Sebastian Sylwan
CTO & Creative Partner, Felix & Paul Studios
A digital media technology executive with a passion for immersive and tech’s emotive side, Sebastian Sylwan develops live action VR, AR and MR experiences — along with the cameras, pipeline and tools to produce them. From the beginning of his career, Sebastian excelled at the technical side of his work, yet always drew his inspiration from the boldy artistic side of the industry. As he established his technological expertise across multiple projects, countries and languages, he built bridges between the technological side of his trade and the creative minds necessary to envision its future. Sebastian spearheaded advanced technology projects as CTO at Weta Digital, the Oscar™-winning visual effects studio known for Avatar, Planet of the Apes, Tin Tin, X-Men and other films. He also co-designed advanced reflectance field capture device Light Stage 6 at USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies. He’s moved from director of technology for VFX company Digital Domain to changemaking Senior Industry Manager for Film & TV with Autodesk’s Global Film & Television Industries to CTO of Italy's Lumiq Studios, where he designed and built the country’s largest film and animation studio. No matter his role or where he's found himself in the world, Sebastian has stayed dedicated to several advisory boards and committees: he's chair of the Visual Effects Society Technology Committee, an active member of the Academy’s Sci-Tech Awards Committee, a member of the Previs committee and Virtual Production Committee. At Felix & Paul Studios, Sebastian co-develops projects from their visionary beginnings to their industry-changing final iterations, supervising VFX decisions and providing creative solutions along the way. In his executive role empowering partnerships between industry leaders, emerging artists and tech heavyweights, he remains a champion of new frontiers and allied evolution in immersive entertainment.