF INVENTION AND CONVERGENCE OF “TECH MEETS STORY” HAS BEEN EXCEPTIONAL, FROM THUMBNAIL SIZE DIGITAL PHOTOS IN THE MID 1990S TO 8K QUALITY LIVE VIDEO AND NOW “BEYOND

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RESOLUTION” VOLUMETRIC FILMMAKING

Amazonian Tribal ritual artists in volumetric and completed a project that I presented at CannesXR. This is the power of storytelling unleashed through the use of affordable technologies, regardless of where you live.

What are your major learnings working in different continents... embracing change?

A fast pace of innovation and creativity is a global phenomenon. Working with people from various cultures, backgrounds, and walks of life broadens your mind, fosters creativity and teamwork, broadens your horizons, teaches you to appreciate their points of view, and makes you more humble. The more you work with a diverse group of people (both inside and outside of your workplace) all over the world, the more you realise how little you know. I consider myself fortunate to have worked with amazing people from all over the world, both at work and outside of work, who have had a significant impact on my life. I was fortunate to have excellent mentors both inside and outside of Intel. Legendary chefs such as Alex Atala from Brazil provided me with a crash course in the Indo-Brazilian epicurean connection dating back to the 15th century. Virgilio Martinez,

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INDIA’S ONLY MEDIA BIZ MAGAZINE FOR THE WORLD RavindRa velhal Intel’s Global Technology Content Strategist Intel Corporation

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I LEARNED ABOUT DRIVE, DETERMINATION, HARD WORK, AND DEDICATION FROM WORLD LEADERS LIKE PM NARENDRA MODI AND FORMER US PRESIDENT OBAMA a Peruvian chef, can teach us about sustainable Panchamama heritage. One encounter with legendary Spanish chefs Adria brothers, Albert and Ferran Adria can be life-changing in terms of understanding the deep meaning of Passion and Creativity. I am a firm believer in what Albert Adria once said: “Creativity is 20% knowledge, 20% inspiration, and 60% intensity.” Working with Randal Kleiser can provide you with more institutional knowledge about filmmaking than any textbook will ever provide. Listening to Jeff Lawrence (my boss and mentor) can provide you with encyclopaedic knowledge of the media industry’s history since its inception. As a member of the delegation, I learned about drive, determination, hard work, and dedication from world leaders like PM Narendra Modi and former US President Obama. The world is flat; all you have to do is get out of your comfort zone, find inspiration, embrace change, and go do something amazing. “Don’t be complacent, complacency will lead to failure, and thats why only the paranoid will survive,” Andy Grove had once said.

What brought you to AR/ VR and immersive cinema and where are we heading in that space? How did you get immersed in the virtual reality experience in the cinema? How do you describe the immersive revolution? What have we seen, what is to be seen...

Immersion is defined as anything that allows you to experience yourself in a completely new dimension. The industry has progressed through various stages of immersion, from the first moving picture to BW Cinema, from colour to sound, and from sensory exploration (motion, olfactory, haptics) to AR/VR/XR/ Metaverse. Around 2015, I began my journey into Immersive Cinema (primarily VR Cinema and later multi-format volumetric). During 2016-17, I had the opportunity to collaborate with AR Rahman, LeMusk Sensory Cinema VRE, Warner Bros/Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk-Save Every Breath Cinema VRE, and Sony Picture Entertainment’s Spider-Man: Homecoming Virtual Reality, all at the same time (and many sleepless nights). Each project was unique, but they all pushed the boundaries of Cinematic Storytelling in a medium that did not exist before. It’s both exciting and terrifying at the same time. VREs, which have capitalised on successful films such as Oscar contender Dunkirk and Spider-Man: Homecoming, bring stories to life for moviegoers long after they’ve left the theatre. With the release of Le Musk,

WITH THE RELEASE OF LEMUSK, THE FIRST VR MULTISENSORY MOTION ENCODED, OLFACTORY FEATURE FILM ON A PC POWERED VR CHAIRS, VR IS POISED TO BECOME THE NEWEST FILM MEDIUM 26

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the first VR multi-sensory motion encoded, olfactory feature film on Positron VR chairs, VR is poised to become the newest film medium. As virtual reality has changed the equation, technology has started to change the future of filmmaking. It has pushed boundaries, defined new expressions for storytellers, and provided audiences with new immersive multi-sensory experiences, allowing them to become a part of the story and explore and expand new dimensions. This is extremely powerful. According to Matthew Lewis, president of Practical Magic, and director and producer of Dunkirk VR Experience, the world Christopher Nolan created for Dunkirk played right into the strengths of VR. While 360-degree VR videos are optimized for HD and 4K media, the production company had to stitch images 40 times that resolution for this VR experience. Using Dell blade servers and workstations that were powered by Intel Xeon processors, Practical Magic had real-time access to high-resolution media during the post-production process during Dunkirk VRE. I humbly believe, best is yet to be experienced as creators and tech keep on pushing the boundaries of immersive storytelling.

