Chris Pfaff moderated the ‘How to Create Immersive 3D Stories with Real Humans’ panel during SXSW 2026 on Monday, March 16th at 4:00 pm at the Austin Marriott Downtown in the Waller Ballroom A. Joining him were Lauren Michelle, CEO, Operaverse Corey Rosen, EVP, Creative Development, Production & Storytelling, Super 78 Richard Broadbridge, CEO, 4Dviews.

The session featured presentations on various techniques for incorporating real human capture – not avatars – in immersive stories.

You can watch the full session at:

And Part II:

HOW TO CREATE IMMERSIVE 3D STORIES WITH REAL HUMANS

The explosion of virtual stories across platforms has seen an increase in the integration of real humans in immersive experiences. The evolution of stunningly realistic volumetric video now enables real human capture and integration in scenes that are life-like and spatially adaptive. The innovations that are now making the human more prominent in complex virtual narratives are being led by producers and toolmakers who are building a network of dynamic volumetric artisans. This session features leading developers of mixed reality, VR, and mobile AR that render virtual humans – not avatars. Monday, March 16, 2026 Austin Marriott Downtown- 304 East Cesar Chavez St. Waller Ballroom A Chris Pfaff, CEO, Chris Pfaff Tech Media LLC

From Streaming Media Magazine, by Tyler Nesler, March 2, 2026 (https://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/News/Online-Video-News/Vertical-Leap-Growing-the-Free-Vertical-Drama-Business-at-Streaming-Media-Connect-173716.aspx)

On Thursday, February 26, at Streaming Media Connect, Chris Pfaff, CEO, Chris Pfaff Tech Media, moderated the panel “Vertical Leap: Growing the Free Vertical Drama Business at Streaming Media Connect,” which explored the ways that vertical drama is exploding on free streaming platforms, driven by mobile-first viewing, bingeable formats, and a new generation of viewers and global creators.

The panelists were Grace Gao, Founder/Executive Producer, Celestine Pictures, Inc., Thom Woodley, Partner, Hudson Vertical, Brandan Dennehy, CEO & Head of Vertical Drama, Stratagem Vertical, and Carina Williamson, Creative Operations Lead, GoodShort.

Key points discussed included the following:

• The potential of vertical series to become a major mass media form
• The integration of AI in content creation and distribution
• The shift in content strategy and audience engagement for microdramas
• Brand integration in vertical drama

You can watch the entire session at:

The potential of vertical series to become a major mass media form

Pfaff began the discussion by noting that vertical microdramas are a rapidly evolving and exciting new area of media. He asked the group, “How can a seasoned executive in microdrama leverage their past experience from traditional film and TV to increase both artistic and commercial value of this medium?”

Woodley shared his journey from early web series to mobile storytelling, emphasizing the importance of compact stories and the potential of vertical series to become a major mass media form.  “I think we are starting to see the aperture widen,” he said. “We’re not only talking about micro budget production…we are now at the precipice of this really becoming a big new mass media in a way that we haven’t seen in a while.”

The integration of AI in content creation and distribution

Grace Gao discussed the launch of her microdrama studio, Celestine Pictures, and the integration of AI in content creation and distribution. “We are focusing on IP screenwriting as our core moat, but also utilizing AI in the pipeline, and also acquiring and distributing internationally at the same time,” she said. “And where it all came from was [that] I’ve been a bilingual person my whole life, and I started out my film and TV career out in New York, the very independent filmmaking scene, traveling with a co-production crew around the world, from Australia to Asia, back to the States.”

She went on to recall that, “after coming out of grad school with a screenwriting degree, straight into the strike, the only gig in town was the verticals. So I naturally fell into this landscape and started learning about this new medium early because of that, learning from the best platforms out there, best collaborators early in the game. Now I’m able to see where we fit best in this entire landscape, and I decided to establish our own thing, really honing in on human creativity as we’re evolving further into automation, trying to cut the cost down across the board.”

The shift in content strategy and audience engagement for microdramas

Brandan Dennehy recounted his experience with Pocket FM and the rise of microdramas, noting the shift in content strategy and audience engagement. “I sort of backed my way into this space completely by happenstance, even before microdramas were a thing. I spent 20 years in Hollywood working with folks like David Ellison, Kevin Feige, and Michael Mann. And even then, it was impossible to get anything made. The pandemic came along and killed everything that I had set up, and serendipitously, a company [Pocket FM] reached out to me, pitched themselves as the Netflix of audio, and I said, sure, let’s do it. And what I learned immediately was that this company’s business model was quite different than anything else that was going on.

“We were licensing content from China, we were localizing it, we were testing it. And then, when we were validating through testing, we would make those shows for the US audience. And that model was in late 2021, which led to the explosion of microdramas about a year and a few months later, when ReelShort came out. And so we moved into that space in our own way at PocketFM, mostly for marketing purposes, but also putting shows in the app.

