When you picture the co-founder and president of an artificial intelligence film production start-up, odds are, you’re not thinking of someone like Tye Sheridan, an actor and producer who literally got his start when Terence Malick discovered him at age 11 during a casting call for his “The Tree of Life.”
But Sheridan — who is continuing to expand his on-screen range, adding producing into the mix and targeting writing and directing opportunities that would allow him to make films like his heroes Malick, Jeff Nichols, and David Gordon Green — is also the co-founder and president of Wonder Dynamics, a production tools startup that uses AI to scale up visual effects and computer-generated characters. And, ideally, yes, the productions that use those tools will be indie.
Sheridan is clear: The “Wonder Dynamics mission … is to enable Hollywood-level movies on an indie budget.” When Sheridan and visual effects artist Nikola Todorovic first...
But Sheridan — who is continuing to expand his on-screen range, adding producing into the mix and targeting writing and directing opportunities that would allow him to make films like his heroes Malick, Jeff Nichols, and David Gordon Green — is also the co-founder and president of Wonder Dynamics, a production tools startup that uses AI to scale up visual effects and computer-generated characters. And, ideally, yes, the productions that use those tools will be indie.
Sheridan is clear: The “Wonder Dynamics mission … is to enable Hollywood-level movies on an indie budget.” When Sheridan and visual effects artist Nikola Todorovic first...
- 3/29/2024
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Tye Sheridan is launching his new production company, Dogwood Pictures with its debut film, Black Flies, is set to play in competition at the 76th Annual Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, the pic reunites Sheridan with Sean Penn after over a decade since Malick’s The Tree of Life. Sheridan first became involved with the film in 2018 and continued on throughout the film’s execution and release.
Hailing from small-town East Texas, Sheridan is launching Dogwood Pictures which aims to tell stories that shine a light on hidden pockets of American culture.
“As a teen, some of the first films I worked on, like Mud and Joe, had a profound effect on me because they were universal stories, yet they conveyed the sheer magic and richness of American subculture. Those are the kinds of stories we want to bring to life through Dogwood Pictures,” said Sheridan.
In his corner,...
Hailing from small-town East Texas, Sheridan is launching Dogwood Pictures which aims to tell stories that shine a light on hidden pockets of American culture.
“As a teen, some of the first films I worked on, like Mud and Joe, had a profound effect on me because they were universal stories, yet they conveyed the sheer magic and richness of American subculture. Those are the kinds of stories we want to bring to life through Dogwood Pictures,” said Sheridan.
In his corner,...
- 5/15/2023
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
Updated with latest additions: Additional speakers have been added to the 13th annual Produced By Conference, the Producers Guild’s annual confab that is set for June 11-12 on the Fox studio lot.
Newly announced participants in the weekend of panels, sessions and network events include Peter Friedlander, DanTram Nguyen, Megan Colligan, Mark Resteghini, Devin Griffin, Barry Jossen, Mark Gill, Aaron Hart, Catherine Tait, Chris Thomes, Yvette Nicole Brown and more.
They join previously announced names including Viola Davis and Julius Tennon, Seth MacFarlane, Charles D. King, Dan Lin, Stephanie Allain, Betsy Beers, Jason Richman, Mark Kimsey and Aml Ameen.
Here is the full list of participants so far, with a working schedule of events available here.
Stephanie Allain
Aml Ameen
Trevor Baker
Amanda Beggs, Cas
Betsy Beers
Xavier Bernasconi
Alison Brower
Yvette Nicole Brown
Elle Roth-Brunet
Rick Champagne
Kesila Childers
Steven B. Cohen
Megan Colligan
Jesse Collins
Simon Crownshaw
Viola Davis
Dante Di Loreto
Sabrina Ehlert
Mike Farah
Stephen Feder
Erica Fishman
Ashley N. Flores
Peter Friedlander
Mark Gill
Amy Gravitt
Marsha Greene
Devin Griffin (EVP & General Manager of BET+)
Aaron Hart
Melody Hildebrandt
Erica Huggins
Steve Jelley
Valerie Johnson-Redrow
Barry Jossen
Jennifer Kawaja
Mark Kimsey
Charles D. King
Mike Larocca
Karen Baker Landers, Mpse
Dan Lin
Seth MacFarlane
Michael Minkler, Cas
Jordana Mollick
DanTram Nguyen
Arnold Pinnock
Mark Resteghini
Jason Richman
Joel Sloss
Curt Sobel, Mpse
Christina Lee Storm
Rabia Sultana
Catherine Tait
Julius Tennon
Chris Thomes
Nikola Todorovic (Co-founder & CEO at Wonder Dynamics)
Diana Williams
Tonya Williams
Philipp Wolf
David W. Zucker
Previously, May 13 Pm: After being on hiatus for the last two years during Covid, the Producers Guild of America (PGA)’s 12th annual Produced By Conference has announced its first round of speakers. The event is taking place on Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June 12 at the Fox Studio Lot in Century City.