How did volumetric production evolve in Sony Innovation Studios, and what was its impact on filmmaking?

With the creation of Intel Studios in 2018, the industry began to shift from pixels to voxel (pixel with depth information), allowing you to step into the movie from any angle because it captures everything that light can see. Grease Volumetric Cinema with Paramount Pictures set industry standards by capturing and processing more than 5 trillion pixels for a three-minute song using Intel technologies. Sony Innovation Studio collaborated with Intel, Dell Deloitte, and Sony Pictures on volumetric digital set acquisition, which enabled a whole new business model for virtual production and expanded technical possibilities. During Spider-

TECHNOLOGY HAS PUSHED BOUNDARIES, DEFINED NEW EXPRESSIONS FOR STORYTELLERS, AND PROVIDED AUDIENCES WITH NEW IMMERSIVE MULTI-SENSORY EXPERIENCES, ALLOWING THEM TO

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BECOME A PART OF THE STORY AND EXPLORE AND EXPAND NEW DIMENSIONS Man: Far From Home Virtual Reality, the entire Tony Stark Jet was scanned with sub-millimeter accuracy using billions upon billions of point clouds, processed, and rendered, allowing you to step into the virtual set. Once set is digitally captured at extremely high resolution, possibilities for filmmakers are endless.

How did Le Musk happen with A R Rahman?

A strong emotional connection is the foundation of creativity, and this is the mutual bond that I share with AR Rahman. When I learned about A R Rahman’s vision to create a full-length immersive LeMusk, Sensory Cinema VRE, a romantic story with olfactory experiences, I began working with him in 2016. Nothing of this magnitude, with full Ambisonic audio immersion, high resolution stereoscopic 360 VR, and a scent-driven story on a motion chair, has ever been attempted in the world of cinema. That’s when we started experimenting and exploring new ways to push the bounds and boundaries of immersive cinema in ways that had never been done before. Motion elicits emotion in users who experience this on a PC-powered Positron VR chairs, allowing you to experience the subtle art of immersive storytelling without

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INDIA’S ONLY MEDIA BIZ MAGAZINE FOR THE WORLD RavindRa velhal Intel’s Global Technology Content Strategist Intel Corporation

Over the years, I’ve given about 7 keynote speeches and producers roundtable at Cannes, as well as a fireside chat with A R Rahman. Over the years, CannesXR has evolved into a premium destination for advancing immersive cinema powered by technology.

feeling overwhelmed. So far, the response to the Prelude to LeMusk and Scent of a Song from LeMusk has been phenomenal, and we can’t wait to bring full length LeMusk Sensory Cinema VRE soon.

We are entering the endemic phase in the aftermath of COVID-19; how do you see the change? You had 8K live streaming of the Tokyo Olympics at the height of COVID?

We’ve been working with 8K for several years and have previously live-streamed video in 8K during a live test trial this past December. What makes this project unique is that it is the first live 8K 60 fps 10-bit HDR broadcast of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to use the Open Public Internet, with over 4.7 PetaBytes of 8K data captured, processed, and streamed over the course of 19 days of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Despite the challenges, Intel and partners such as NHK, Globo, and the Olympic Broadcasting Service (OBS) wanted to try and find solutions to advance wider 8K global adoption, and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was a great place to do so. Despite the challenges, my team and I believe it is worthwhile. We did all of this to ensure that our viewers are completely immersed in the event. We brought stadium-quality immersive TV experience in stunning 8K/60FPS/HDR to our audiences across several continents because they were not allowed to be inside the stadium to cheer on their favourite athletes and teams. We really wanted you to feel like you were there. This project was named iABM Project of the Year 2021.

You’ve brought immersive cinema and virtual reality to Marche; what’s your personal experience?

AR Rahman’s Prelude to LeMusk, Warner Bros., Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk Save Every Breathe in Virtual Reality, and Rio Carnival VRE with GloboTVBrasil in 2018. Universal Pictures’ FirstMan VRE, LeMusk’s Scent of a Song, and Grease Volumetric Cinema in mixed reality and hologram were launched at on Positron motion VR chairs in 2018-19. Repangia, a Techno-Shamanic volumetric social VR experience from Brazilian Amazonian tribes in 2020, has previously made it to Marche du Film’s CannesXR during the Cannes Film Festival. The audience response was incredible, with long lines forming to see the future of immersive cinema at CannesXR.

WE BROUGHT STADIUMQUALITY IMMERSIVE TV EXPERIENCE IN STUNNING 8K/60FPS/ HDR TO OUR AUDIENCES ACROSS SEVERAL CONTINENTS OVER THE OPEN IN INTERNET BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED TO BE INSIDE THE STADIUM TO CHEER ON THEIR FAVOURITE ATHLETES AND TEAMS

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You have made significant contributions to the advancement of India’s media sector (FICCIFRAMES)… Where do you see India going in the future? In 2009, Yash Chopra, a legendary Indian director and FICCI appointed me as an advisor to bridge the gap between Hollywood and the Indian film and television industries. For the past 14 years, I have worked with the Indian film industry to provide early technology access and knowhow, as well as to lead media policy with FICCI at various levels. With a rich heritage and history, India is a land of storytellers and billion dreamers. Incentivizing the AVGC sector, embracing virtual production workflow for content creators, and developing a national level policy for digital preservation of cultural heritage and monuments across India for future generations will all contribute significantly to the industry’s growth.

