Meet the Team


  • Director/Producer/Co-Writer

    Katja Esson is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy award winning filmmaker based in Miami, known for her character-driven documentaries tackling race, class and gender. She received the Simons Public Humanities Fellowship at Kansas University and her films have screened at the Museum of Modern Art, American Museum of Natural History, and the Smithsonian. Her work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Knight Foundation, the Ford Foundation


  • Lead Developer

    Roman Sharf is an NYC based creative game developer with a focus on gameplay programming and technical art. Using his unique set of art and technical skills, he strives to bring awesome visuals to his projects and has worked on a variety of games. Some notable titles are Mama Hawk, Island Hopper and The Worst Grim Reaper: Soul Mates. He is a proud member of the Gumbo Games Collective and has over 7 years experience using Unity to develop mobile, VR and AR games for numerous clients, including NYU and Verizon.


  • Creative Producer/Co-Writer

    Ronald Baez is an award-winning Afro-Latinx filmmaker and immersive media artist from Miami, FL. In addition to screening at film festivals worldwide, Baez has exhibited his work at such prestigious arts institutions as the Adrienne Arsht Center, the New World Symphony, Norton Art Museum, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His work has been supported by the National Endowment of the Arts, the Knight Foundation, and the National Association of Broadcasters.


  • Researcher

    Dr. Daniel Pimentel is an Assistant Professor of Immersive Media Psychology at the School of Journalism and Communication in Portland. His XR projects and prototypes have been funded by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), Thompson Earth Systems Institute (TESI), and the Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC). His work has also been featured in peer-reviewed journals such as New Media and Society and Frontiers in Psychology, as well as reputed technology conferences such as Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHIPLAY), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Games, Entertainment and Media (IEEE GEM), and IEEE VR.


  • Lead Producer

    Seasoned international, award-winning director and producer with vast experience leading teams around the world in film, television, theater and events. Virtual Reality is the newest endeavor. Productions range from documentaries to corporate films and live events for global clients. Her projects with Katja Esson have been Oscar nominated, broadcast in the US and Europe (PBS, HBO, Arte) and been supported by major organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ford Foundation. Corinna is the founder and host of "Let's Be Frank", a discussion series on the challenges of America's melting pot and an adjunct professor at Pace University for the Digital Media & Communications Master’s Program.


  • Researcher

    Sandeep Varry is an award winning XR Producer, developer, and partner at Yellow Wood Immersive. Varry received a Masters degree in Computer Science from and a second Masters in Mass Communications from Florida International University. His creative projects at YWI have exhibited at MIT, the New World Symphony, and the Florida Museum of Natural History. In 2019 Varry and his team were awarded the NationalAssociation of Broadcaster's PILOT Innovator's Award for their innovative XR work with YWI.


  • 3D Generalist

    Born in Italy and raised in Harlem, Julian is a CG Generalist intrigued by all facets of 3D art. Since graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology where he studied Computer Animation and Interactive Media, he has worked on a number of Augmented and Virtual Reality productions that tell stories and have a social impact such as Home with América by The Family Reunions Project and for the past two years has worked for ALL World, an augmented reality platform for exhibiting artworks. Julian has also worked on a variety of commercial projects such as the David Bowie Is app and the Diplo music video Spicy. Some of his clients include WarnerMedia, Fyodor Golan, Hewlett-Packard, Mad Decent and Sony Music Entertainment Japan.

  • Co-Writer

    Rashaud Michel is the Miami-born, Liberty City-based Co-Founder of the Blck Family, a Miami based creative collective responsible for the installation of mobile performance art shows centered around culinary, visual, performing and social arts. He also works as a freelance filmmaker/experimental video artist and photographer for companies in the U.S. and Latin America.


  • Composer


  • Rigger / Animator


  • Consulting Producer

    Anne Bennett is an Emmy nominated documentary filmmaker and multimedia producer. She produced the NAACP Image Award-winning PBS feature documentary, Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People, as well as the multi-platform community engagement initiative, Digital Diaspora Family Reunion (DDFR). Bennett is a graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Harvard College


  • Technical Sound Designer


  • Art Director, Look Development / 3D Environment Artist

    Rea Goldson is an Atlanta based 3D digital artist working mainly as a modeler for characters and environments. She received a Bachelor's degree in Computer Arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Rea has worked on the Italian streetwear brand, GCDS (aka ‘God Can’t Destroy Streetwear’) virtual fashion show alongside Nonny de la Peña. Rea’s most awarded project was Finding Pandora X, directed by Kiira Benzing. The piece won Best VR Experience at the Venice Film Festival and South by Southwest.


  • Consulting Producer

    Amanda Shelby is a Virtual Reality, Augment Reality, 360 Experiential Producer working closely with Mixed Reality Producers and content creators to identify custom solutions and develop strategic workflows that ensure that each project's creative vision is flawlessly executed. She successfully produced several groundbreaking 360 productions that include: Disney's Beauty and the Beast Red Carpet Show, Hyundai's 2017 Superbowl commercial, and former President Barack Obama's Farewell speech. Amanda continues to support industry creatives as an independent producer, creative strategist, and technical consultant. She also teaches and hosts workshops for underserved communities, universities and respected industry staples such as the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences.


  • Audio Producer

    Experienced immersive and experiential producer for clients including Magic Leap, Google, Warner Media, Empire State, Amazon, Bose & Accor Hotels.

    Invested in meaningful collaboration and identifying key partners. Skilled in project leadership, creative strategy, and problem solving from concept to delivery. Passionate about emerging technologies and immersive arts.


  • 3D Character Artist


  • Developer

    Roger Matthews is a multi-disciplinary storyteller with a background in editing television and film. His work has aired on VICE, CW Network, Hearst, and COMPLEX and the feature documentary, Being Elmo, won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance. He is currently a Technical Product Manager for Digital Film Tree, where he works in virtual production on shows such as Apple TV’s Ted Lasso and Netflix’s Umbrella Academy.


  • Motion Capture Technician/ Animator

    Shannon Boyle is a New York based motion capture technician with experience in all aspects of the performance capture pipeline. She received a Bachelor's degree in Animation and Visual Effects from Drexel University. Her senior thesis short film "Light Years Apart" has been part of several film festivals, including achieving semi-finalist status at the Student Academy Awards. Since graduating, she has worked as a freelance motion capture artist for companies across the country on various unannounced projects.


  • Sound Designer/Foley Artist

    Bennett is a composer and sound designer based in Brooklyn, NY. With a diverse musical background and having written music for brands such as Apple, Google, IBM, CBS, and Nike, he brings a uniquely sophisticated perspective to all of his projects.


  • Motion Capture Recording

    Engineer working with virtual reality, motion capture, interactive installations, 3D animation, and experimental film. He holds a degree in Telecommunications and Network Engineering from the Army Polytechnic School in Quito, Ecuador, and an MS in Integrated Digital Media from NYU School of Engineering.