Those panelists include Oscar winner Viola Davis; veteran producer Julius Tennon (President and Co-Founder of JuVee Productions; The First Lady); animation heavyweight Seth MacFarlane; pioneering producer Charles D. King; tentpole-maker Dan Lin; legendary producer Stephanie Allain; master of television Betsy Beers; comedy leader Mike Farah; IP chief Jason Richman; producing innovator Mark Kimsey (Co-CEO of Electromagnetic Productions); actor and producer Aml Ameen (Executive Producer/ Actor – The Porter; Actor – I May Destroy You; Producer/ Actor – Boxing Day) with more to be announced soon.
Produced By will feature panels, Q&As, a networking reception, its Mentoring Roundtables, and the return of the Pitch Perfect session, during which a handful of pre-selected attendees pitch their projects live in front of an audience of leading producers and executives.
The confirmed participants in the Mentor Roundtables are: Insecure producer Deniese Davis; producing legend Gary Goetzman; Academy Award-nominated producer Fred Berger; Daniels producer Jonathan Wang; James Lopez; and Farah, with more to be announced.
New for this year’s conference is the Producers One-on-One engagement, which connects PGA members with an experienced producer for a one-on-one conversation. This is designed for members to seek thoughtful advice about specific projects they are producing. Additionally, for the first time, PGA Create, the Producers Guild’s program supporting emerging and mid-career creative producers from underrepresented backgrounds, will bring together its 35 PGA Create scripted and documentary fellows for a day-long set of networking opportunities supported by the program’s lead sponsor, Google.
Newly announced participants in the weekend of panels, sessions and network events include Peter Friedlander, DanTram Nguyen, Megan Colligan, Mark Resteghini, Devin Griffin, Barry Jossen, Mark Gill, Aaron Hart, Catherine Tait, Chris Thomes, Yvette Nicole Brown and more.
They join previously announced names including Viola Davis and Julius Tennon, Seth MacFarlane, Charles D. King, Dan Lin, Stephanie Allain, Betsy Beers, Jason Richman, Mark Kimsey and Aml Ameen.
Here is the full list of participants so far, with a working schedule of events available here.
Stephanie Allain
Aml Ameen
Trevor Baker
Amanda Beggs, Cas
Betsy Beers
Xavier Bernasconi
Alison Brower
Yvette Nicole Brown
Elle Roth-Brunet
Rick Champagne
Kesila Childers
Steven B. Cohen
Megan Colligan
Jesse Collins
Simon Crownshaw
Viola Davis
Dante Di Loreto
Sabrina Ehlert
Mike Farah
Stephen Feder
Erica Fishman
Ashley N. Flores
Peter Friedlander
Mark Gill
Amy Gravitt
Marsha Greene
Devin Griffin (EVP & General Manager of BET+)
Aaron Hart
Melody Hildebrandt
Erica Huggins
Steve Jelley
Valerie Johnson-Redrow
Barry Jossen
Jennifer Kawaja
Mark Kimsey
Charles D. King
Mike Larocca
Karen Baker Landers, Mpse
Dan Lin
Seth MacFarlane
Michael Minkler, Cas
Jordana Mollick
DanTram Nguyen
Arnold Pinnock
Mark Resteghini
Jason Richman
Joel Sloss
Curt Sobel, Mpse
Christina Lee Storm
Rabia Sultana
Catherine Tait
Julius Tennon
Chris Thomes
Nikola Todorovic (Co-founder & CEO at Wonder Dynamics)
Diana Williams
Tonya Williams
Philipp Wolf
David W. Zucker
Previously, May 13 Pm: After being on hiatus for the last two years during Covid, the Producers Guild of America (PGA)’s 12th annual Produced By Conference has announced its first round of speakers. The event is taking place on Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June 12 at the Fox Studio Lot in Century City.