5G is being deployed in a number of countries across the world; what effect will 5G have on computing and cinema? According to the ‘5G Economics of Entertainment Report,’ 5G will accelerate content consumption, including mobile media, mobile advertising, home broadband, Cinema, and TV, as well as improve experiences across a wide range of new immersive and interactive technologies, thereby unleashing the full potential of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and new media. By 2028, immersive and new media applications – applications and capabilities that currently do not exist – will reach unprecedented scale. The average monthly traffic per 5G subscriber will increase from 11.7GB in 2019 to 84.4GB in 2028, when video will account for 90% of all 5G traffic.

THE AVERAGE MONTHLY TRAFFIC PER 5G SUBSCRIBER WILL INCREASE FROM 11.7GB IN 2019 TO 84.4GB IN 2028, WHEN VIDEO WILL ACCOUNT FOR 90% OF ALL 5G TRAFFIC

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We brought SpiderMan: Far From Home’s first ever multiplayer VRE experience over 5G during MWC 2019 with Sony Pictures to harness the power of 5G for immersive cinema.

From Eastman Kodak to Intel... what three things have completely altered the world of media today?

Fast pace of innovation, Compute Power and Transformation happening at edge-network-cloud, AI are rapidly transforming media industry from lights, camera, action to Lights, Camera, Compute and action.

What are your plans for this year’s NABShow?

I’ve been attending NAB Show since 2008 and have spoken on several occasions. In 2014, Kamal Hassan, myself, and a fellow panellist delivered a session at the NAB to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Indian cinema. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a global platform for learning about advancements in the media and entertainment industries. At the Intel booth, we showcased Prelude to LeMusk with AR Rahman in 2017, the first ever 8K encode-decode in 2017, and the first ever 16K playback in 2018. This year, I will be speaking at the “Capitalizing Hollywood Technology” panel on April 26th with my industry colleagues from HP, Microsoft, and Verizon, moderated by Story-Tech, Chief Tech Catalyst Lori Schwartz, as well as showcasing 8K/60fps/HDR end to end Olympic games Tokyo 2020 workflow and Olympics games highlights at NAB Future Zone with 8K Association.

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INDIA’S ONLY MEDIA BIZ MAGAZINE FOR THE WORLD RavindRa velhal Intel’s Global Technology Content Strategist Intel Corporation

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AWARDS

ACHIEVEMENTS

Represented former US President Obama’s India delegation in 2010 and PM Modi’s US business delegations to foster Indo-US tech policies

SpiderMan: Far From Home, first ever Multiplayer VRE over 5G VRE launched at MWC 2019

Pioneered 8K at Roland Garros in 2018/ launched firstever 16K at NAB 2018 30

Grease Volumetric Cinema Experience: World’s first 5 trillion volumetric Cinema for three min song using virtual production 8K/60FPS/HDR live OTT broadcast for the 19 days of Olympic games Tokyo 2020 over the open Internet during Summer 2021 More than dozen US and worldwide patents on Silicon, media and new innovations

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FICCI-Frames Pioneering Contribution Award for advancing AVGC Sector in India Award 2017

OF RAVINDRA VELHAL Produced more than dozen Hollywood and global immersive Cinema VREs. Launched 7 Cinema VREs at CannesXR, Cannes Film Festival

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LeMusk first ever motion encoded, Olfactory Sensory Cinema VRE

Spoke at more than 100 global leading media and tech conferences worldwide

10 Mentoring Industry and the Next Generation worldwide

Grease Volumetric Cinema AIS (Advanced Imaging Society) Lumiere Awards 2019 Spider-Man:HomeComing Virtual Reality AIS (Advanced Imaging Society) Lumiere Awards 2018 (Also nominated for The Emmys 2018)

FirstMan VRE, Audience Choice Monolith Award, Infinity Festival of Hollywood 2018 (Also nominated for The Emmys 2019) 8K Live Olympics OTT Broadcast, iABM Project Of The Year Award 2021

Finalist for “Technology Leader Of The Year” iABM 2021

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INDIA’S ONLY MEDIA BIZ MAGAZINE FOR THE WORLD RavindRa velhal Intel’s Global Technology Content Strategist Intel Corporation

INTEL’S ROLE

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HOLLYWOODS’ IN HOLLYWOOD KEY MOMENTS Let’s take a look at Intel’s role in some of the media and entertainment initiatives over the years globally 1993

Started with “Market not Mandate” principle under Intel CEO Andy Grove and collaborate with the industry to create DVD Forum since early 1990s, deployed commercially in 1995