Carina Williamson highlighted the opportunities for new graduates in the vertical space and the rapid production cycles that allow for quick audience feedback and content adaptation. “We’re seeing a new generation similar to me who are coming to Hollywood out of school or moving to try and make a career in entertainment. And they’re all turning to verticals instead because, one, there are just so many of them that there’s an endless amount of options, and also because there is a severe lack of options in the traditional Hollywood space.” She also emphasized that microdramas are well-suited for highly optimizing audience engagement due to their quick turnarounds. “[We] have the opportunity to see projects through from script to production to editing to release in such a short amount of time, and be able to understand the data and our audience in such short timeframes, make such quick decisions, test things out, and get to understand what people are looking for out of this new form of media.”

Brand integration in vertical dramas

Woodley discussed the unique opportunities for brands to fully integrate themselves into vertical dramas. “I’m Dos Equis, and at the top of the quarter, I could say, ‘Oh, you know what? I think I’ll do a microdrama. And by the end of the quarter, it’s out, and I have my results.’ And that’s the kind of thing we did when I was at College Humor, leading the branded content division, but that would be for a brand with a one-off sketch video. And now the question is really, well, why can’t a brand make an entire series? And they’ve started to. Procter & Gamble recently made a 55-episode series with Jonas [Barnes] at Pixie USA. And there’s been a couple of other experiments in this space, [such as] Maybelline.”

Chris Pfaff moderated an expert virtual panel for Streaming Media Connect, on February 27, 2025, ‘App, Crackle, Pop: What a Video App Really Needs,’ with Bruno Giner, NPAW; Ankit Awasthi, Amazon Prime; Deirdre Magrane, Tubi; Tom Hurlbutt, Crunchyroll, and Jason Williams, Plex.

The session discussed the product considerations and technical issues surrounding app development for video publishers. You can watch the full session at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-jpftHBl9M&list=PLcSb1s2U3uyDMnUvP0RMv0WnVwp25b6OS&index=15

Chris Pfaff moderated an expert session – ‘Removing the Friction of Content Discovery on CTV’ – at the (virtual) Streaming Media Connect conference, on November 14, 2024, with the following panelists:

Chris Rodriguez, CCO – Revry

Monica Williams, SVP, Digital Products & Operations, Content Distribution – NBCUniversal

Gatsby Frimpong, Co-Founder & CEO – Gatsby TV

Katrina Kowalski, SVP, International Content Programming and Acquisitions – Pluto TV

The premise of the session was that today’s streaming providers deliver endless amounts of content, which can overwhelm viewers who are simply looking for something to watch. The content discovery process often takes far longer than viewers are willing to wait. FAST channels have the power to redefine content discoverability by using data to serve customers the content they want to watch and help them find new content based on prior viewing habits. FAST platforms have a vast amount of data available to them, but only a small amount of it is being used to its full potential. Incorporating viewership data into the content discoverability process can remove the pain points that have bubbled up in the new streaming landscape, lead to more engagement with the content, and open up more opportunities for advertisers to reach their target audiences. This session looks at the success of genre channels and provides attendees with insight into how they help their viewers find their content faster.

You can watch the full session at:

Chris Pfaff moderated the ‘Now It’s Personal: AI and Streaming Personalization’ panel at the virtual Streaming Media Connect conference, on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. The expert panel featured Chris Regina, CCO, TCL; Shobana Radhakrishnan, sr. dir., engineering, GoogleTV, Arash Pendari, founder/creative director, Vionlabs AB. and Alex Gruber, chief product officer, Deltatre.

You can watch the full session at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RvJ4JUPhIY&list=PLcSb1s2U3uyA8AMciRoww3BTj6QwoOQII&index=4&t=503s

‘NOW IT’S PERSONAL: AI AND STREAMING PERSONALIZATION’

Many of the ways AI is poised to alter the streaming ecosystem happen behind the scenes, involving the streamlining of workflows or the automation of repetitive production or delivery tasks. But AI also has the potential to transform viewing experiences, making them more personal and immersive. The panel explores what’s possible and what’s probable and how we can expect to see AI’s real-world impact on streaming experiences take shape in the months and years to come.

Tom Butts (left) and Chris Pfaff (right) at the virtual tvtech Summit – March 29, 2023

Chris Pfaff was the keynote speaker at TV Technology’s tvtech Summit, a virtual half-day event on March 29, 2023 that featured leaders in the production technology industry, in a conversation with TV Technology editor-in-chief Tom Butts. Titled ‘Why You Should Care About the Metaverse,’ the March 29th conversation dove into topics regarding persistent computing, VR and AR, and some definitional discussion over the course of 30 minutes.

You can watch the entire discussion at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzk61rqUEhc&t=3s

Tom Butts wrote this preview (see below) in TV Technology, which was published on March 23, 2023.