Those panelists include Oscar winner Viola Davis; veteran producer Julius Tennon (President and Co-Founder of JuVee Productions; The First Lady); animation heavyweight Seth MacFarlane; pioneering producer Charles D. King; tentpole-maker Dan Lin; legendary producer Stephanie Allain; master of television Betsy Beers; comedy leader Mike Farah; IP chief Jason Richman; producing innovator Mark Kimsey (Co-CEO of Electromagnetic Productions); actor and producer Aml Ameen (Executive Producer/ Actor – The Porter; Actor – I May Destroy You; Producer/ Actor – Boxing Day) with more to be announced soon.
Produced By will feature panels, Q&As, a networking reception, its Mentoring Roundtables, and the return of the Pitch Perfect session, during which a handful of pre-selected attendees pitch their projects live in front of an audience of leading producers and executives.
The confirmed participants in the Mentor Roundtables are: Insecure producer Deniese Davis; producing legend Gary Goetzman; Academy Award-nominated producer Fred Berger; Daniels producer Jonathan Wang; James Lopez; and Farah, with more to be announced.
New for this year’s conference is the Producers One-on-One engagement, which connects PGA members with an experienced producer for a one-on-one conversation. This is designed for members to seek thoughtful advice about specific projects they are producing. Additionally, for the first time, PGA Create, the Producers Guild’s program supporting emerging and mid-career creative producers from underrepresented backgrounds, will bring together its 35 PGA Create scripted and documentary fellows for a day-long set of networking opportunities supported by the program’s lead sponsor, Google.
- 5/24/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Wonder Dynamics, a startup founded by Ready Player One star Tye Sheridan and VFX expert Nikola Todorovic that aims to lower the cost and level the playing field for visual effects, raised $9 million in a Series A funding round that included Epic Games and Samsung as investors.
An initial funding round last spring raised $2.5 million for the company that’s developing AI-powered tools for filmmakers to produce VFX and CG elements faster and at a significantly lower price point.
This latest cash raise was led by Horizons Ventures. Along with the high-wattage new investors, existing backers including Founders Fund and MaC Venture Capital returned to participate. The fresh cash will help the company expand its team of machine learning engineers and CG artists to expedite Wonder AI Suite — a cloud-based content creation platform designed to bring blockbuster-level VFX to projects of all sizes. “We strongly believe that art shouldn’t be dependent on socio-economic status,...
An initial funding round last spring raised $2.5 million for the company that’s developing AI-powered tools for filmmakers to produce VFX and CG elements faster and at a significantly lower price point.
This latest cash raise was led by Horizons Ventures. Along with the high-wattage new investors, existing backers including Founders Fund and MaC Venture Capital returned to participate. The fresh cash will help the company expand its team of machine learning engineers and CG artists to expedite Wonder AI Suite — a cloud-based content creation platform designed to bring blockbuster-level VFX to projects of all sizes. “We strongly believe that art shouldn’t be dependent on socio-economic status,...
- 12/10/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: A round of seed funding has been completed by Wonder Dynamics, the AI-driven visual effects venture hatched by VFX artist Nikola Todorovic and Ready Player One star Tye Sheridan to democratize the visual effects process using Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to develop production tools for filmmakers to produce VFX and CG elements faster and at a significantly lower price point.
The initial round raised $2.5 million, coming from Founders Fund, Cyan Banister, Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis & Terry Dougas’s Realize Tech Fund, Capital Factory, MaC Venture Capital and Robert Schwab. Todorovic and Sheridan, who between them hold three patents on their innovation, will use the funding to scale their AI engineering and VFX teams, and expand their AI production tool. They might do another round of venture capital funding by summer, and the innovation will be road tested on an unspecified film project that will shoot later in the year. After that,...
The initial round raised $2.5 million, coming from Founders Fund, Cyan Banister, Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis & Terry Dougas’s Realize Tech Fund, Capital Factory, MaC Venture Capital and Robert Schwab. Todorovic and Sheridan, who between them hold three patents on their innovation, will use the funding to scale their AI engineering and VFX teams, and expand their AI production tool. They might do another round of venture capital funding by summer, and the innovation will be road tested on an unspecified film project that will shoot later in the year. After that,...