1995

Started work on DTLA (Digital Transmission License Authority) with the Hollywood Studios for DTCP (Digital Transmission Content Protection) used for protecting Hollywood content over digital interconnects (IEEE 1394, later used for USB…) and later to internet

1995

onwards: CPTWG (Content Protection Tech Working Group) brought Studios, service providers and Tech companies together for work on all the major media content protection standards). DRM (Digital Rights Management) and content protection standards for the Hollywood DVD-CCA (Digital Video Disc-Copy Control Association), Broadcast flag, In 2005 OMA-Open Mobile Alliance/CMLA DRM- Content Management License Authority, HDCP (High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) - world’s largest link protection crypto won two Emmy awards

1997/98

Intel contributed driving policy towards DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright act) published in December 98. Intel started participating in H264 standard, base of video encoding format

2002 onwards:

1998 First CDN

(Content Delivery Network), Project Rainer. Created technology/business framework that enabled digital streaming of Hollywood content over IP networks and ultimately the Internet (DTCP-IP)

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Led standardization for SD-to-HD transition (Blu-Ray) and consolidation of HD-DVD format., Engaged and drove EU DVB, Japanese Broadcast Standards.

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The next gen 5G standard promises faster speeds of at least 20 times, which Intel technology leaders think will transform connectivity and mobility, and bring immersive interactive cinema to new venues and platforms

2004

Led industry creation of U.S. regulatory framework to enable broadcast TV digitization (broadcast flag). TV digitization and modernization of the digital cable industry in the USA that served as baseline for the global TV industry.

20072020

UltraViolet digital Copy Hollywood initiative in major geos.

2008

Began engaging with the Indian media industry and in 2013 onwards Broadcast TV digitization efforts in India.

2010

onwards H265, AV1, AVC, HEVC V2(for 8K), VP9. Engagement with CCTV China started. 4K UHD BluRay, established the 4K Std later adopted by Netflix, Amazon Prime adoption

2016

2014

Broadcast TV digitization in Brazil (development of Ginga – Brasilian digital TV middleware of ISDB-Tb standard on Intel platforms)

2016

To Date: Started working on 8K, launched 8K encoder/decoder at NAB in 2017. 2018, 8K in France at Roland Garros with FranceTVand World’s first 16K encoder and decoder launched at NAB Show 2018 powered by Intel Xeon Processor. 2020 8K Live global partner PoC

To date: Immersive Cinema Produced, collaborated, and launched dozen premium Hollywood and global Immersive Cinema VREs (LeMusk, SpiderMan VREs, Save Every Breathe Dunkirk VRE, FirstMan VRE and Volumetric Cinema Experience Grease to establish immersive Cinema category worldwide.

2021

First ever Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 delivered live in 8K/60FPS/ HDR OTT over the open internet across four continents and OTT service launch in Brazil with GloboTV

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INDIA’S ONLY MEDIA BIZ MAGAZINE FOR THE WORLD RavindRa velhal Intel’s Global Technology Content Strategist Intel Corporation

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REFLECTIONS ON RAVI VELHAL

Ravindra Velhal has been involved with Intel’s technology policy and standards for nearly two decades and has seen technologies define new experiences for both storytellers and audiences. Here are a few projects with which he has been closely associated with that allow for new immersive multi-sensory experiences

Started as an industry consortium of 60+ Tech, Studio and Service companies [2008-2020], UltraVioletYour Movies in the Cloud gave birth to digital movie collection to promote Buy Once Play Anywhere concept . One direct benefit of Ultraviolet™ is Convergence, giving consumer the convenience and choice of accessing media across variety of registered UltraViolet devices including PCs, laptops, Smartphone, gaming video consoles and other connected CE video devices. This brought unique distribution opportunity to monetize and gain wider acceptance for the Hollywood Movies and TVShows “Digital Download and streaming”

Ravi and I have worked closely for more than a decade and he is both a innovator and gentleman. His constant drive and determination have propelled the industry forward and allowed us bring to life stories in ways that were only a dream a few years ago. From the early days on OTT and basic video delivery to your PC to next generation Multiplayer VR over a 5G network

content in many territories. More than 20,000 Hollywood (Movies+TV Shows) titles were part of UltraViolet catalogue at one point. In addition to already growing mobile penetration, services like UltraViolet permeated and propelled need for better broadband connectivity, Electronic Sell-through (EST) infrastructure, DRM harmonization and Common Media Format for enabling new ways of digital media consumption and monetization over the Internet. Ravi made significant contributions to Ultraviolet technical architecture and managed Ultraviolet from 2008-2020 as a management committee member.

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Pete Wood Sr. VP New Media Distribution, Sony Pictures Entertainment

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LE MUSK

RavindRa velhal Intel’s Global Technology Content Strategist Intel Corporation

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Sensory Cinema Experience by A R Rahman

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REFLECTIONS ON RAVI VELHAL

Ravi’s passion for cinema and the creative arts with the vast knowledge spread over 2 decades of innovation in technology makes him the ideal “digital storyteller to the merchants of dreams”. In Ravi, Intel have found the ideal global ambassador to engage some of the biggest film, music, television and gaming projects making technology enable the magic, whilst still not taking away the limelight from the original storytellers.

