Eric Shamlin, SVP of Growth, Media.Monks: Eric Shamlin leads entertainment growth at Media.Monks, where he heads up innovative partnerships with leading technology and entertainment brands. With a broad background in technology, visual effects and entertainment, Shamlin is pioneering the future of entertainment powered by digital, interactive and immersive technologies. Eric Shamlin is a two-time Emmy winner, 12-time Cannes Lion winner and 19-year member of the Television Academy where he holds seats on the Digital Strategy Committee, Interactive Media Peer Group and co-chairs the Experience Design Work Group.

Dustin Callif, President and Founder of Experience Division at Tool: Dustin's focus is on guiding Tool's strategic growth in developing an evolved creative production model that exists at the intersection of storytelling and creative technology. This includes ushering in brands such as Coke, Toyota and New Balance with creative campaigns powered by AI across NLP, Generative, Prompt and Computer Vision. As a thought leader in the space giving talks to brands and ad agencies about the possibilities with AI, Dustin is focused on ways to leverage AI and Immersive Tech such as AR to develop powerful creative tools and campaigns for brands that deliver on a business purpose. Working with clients such as Amazon, Uber, Airbnb, Facebook, Netflix, Google, Under Armour, Landrover, Intel, Starbucks, Nike, and others, Dustin’s projects have been recognized with numerous awards, including at the Emmys (2x), Cannes Lions (Palmes d'Or 2016 Winner), The Webby Awards, AICP Next, Clio Awards, One Show, SXSW, Ciclope, FWA, Awwwards, MTV VMAs, AICP, OMMA and Davey Awards. Dustin maintains an active presence in the interactive advertising and marketing industry, serving as a judge for the Emmy, Webby Awards, Effie Awards, and AICP Next Awards.

Emily Wengert, Managing Director, Global ECD, Experiential, Huge: A 12-year Huge veteran, Emily leads Huge’s experiential practice globally. She specializes in experiential work and tech innovation, merging the physical and digital in physical space. She has touched a variety of sectors, including retail, B2B, publishing, finance, entertainment and CPG. Emily’s emphasis on UX strategy and design pairs her with clients looking for genuine innovation and impeccable execution. Since joining Huge, she has driven customer experience design and digital transformation initiatives across the globe, including for companies such as SK-II, Target, Comcast, Gucci, and Loblaws. She works with bleeding edge technology, including facial recognition, eye tracking, robotics, AR, and computer vision. Emily was named to Adweek’s 2019 Creative 100 list. A frequent speaker on the future of retail and digital business, Emily has spoken at Shop.org, SXSW, ShopTalk and numerous design conferences. She received a BA in English from the College of William and Mary.

Kelsey Whitaker is a creative, strategist and technologist as Head of Innovation & Creative Experiences for Content+ at Mindshare, working across a diverse mix of Fortune 500 brands. Kelsey has worn many hats working cross-category across CPG/F&B (General Mills, Unilever, Ferrero), Retail (TJX), Finance (American Express, Blackrock) and Luxury (Forevermark), driving award-winning work developing brand platforms & creative strategies, overseeing custom partnerships, and leading innovation programs. With expertise in digital, social & emerging technologies, she’s passionate about designing breakthrough big ideas in the new spaces & places of creative.

Scott Broock is the founder of Totem Networks, LLC, a consultancy advising, investing, and building at the intersection of international character IP and artificial intelligence. He is the former EVP of Digital Strategy and Innovation at Illumination Entertainment, the Global VR Evangelist for YouTube, and VP of VR content and content deal development at cinematic VR pioneer Jaunt XR. Broock is also admitted to the bar in California, New York, D.C., and his home state of Ohio. 

Bill Newell, CEO, SparX Works Inc.: As a founding partner of SparX Works Inc., Bill Newell brings more than 18 years of corporate and entrepreneurial experience to the company. Bill has been involved in production and multimedia from its early days and has had key roles in establishing many of the business processes that today are often taken for granted. Bill's areas of expertise include finance, technology, production, and operations. Bill's ability to increase productivity without sacrificing quality has been proven time and time again and is a key asset to the company. A longtime associate of his partner, Sarina Simon, Bill came to North South Studios from the Knowledge Kids Network where he served as Chief Operating Officer for five years. Bill co-founded the Knowledge Kids Network and was instrumental in defining its business objectives, operational processes, and company structure. His thorough planning and oversight launched the KidsEdge websites. This network of award-winning websites contained more than 250 games, thousands of articles, and had the capacity to support 3.5 million users. During his tenure at the Knowledge Kids Network, Bill also executive produced a 12 minute animated movie entitled, DotzWorld, which premiered on the AOL network and featured 25 original characters. Bill's insightful finance skills were invaluable to the company in its negotiations with AOL and other prominent partners. Prior to joining the Knowledge Kids Network, Bill was Vice President of Production for IXL Los Angeles, a NASDAQ listed Internet services company with more than $12 million in yearly revenue in the Los Angeles office alone. As VP of Production, Bill oversaw all aspects of production and provided sales support for IXL's west coast offices. Always prolific, he supervised and managed the design and implementation of over 100 projects including assignments for Polygram, Fox, Warner Brothers, NewsCorp, Baker and Taylor, Mazda, Kawasaki, Universal Studios, and Technicolor, among others. Making use of his extensive finance background, Bill brought financial discipline to his production team and productivity increased over 200% during his tenure at IXL. Before joining IXL, Bill was Vice President of Production for Digital Planet, an Internet services company that was later acquired by IXL. As VP of Production, Bill provided direct management of technical, production, and creative teams. He also oversaw all proposal submissions, bids, technical analyses, and creative treatments for media, technology, and consumer companies including Intel, Mattel, the US Postal Service, Disney Online and Allstate. Bill is also a veteran of the multimedia pioneering company, Philips Media, where he worked for four years as an Executive Producer, managing two in-house production groups. In this executive role, Bill directed a 35 member staff and produced six educational CD ROM products. He also directed the localization of numerous products for the Japanese, English, Swedish and American markets.