- 4/8/2021
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Actor Tye Sheridan is wearing a different hat with his new media-tech startup — which he claims will let indie filmmakers deliver blockbuster-level VFX on a fraction of the budget.
Sheridan (above right) co-founded Wonder Dynamics with visual-effects artist Nikola Todorovic (above left). Over the last four years, the duo have been quietly experimenting with using artificial intelligence and machine learning to create interactive video applications. Now Wonder Dynamics is gearing up to introduce a new AI production tool that they promise will let independent artists produce dazzling VFX and CGI animations for far less than is required today.
“It breaks down the barriers to achieving your wildest vision,” Sheridan told Variety. “A lot of times people dream up this story but it’s not possible to make because it would cost $200 million. AI can democratize VFX.”
Sheridan, who starred in Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One,” and Todorovic have lined...
Sheridan (above right) co-founded Wonder Dynamics with visual-effects artist Nikola Todorovic (above left). Over the last four years, the duo have been quietly experimenting with using artificial intelligence and machine learning to create interactive video applications. Now Wonder Dynamics is gearing up to introduce a new AI production tool that they promise will let independent artists produce dazzling VFX and CGI animations for far less than is required today.
“It breaks down the barriers to achieving your wildest vision,” Sheridan told Variety. “A lot of times people dream up this story but it’s not possible to make because it would cost $200 million. AI can democratize VFX.”
Sheridan, who starred in Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One,” and Todorovic have lined...
- 12/14/2020
- by Todd Spangler
- Variety Film + TV
The HollyShorts Film Festival has today unveiled its official lineup of in-competition short films for its 13th edition. As La’s biggest shorts film festival, HollyShorts routinely screens exciting new work from big names, while also offering a glimpse at the short film stars of tomorrow, all with the added sweetener of being an Oscar-qualifying festival.
This year’s festival received an all-time record of 4,000 submissions from 65 countries. This year’s lineup include 400 shorts, which will compete for the Best Short Film Prize and Grand Jury Prize, Best Director, among other top categories. The 2017 official selections have been rolled out via posts on the HollyShorts official Instagram, and all of the 400 officially accepted short films that will screen at the festival can be found by visiting here.
Read More‘Full Metal Jacket’ Set for Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration at HollyShorts — Exclusive
Highlights from this year’s selection include films that offer...
This year’s festival received an all-time record of 4,000 submissions from 65 countries. This year’s lineup include 400 shorts, which will compete for the Best Short Film Prize and Grand Jury Prize, Best Director, among other top categories. The 2017 official selections have been rolled out via posts on the HollyShorts official Instagram, and all of the 400 officially accepted short films that will screen at the festival can be found by visiting here.
Read More‘Full Metal Jacket’ Set for Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration at HollyShorts — Exclusive
Highlights from this year’s selection include films that offer...
- 7/25/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The Sundance Film Festival is just getting started in Park City, Utah, and virtual reality company Jaunt Inc. is heating things up at the winter event by announcing a Vr series reimagining of The Lawnmower Man, the 1992 film based on the Stephen King short story of the same name.
A far cry from King’s short story upon which it is based, Brett Leonard’s The Lawnmower Man movie heavily incorporated virtual reality in its plot. No details on the Vr series’ plot are known at this time, other than the fact that it will be a “reimagination of the film.”
We have the full press release with more details on Janut’s upcoming Vr slate below, as well as trailer for The Lawnmower Man film, which stars Pierce Brosnan and Jeff Fahey. In case you missed it, Scream Factory recently announced an upcoming collector’s edition Blu-ray of The Lawnmower Man.
A far cry from King’s short story upon which it is based, Brett Leonard’s The Lawnmower Man movie heavily incorporated virtual reality in its plot. No details on the Vr series’ plot are known at this time, other than the fact that it will be a “reimagination of the film.”
We have the full press release with more details on Janut’s upcoming Vr slate below, as well as trailer for The Lawnmower Man film, which stars Pierce Brosnan and Jeff Fahey. In case you missed it, Scream Factory recently announced an upcoming collector’s edition Blu-ray of The Lawnmower Man.
- 1/19/2017
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
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