“A romantic story that revolves around aroma.” LeMusk is a upcoming full length sensory Cinema Experience by two time Oscar and Grammy winner A R Rahman. Prelude to LeMusk and Scent of a Song from LeMusk launched at Cannes in 2018 and 2019 respectively on Positron motion chairs with scent emitters, giving viewers glimpse into the future of immersive Cinema like never been experienced before.

He pairs technology to entertainment making them made for each other.

Neeraj Roy MD Hungama, Mumbai India

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SPIDER-MAN

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Homecoming Virtual Reality Experience, Be a Superhero

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REFLECTIONS ON RAVI VELHAL

Ravi is an exceptional standout in the intersection of technology and entertainment, he’s been a bold, risk taking leader in pushing the limits of camera technology use cases with ultra high resolution. Not afraid to push well past 4K to 8K and 16K to show where the future heads in terms of large venue entertainment and live event coverage.

Intel Teams with Sony Pictures Virtual Reality to Create ‘SpiderMan: Homecoming’ Virtual Reality Experience

Ravi understands the importance of experimenting and exploring how creative stories can be a driving force for a large tech leader like intel, showing them the path toward what the most advanced silicon can deliver to larger and larger screens with more demands on resolution and fidelity.

Ravi collaborated with Sony Pictures Virtual Reality to create a virtual reality experience (VRE) that complemented Columbia Pictures’ “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” the most highly anticipated movie of the summer 2017. The VRE offers users the chance to suit up as Spider-Man for the first time, hone their webshooting skills, and sling high above New York City in pursuit of the Vulture. Reduce discomfort associated with VR using pinhole view – including players seeing a mirror version of themselves as Spider-Man – is complicated to create such cinematic realism. When people walked away from this knowing what it’s like to be Spider-Man, the mission was complete. This experience received an AIS (Advanced Imaging Society) Lumiere award and was nominated for an Emmy.

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Ted Schilowitz Futurist, Paramount Pictures Global

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SAVE EVERY BREATH

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REFLECTIONS ON RAVI VELHAL

Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dunkirk’ Virtual Reality Experience to life

Save Every Breath: The Dunkirk VR Experience propels viewers into the action on land, sea and air. Intel collaborated with Warner Bros. and Practical Magic to create the gripping VR experience during summer of 2017. The intense 360-degree short film immerses the viewer in the world of filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s epic action thriller, Dunkirk, opens to hundreds of thousands of British and Allied troops surrounded by enemy forces. Trapped on the beach with their backs to the sea, they face

As a CTO and Head of Emerging Media at Whistling Woods International, I have experienced both the visionary and mentorship aspects of Ravi. He has the unique ability to shine a light on technical research & development roads that others can only glimpse at through a haze of uncertainty. Ravi has provided us with the much needed mentorship to work efficiently and aggressively towards research in creating new workflows and new methods of application of media technologies in the education of the next generation of Indian filmmakers. Unknown to so many Indian students, he has impacted their education and their careers with his support to the Whistling Woods Emerging Media Lab and to research & development activities in the Indian industry at large.

an impossible situation as the enemy closes in. But this intense theatrical experience doesn’t end when the final credits roll. Movie goers can experience the harrowing miracle evacuation of troops by land, sea and air – all from the safety of their living room – thanks to the magic of virtual reality (VR). “The Dunkirk VR Experience will likely transform all of our expectations about what immersive entertainment means in the years to come.

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Chaitanya Chinchlikar Vice President, CTO & Head of Emerging Media, Whistling Woods International

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INDIA’S ONLY MEDIA BIZ MAGAZINE FOR THE WORLD RavindRa velhal Intel’s Global Technology Content Strategist Intel Corporation

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RIO CARNIVAL 2018

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Virtual Reality Experience, Celebration of humanity

For me as the creator of the Le Musk the cinematic sensory experience ...getting into uncharted territory was made easier with an associate like Ravi Velhal. He was constantly filling us with the reality and possibilities to make this a successful project.

Worldwide famous as a largest festival on the planet to celebrate spirit of humanity, Rio Carnival is a soul of Brazil. Several Samba schools participate each year to parade their magnum opus float at Rio’s Sambadrome. This is one of the first ever VR experience from Brazil, created in collaboration with GloboTV, one of the top global broadcaster. This experience allows you to experience Carnival parade better than camarotes (VIP viewing Cabins at the Carnival).

