Beautiful and intense super-sized origami near the entrance of the Kre8tif! Festival... just a little teaser of the type of creativity that was to be experienced further ahead...
Kre8tif! Attracted the glitterati of the digital/creative industries from around the world, including:
Alex Laurant: Senior art director, visual designer and concept artist who has worked on several notable features including “Minority Report”, “Saving Private Ryan”, “The Mummy” and “Peter Pan”. He has helped to develop video games like “Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire” and “Crysis”. Alex has also lectured and held workshops all across the globe on visual storytelling, entertainment media and visual effects design and processes.
Alex Laurant: Senior art director, visual designer and concept artist who has worked on several notable features including “Minority Report”, “Saving Private Ryan”, “The Mummy” and “Peter Pan”. He has helped to develop video games like “Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire” and “Crysis”. Alex has also lectured and held workshops all across the globe on visual storytelling, entertainment media and visual effects design and processes.
Alex mentoring at the XML Lab conference sessions over the weekend
Jason Manley: Entrepreneur extraordinaire – founder of www.theartdepartment.org, www.conceptart.org, and www.massiveblack.com. The Art Department (TAD) is an online/real world art college that trains students in concepts such as Entertainment 2D and 3D, Fine Art and Illustration. Jason considers himself first and foremost an educator as well as an artist and an advocate and innovator in the field of social network development.
Jason displaying some of his work during his inspiring keynote address on the first day of the Festival
Ralph Simon: One of the founders of the modern mobile entertainment industry, Simon can be credited as the inventor of the ringtone (!!), dubbed “The father of the ringtone” and has played a key role in the evolution of the global mobile entertainment and content industries. He has produced mobile content and strategies for the Live 8 global concerts, as well as currently working with Lady Gaga and U2 on theirs. Currently also, Ralph is the CEO of the British Mobilium Advisory Group, guiding companies through the labyrinth of mobile content, messaging, mobile media technology and applications, and how their usage and distribution can lead to greater revenues.
Shawn Kelly: One of the lead animators at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) in California, Shawn has contributed to countless Hollywood titles such as “Indiana Jones”, “War of the Worlds”, the entire Star Wars prequel series as well as the Transformers films (my favourite movie franchise of all time!), for which he received an award for Best Single Visual Effect of the year for his work. Upcoming features for Shawn include the much-anticipated “Transformers 3”, as well as “Rango”, the first full-length feature film to be released by ILM.
Shawn Kelly - animator responsible for one of the best scenes in Transformers 1...stuff that dreams are made of...
David Freeman: Teacher of the widely acclaimed screenwriting class “Beyond Structure”, where many top screenwriters, directors and Hollywood executives have been greatly influence by his original writing techniques. David has taken his concepts to prestigious film and television companies across North America and Europe, companies such as Pixar and Disney. He is also the author of the book “Creating Emotion in Games”, which is often used as a reference by many gaming developers and enthusiasts. Games he has provided input on include “Tron: Evolution”, “Prey”, “Need for Speed: Carbon” and “Terminator: Redemption”.
David Freeman: Schmoozing it up cartoon style
Leah Hoyer: The former Director of Development at Walt Disney Co., Leah has had vast experience in the development of ideas for online content, video games, interactive theme park attractions and television series. She possesses a keen eye for character development and knows how to take stories and ideas to that next level.
Leah sharing her wealth of knowledge on character development at the XML Lab, and on the right, speaking at Kre8tif!
The awards night on Dec 17th capped of an intense 3 day of ‘sponging’ (listening, learning, absorbing) for many, with the chance to celebrate the best of the best in Malaysian Creative Work from 2010. Local talents were nominated across a range of categories - four main ones being Digital Arts, Professional Games, Student Games, and Animation/Visual Effects (VFX). 22 Awards were given out in total to Malaysian individuals, companies and students, and there was a great atmosphere in the room – filled with camaraderie, excitement and respect for peers that had both won and lost. For an awards night, it wasn't all about the awards, it was about something bigger. It was about the potential for this little corner of the world to truly show the world the possibilites of their ideas and capacity for creating original work, with the beginnings of a local indie scene growing into the kind of place where Hollywood could come knocking on its door within the next decade, and even the next few years.
Awards Presenters and XML Speakers Anonymous
Requisite "Wave arms in the air with beaming smile and say Malaysia!!" group shot
Awards night grub...
...and entertainment
For the next two days, the XMedia Lab conference took place, more of a low key event that allowed creative Malaysian businesses to get mentored by some of the speakers from the Festival. Running your creative ventures and ideas past those at the top of their game in the industry is a rare opportunity, and there was lots to be learnt. More on this in a separate post.
Continuing with the celebratory theme, Il wrap up this post by posting a few pics of the dinner hosted by XML creators and husband-and-wife power combo on the last day of the Lab, followed by a short summary and a few thoughts on the Kre8tif! Festival.
Team Leader Susan getting ready for the XML celebratory dinner
More grub...
Dessert Delight: Chocolatey goodness = definite highlight of dinner
Dominique F. hamming it up for the cameras
Leah, myself and Aimee struggling to pose whilst intensely digesting the large amount of food eaten
The Kre8tif! Festival 2010 was indeed a resounding success, if not only for the kind of passion and inspiration that filled each and every day, and each and every room, and that more often than not seems so hard to find these days. For those who ever get the chance to be part of the XMedia Lab experience, then grab it with both hands and go along for the ride. It will re-ignite your creativity, re-connect you with like-minded creatives, arouse your dormant passions and abilities and perhaps even launch your career in the most stellar way...
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