Thanks to IMERSA's founding sponsors!
Denver Museum of Nature & Science   Global Immersion   Vortex Immersion Media
Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise   SAT   Goto Inc.   The University of Plymouth
Immersive Media   RSA Cosmos   Spherical Media Group   Adler Planetarium
SCISS   Sky-Skan   Louisiana Arts & Science Museum   International Planetarium Society
Audio Visual Imagineering   California Academy of Sciences   Loch Ness Productions
Arts Lab   Evans & Sutherland

 

Welcome to the first IMERSA newsletter. Need a little more background on our organization? Check out this press release from our first big gathering at the Adler Planetarium last year, and see the recommended Reading and Resources below.

Upcoming Events

IMERSA organizes fulldome industry event
at Griffith Observatory May 18
IMERSA, the Producers Guild of America and the Themed Entertainment Association have partnered with the Griffith Observatory to produce a May 18 educational event to acquaint some 270 media producers to the fulldome digital medium, its vendors and institutions, and the educational community that they serve. The introduction of new creatives to the field will help grow the library of quality content for fulldome theaters, raise production values, and inspire new directions. Thanks are due to Griffith curator Dr. Laura Danly and Director Dr. E.C. Krupp, Michael Daut of Evans & Sutherland, Dina Benadon of the Producers Guild, Daren Ulmer of the Themed Entertainment Association, and Ed Lantz of IMERSA. If you're in the Los Angeles area and interested in attending, please contact Ed Lantz.

Want to help make the Griffith event a success and gain exposure to this group? Sponsorship opportunities are available! Contact Dan Neafus or Martin Howe.

Join IMERSA at SEPA 2009, June 16-20 in Nashville
In Nashville, the SEPA 2009 Conference will run June 16-20 at the Sudekum Planetarium of the Adventure Science Center. The program includes a 90-minute "Fulldome 101" workshop on June 18 with IMERSA co-founder Dan Neafus of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. For those who wish to get involved more directly with the IMERSA organization (IMERSA is young and growing and in need of members, officers, sponsors and volunteers), there is a roundtable on June 20.

IMERSA supports DomeFest July 17-20 in Albuquerque
DomeFest, the annual fulldome video festival, will take place at the University of New Mexico's ARTS Lab and Lode Star Planetarium in Albuquerque, New Mexico this July 17-20. The event is organized by IMERSA founding board member David Beining of the UNM ARTS Lab. A highlight of DomeFest is the juried fulldome film festival. At this gathering, operators of fulldome theaters can shop for content, those who are considering fulldome can learn more about it, and producers and distributors can discuss their work. In connection with DomeFest, IMERSA will support the Fulldome Summit featuring a full day of technical papers focused on innovations in fulldome production. For more information check the DomeFest website or contact David Beining.

IMERSA's first annual report will be posted online shortly
We expect to publish the first report on the IMERSA website within about a week. Please watch for it there.

IMERSA takes part in Immersive Film Festival, Portugal
Navegar Foundation held the Immersive Film Festival at Centro Multimeios of Espinho,
Portugal, April 24-26. On an Evans & Sutherland fulldome digital video system, some 25 fulldome productions were shown in addition to 23 new works submitted for creative competition. Also on the program was a group discussion led by IMERSA. Sponsors of the event included Sky-Skan, RSA Cosmos, Global Imagination and Map Cards. Winning selections were made in four categories by a jury of four specialists (IMERSA co-founder Dan Neafus of the Gates Planetarium at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Mike Bruno of Spitz Inc., Michael Daut of Evans & Sutherland, fulldome producer/director Francisco Costa and journalist Sara Oliveira), excepting the Audience Award which was selected by public vote.

Winners: Best of the Festival and Audience Award: "Hijos del Agua" (Sky-Skan, Germany), Best Immersion: "Adamas" (Softmachine, Germany), Best Soundtrack: "History" (NSC Creative, UK), Best Visuals: "Launch" (NSC Creative). Finalists: "Paperworld" (Warik Lawrence, Australia), "Future Memory" (Amanda Philips/Alexander Mitchell, Australia), "Living in Space" (NSC Creative), "Living... Flying" (Ilusa Media, Spain), "Natural Selection" (Mirage 3D, Netherlands). Additional information and images here.

Red Stick animation festival celebrates fulldome at Pennington Planetarium
Audiences at the Red Stick festival, held April 22-25 in Baton Rouge's downtown arts district, were among the first in the world to see "Voices in the Dark," a fulldome production that premiered in Germany at Planetarium Hamburg. During Red Stick 2009, "Voices" was shown at the Irene W. Pennington Planetarium at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum.

"Voices" is a creative audiovisual experience that takes viewers through a universe of colors, sounds and digital images, all set to original music. It was produced by Mike Batt with Terry Rudat and Mindgames Productions. The planetarium also featured a variety of works that were part of the 2007 DomeFest, as part of the Red Stick festival. Thanks to Mike Smail, producer, Pennington Planetarium, for this information.

IMERSA connects with
the giant-screen industry
Producers and distributors in the field of giant-screen cinema are showing strong interest in the possibilities of the planetarium market, which has many similarities to the museum market they serve. At the Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA) Film Expo in Los Angeles March 17-21, IMERSA's Ed Lantz, Darcy Gerbarg and Judith Rubin, plus Martin Howe (Global Immersion) attended for the opportunity to speak with producers, distributors and theater operators about fulldome. We held an IMERSA business meeting to discuss IMERSA publications, sponsorship outreach and programming for the upcoming Fulldome Summit that will be held in conjunction with Domefest in Albuquerque. We also met with Gretchen Jaspering, president of GSCA, to discuss possible joint activities with IMERSA.

Some clear signs of crossover between fulldome and giant-screen: One of the new releases screened at GSCA was "Molecules to the Max," a new giant-screen version of the familiar fulldome show, "Molecularium." It is being distributed by SK Films. And nWave Pictures has partnered with Evans & Sutherland to create a fulldome version of its popular recent release, "Fly Me to the Moon."

IMERSA co-founder Ed Lantz has been invited to participate in the GSCA technical task force which is exploring technical specifications for giant screen digital projection.

IMERSA's voice in the Planetarian
IMERSA director of communications Judith Rubin now writes a regular column in The Planetarian, published every other month by IPS (International Planetarium Society). If you missed the first one (April 09) which looks at marketing and branding fulldome technology and theaters, you can see it online here.

Join IMERSA

IMERSA is an international professional association advancing the art, science, profile, integrity and common interests of large-format digital immersive media and group interactive entertainment and cultural experiences including (but not limited to) immersive digital theaters and digital dome (fulldome) planetariums.

For membership categories, benefits and dues information,
visit the IMERSA membership page.


Sponsor IMERSA

Help our organization grow and fulfill its mission (and yours). IMERSA needs your support in order to create and participate in events, and to conduct activities and outreach that increase membership, foster strategic relationships, promote our message and provide benefits to members. Contact Martin Howe for details.


IMERSA Officers and Staff

Founding Board: Dan Neafus, Ed Lantz, Ryan Wyatt, David Beining, David McConville
Executive Director: Darcy Gerbarg
Communications: Judith Rubin