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AR Rahman Two time Oscar and Grammy Winning Musician and creator of LeMusk, Sensory Cinema Experience

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INDIA’S ONLY MEDIA BIZ MAGAZINE FOR THE WORLD RavindRa velhal Intel’s Global Technology Content Strategist Intel Corporation

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Ravi is a fantastic guy with a sharp focus on blending content and technology. He knows how to bring about a balance as between creative and commercial world. Ravi a true global citizen and a great friend for several countries. Ravi has been a constant supporter of Indian Animation, VFX, Gaming, Comics and XR eco-system. He layed a great foundation with us in building India’ s first AVGC awards at FICCI FRAMES- Best Animated Frames Award ( BAF Awards) and it has over last two decades recognised the who’s who of India and global heroes in the AVGC XR space. Ravi is extremely knowledgeable, talented and a humble person. He is willing to share knowledge and help global studios thru techno- creative policy making has built several sucessful collaborations. He has played a major role in bringing US and India closer in the media and entertainment space. I can’t imagine immersive technology interventions without Intel and Ravi presenting it to us.”

To The Moon and Back in VR “One Small Step for a Man, a giant leap for Immersive Cinema” Damien Chazelle’s First Man is an unusual 1960s piece. It is apolitical. The hero, Neil Armstrong is a stoic civilian astronaut whose emotional life is the sum of Hollywood’s best pout (that of its lead actor Ryan Gosling). A daunting, yet alluring Moon landing experience by Universal Pictures, Ryot, Intel and CreateVR. The VR experience takes you right inside the Apollo 11 spacecraft, experience take off. Outside the

window, you can see blanket of glittering stars and asteroids. After hovering over the hard craters, you’ll be finally landed on the moon“giant leap for mankind”. One of the finest examples of how virtual reality can be optimized for creative cinema storytelling to whole new level. “New technology has defined new expressions for storytellers, and brought new immersive multi-sensory experiences for audiences, life never before”, This was nominated for The Outstanding Original Interactive Program Emmy’s Awards in 2019.

Ashish S K Chairman- FICCI AVGC-XR Forum

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INDIA’S ONLY MEDIA BIZ MAGAZINE FOR THE WORLD RavindRa velhal Intel’s Global Technology Content Strategist Intel Corporation

Grease Volumetric Cinema Experience

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World’s first 5 trillion Volumetric Cinema launched in 2018

Based on iconic 1978 blockbuster from paramount Pictures, this is the first volumetric Hollywood Cinema experience created at Intel Studios, the world’s largest volumetric studio imagined using Intel technologies. This experience, created in collaboration with Paramount Pictures and the original Grease film director Randal Kleiser, immerses the audience in interactive song and dance to explore the possibilities of volumetric storytelling. This Volumetric Cinema experience, billed as the future of virtual cinema production, introduces you to the limitless potential of storytelling. For

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Ravi has been on the bleeding edge of technology revolution for immersive cinema for many years. He is a torch bearer on this path and is firm believer that technology is subservient to immersive cinematic experience. He is a rare breed of technology evangelist who understands storytelling and is deeply passionate about bringing immersive cinematic virtual reality experiences from the labs of Intel to the masses.

this three-minute iconic song, more than 5 trillion pixels were captured and processed, giving birth to “Data Powered Volumetric Cinema” and the limitless future of Immersive Cinema and virtual production-based entertainment industry.

“From pixels to voxels, the potential of volumetric capture is endless as we are moving to seeing the world through the mind-bending capabilities of new media formats that are quickly becoming a gold standard in immersive media entertainment.”

He has been a pillar of support for FICCI - AVGC-XR Committee and continues to work with many companies in India in the immersive cinema.” Munjal Shroff Founder - Graphiti Studio, Co-Chair FICCI AVGC-XR

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Spider-Man Far From Home Virtual Reality, first ever multiplayer over 5G at Mobile World Congress 2018

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The game was an example of 5G’s potential power to deliver ultra-low latency VR multiplayer gaming in a whole new way.

Developed by Sony Pictures, CreateVR in association with Intel and Nokia, the point of the demonstration is to illustrate 5G’s ultra-low latency, or a real-time responsiveness that current 4G networks can’t replicate and to showcase how the next-generation wireless technology will change your life. A demonstration between Intel and Nokia booth at Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona of how a VR game could work with a

VFXRio is honored to be part of Intel’s strategic initiatives since 2016 in Brazil. Ravi Velhal’s vision of the technological ecosystem is unique in supporting and fomenting global communities which blends technology and art bridging the gap between India, Hollywood and Brazil, bringing knowhow, cutting edge expertise and vision in the technological avant-garde landscape. “

multiplayer component running over a 5G network. As you swing through the city at Intel booth, you are racing another person in a second Oculus Rift setup 3,800 feet away at the Nokia booth. https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/ spider-man-far-from-home-swings-tomwc-2019-courtesy-of-5g-and-oculusvr/

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Matteo Moriconi President of the Brazilian Association of Visual Technology VFXRIO, Affiliated to ACM SIGGRAPH

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SPIDER-MAN

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Far From Home, Virtual Reality gives players the chance to select their favorite Spider-Man suit, and for the first time swing high above New York City.

REFLECTIONS ON RAVI VELHAL

Ravi Velhal’s contribution to the media and entertainment industry of India is enormous, it is because of silent contributors like him that the industry is able to march forward and conquer glorious heights . He has been providing advise, unstinted support to the FICCI media and entertainment committee as a global advisor since last 14 years now.

Based on the film, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Virtual Reality is a fastswinging, thrill ride through the eyes of everyone’s favorite neighborhood Spider-Man. In breathtaking Virtual reality, now gamers can tackle one of the coolest power fantasies around: swinging around New York at scale as Spider-Man. In Spider-Man: Far From Home Virtual Reality you get to do just that and this taste of superhero

His vision has lead to a strong support to all initiatives of animation, gaming , VFX industry of India . He understood and stood by the work that FICCI was doing for last 18 years and instrumental in creating platform for shaping up policy. FICCI is honoured and very proud of the cutting edge technologies ( Ultraviolet, Broadcast Digitization, 4K, Immersive Cinema and now 8K) and know how that he has single handedly brought to our industry to bridge digital divide between Hollywood and Indian Film Industry

life fuels a desire for more and then find and tackle New York’s latest attacker in this thrilling, swinging adventure.

During this experience, Tony Stark’s jet was digitally acquired using volumetric set acquisition in collaboration with Intel and Sony Innovation Studios, to allow you to step into the movie.

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Leena Jaisani FICCI M&E Assistant Secretary General & Head, Media & Entertainment

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Multisensory VRE Volumetric experience from the rainforest of Brazilian Amazonia

I’ve been working with Ravi for many years. He is that rare connective tissue between the tech and entertainment worlds. He is passionate about the creative arts and has quite a knack for identifying emerging tech trends which will ultimately transform either the creative process (such as his contributions to VR, Volumetric Video, and 8K live streaming) as well as the business approach (such as the early recognition that digital is the future of content distribution, when he worked with the studio community on Ultraviolet).”

Created in collaboration with Museum Of Tomorrow, Rio de Janerio in 2019, Repangia is a techno-shamanic social experience in virtual reality to preserve thousand year old ancestorial practice of Amazonian tribes connecting humanity and preserving nature. Recognized as a first ever volumetric experience created in Brazil. This is a result of VR bootcamp hosted in Brazil and leveraging world class production techniques at low cost. Super happy to see how “Tech meets Tradition” to preserve lost ancestorial practices and rituals from remote regions of Amazonian tribes.

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Hanno Basse, Former CTO, Media and Entertainment at Microsoft Azure Chairman of Infinity Festival of Hollywood

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INDIA’S ONLY MEDIA BIZ MAGAZINE FOR THE WORLD RavindRa velhal Intel’s Global Technology Content Strategist Intel Corporation

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INTEL’S 8K HDR INTERNET OLYMPIC GAMES TOKYO 2020 LIVESTREAMS

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The future of OTT sports, entertainment, and gaming broadcasts

Last summer, as athletes broke world records at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, another “one for the books” was quietly taking place. For 19 days, live coverage of many Olympic events was broadcast over the public Internet at 8K at 60 frames per second (Fps) with HDR (High Dynamic Range) to Brazil and Japan generating and processing more than 4.7 PetaBytes of data. U.S. viewing was limited to private, invitation-only Intel sites in Portland, Santa Clara, and Hollywood audiences in Los Angeles. It was believed to be the first live, broadcastquality transmission on an open IP network cloud, coming just months after a pioneering 8K/60FPSFps livestream (without HDR), also led by Intel, in December 2020. Between those two landmark events, Intel and its partners 54

Ravi and Intel have been an integral to the immersive industry, from the creation of the VR Society, which was previously a part of the Advanced Imaging Society prior to my transition to creating the Infinity Festival Hollywood (now in it’s fifth year), to bring the creative community in Hollywood together with the innovative technology groups from Silicon Valley. Ravi was amongst the first to encourage and support Infinity Festival ( where he chairs Immersive Cinema Committee), which has helped the immersive industry grow and become synonymous with entertainment and technology. Ravi is the only person I know that has produced A-list entertainment immersive experiences with virtually all the major studios, including Infinity Festival’s Audience Choice Monolith Award winner for FirstMan VRE in 2018. Ravi is a true creative visionary that also possesses acute business acumen.

conducted more than a dozen successful demonstrations of its prototype for Over The Top (OTT), standards-based delivery of live broadcastquality, 8K (7680×4320), 60Fps, HDR content on existing 4K infrastructure. Pioneering this efforts Ravi Velhal, global content technology strategist and 8K lead at Intel, is working full speed ahead to create a new category and market that will bring live, end-toend 8K Internet streaming to billions across the globe. “We’re preparing the world for democratization of 8K using the open internet”. iABM (International Association of Broadcast and Media) recognized this as a “Project Of The Year” for 2021 and Ravi’s contribution placed him as a “Technology Leader Of The Year” finalist.

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Mark Lieber Founder/CEO of Infinity Festival Hollywood.

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There are only a handful of executives that truly understand the intersection of media and technology. Ravi has always had his finger on the pulse. Ravi was one of the first to understand that content would only flow to portable devices such as laptops and hand held devices if Hollywood trusted that their content would be protected against unauthorized widespread distribution. But that was just the beginning of Ravi’s partnership with Hollywood. He lead the charge to license Sony Pictures Ultra 4K content on every laptop and revolutionized 8K live streaming. Even in the early days of Ultraviolet, Ravi understood that rights entitlements were heading to the cloud. Ravi is always ten steps ahead of the pack.

As the Chief Strategist and Curator for the Infinity Festival, Former Governor of the Television Academy for the Interactive Media Peer Group and an M&E industry advisor, it’s always been my focus to identify and highlight thought leaders and industry evangelists who are paving the way for entertainment executives, technologists and up and coming creators. Ravi has been one of my go-to speakers and brand stewards for Intel, as he’s able to truly provide context for the disruptive nature of technologies advancements and how it will impact the future of film and television production. Ravi’s work and leadership continue to demonstrate that transformative technology solutions do not live in a silo but need to come together to lead Hollywood through its next evolution. By providing creators access to cutting edge technologies with Intel at the helm, Ravi Velhal is able to showcase what is possible.

Mitch Singer Former CTO and SDO Sony Pictures

Lori Schwartz Technology Catalyst, Story Tech Chief Strategist/ Curator, Infinity Festival, Hollywood

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Ravi is a rare confluence of technology & creativity... a deadly combination! Every small interaction with him (which is something one always look forward to) triggers a host of ideas that open up a sea of opportunities, with an aim to achieve the unthinkable. A truly passionate ambassador of Indian cinema and a pioneer of immersive technology, he undoubtedly is one of the visionaries who are shaping the world... as we will see it in the near future. His futuristic approach to everything is exemplary and his affable personality exudes so much positivity that his enthusiasm almost becomes addictive.

I met Ravi at a presentation of his Dunkirk VR project, which I loved. He found out I was the director of Grease and we began plotting to make an XR music video of “You’re the One That I Want”. Paramount jumped aboard and we captured 20 dancers volumetrically on the Intel stage at Manhattan Beach Studios. The experience won a Lumiere Award and was shown at Cannes and at the DGA’s Digital Day. Ravi was a delight to work with, and I hope we can do it again.

More power to you, Ravi... as you take a new bolder step every day, to change the world... with a smile on your face. Anand Gurnani Vice President - Digital & New Media, Yash Raj Films Pvt. Ltd.

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Randal Kleiser Director, Grease Movie

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Ravi’s pioneering efforts helped jump start the immersive entertainment ecosystem in Brazil. He brought together the first professionals dedicated to immersive entertainment in Brazil to rethink production techniques thru VR boot camp, a collaboration with award winning Museum of Tomorrow. Repangia was born in 2017 introducing a trip thru human senses perception of the rain forest, the first immersive production together with a native tribe in a deep Amazon forest region. Ravi pushed the market to create the first 8K immersive Rio carnival experience in 2016 with Globo, one of the main world broadcasters. His visionary approach influenced also the first local immersive production telling the stories of the people living in the favelas.

Ravi is a pioneer. He sees the future and leads us there

The future of global immersive entertainment takes careful navigation through new technologies and human behavior. Ravi has a special sense for both. Thanks his decades long experienced with new technologies and how they come to market. Ravi’s deep sensitivity and extensive global exposure gives him a unique connection with his people and cultures. Ravi has proven to be a true visionary in the very tricky business of new immersive experiences. Max Leite Ex Director Intel, Rio de Janeiro Brazil

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Jeff Lawrence GM, Content Protection and Services Intel Corporation

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GALLERY

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VALUABLE MOMENTS Jerome Pallard, Head of Marche du Films

AR meets VR in Hollywood

Rio Carnival 2018

US President Obama’s delegation to India in 2010

Sony Innovation Studios Jeff Lawrence, Glenn Gainor and Ravi

Spider-Man Slinging away at 5G Speed Mobile World Congress 2019

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Team FirstMan VRE nominated at The Emmys

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Roland Garros in 8K with FranceTV

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Digital Hollywood Think Tank @ CES 2018

Immersive Cinema LeMusk @NAB

Intel team with Yash Chopra in 2009

Randal Kleiser and Vidyasagar @ Cannes

Spider-Man: HomeComing @ NYC with Jake Zim, Sony Pictures

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Infinity Festival of Hollywood

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AdobeMax

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GALLERY Sony Innovation Studios at Cannes Lions

GoFest Bogota, Colombia

Cinema Panel at FICCI-Frames

16K at NAB

Hands Around The World Team

Grease Volumetric Team

Cannes XR Cannes Keynote with AR Rahman

Sony Innovation Studios team

Team Grease @Paramount Dunkirk VRE @ CannesXR

8k/16K at IBC

LeMusk

Cannes

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FICCI Frames

Team 8K with Raymondo Barros, GloboTV

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