On Wednesday, March 29, TV Tech will be holding its Spring TV Tech Summit, a series of keynote conversations, panel discussions and case studies covering the latest advances in Media and Entertainment tech.

Opening the summit, TV Tech Editor in Chief Tom Butts will talk with Chris Pfaff, founder of Chris Pfaff Tech/Media LLC, and a leading new media and technology producer and strategist on “Why You Should Care about the Metaverse.”

Chris’s 30+ year background in the industry makes him uniquely qualified to speak about this technology which (some would characterize) as “emerging” for more than a decade.

For those of us who think the metaverse is just another name for virtual reality, Chris is ready to debunk that trope.

“The metaverse is a shared decentralized digital space where you can meet, create and share a personalized experience,” he said. “But you can do that in  virtual reality and in other technologies as well. And I think that someday soon, perhaps not that many years from now we will have more projectable holograms that will reflect how people currently view the future of the metaverse.

“What makes the metaverse different from virtual reality is that it has to be immersive and it has to be persistent,” Chris added. “It has to have some community which may have some connections to what you experience in the physical world. It doesn’t have to be a simulacrum of what you do in the physical world where you are just ‘layering on.’”

Making the metaverse more immersive is key, not just to entertain us but to educate us as well, Chris says

“For example, if you were studying meteorology or cosmology and somebody was teaching you about the stratosphere and the ionosphere, using the metaverse to provide a more fully immersive kind of experience could really revolutionize the way we communicate and teach,” he added.

 

Chris Pfaff opened Arctic15 2022 – the first in-person Arctic15 since 2019 – at Kaapelitehdas in Helsinki on June 7, 2022, with a fireside chat that featured Gregory M. Bernstein, from EQT Group, and Simone Ross, from TED Conferences. The session discussed how to source innovative companies for investment, and how to view innovation trends.

Gregory M. Bernstein, EQT Group (left), Simone Ross, TED Conferences (center), and Chris Pfaff, Chris Pfaff Tech Media LLC (right)

Chris Pfaff listens intently during the ‘Finding the Next Big Thing’ fireside chat

Chris Pfaff (left) greets Jan Ameri (right) with a salutatory fist bump at the opening of Arctic15 2022 at Kaapelitehdas in Helsinki

Gregory M. Bernstein (left), from EQT Group, Simone Ross (center), from TED Conferences, and Chris Pfaff (right) before the ‘Finding the Next Big Thing’ panel at Arctic15 2022

Twenty years ago, there were no smartphones (with full web browsers); broadband was 5 MB/s downlink; 1 TB of storage cost $10,000; there were no social networks; the iPod was the hottest tech toy; there were more than 8 Tier 1 cellular carriers in the U.S.; MP3 and BitTorrent were creating headaches for the music industry; Nielsen was still king of ratings; OTT was mostly a cable Internet industry term; AI was still in the labs; DVD defined digital video; HDTV was still a niche offering; mobile video was non-existent; VR was only for industrial customers.

It was at that time – on November 21, 2002 – that I founded Chris Pfaff Tech Media LLC. To help bleeding-edge tech entrepreneurs gain market traction. To bring new ideas and approaches to legacy industry segments. To bring global visibility to early-stage ventures. 

From WAP to TikTok; from holographic storage to Flash drives; from contextual content to projected holograms; from facial recognition to virtual humans, and beyond, Chris Pfaff Tech Media LLC has been there. And – in many ways – was there. At the protean start. 

Many, many thanks to all of the collaborators, colleagues, and clients who worked with us on this epic journey at the beginning of the 21st century and over the past two decades. 

Here’s to the next 20 years.

And beyond.

Thanks to:

William Wilson Kevin Curtis Roy Elkins Moses Asom Eric Petajan George Caravias Narain Gehani Barry Cinnamon Michael Wood George Searle Steve Lubin Duncan Campbell Daniel Goldscheider Larry Henderson Steven Socolof tony Verderosa Edward Boddington Troy Sample Jason George Matt Frost Jani Houponen Sam VashIsht Irwin Kornfeld Paul Smith Mike Folgner Eric Eccles Thanasis Iatrou Nikos Kyriopoulos Chris Gottschalk Robin Rush Harry Kargman Boris Fridman Stein Erik Sorhaug Romain Eude Jacques Edouard Guillemot Stelio Tzonis Hans Eriksson Amorah Sandberg Fredrik Oscarson Michal Suchon Laurent Weill Colas Overkott Paul Amsellem Werner Haan Helmut Bems Agnes Chung David Hoga Tobias Soppa Jonathan Levy Bencheton Thierry Coutanceau Jean-Christophe Perier Christophe de Courson Petri Martikainen Richard Collins Janne Neuvonen Pasi Ilola Tony Hope Heini Vesander Mikki Kuusi Ville Makinen Wilhelm Taht Roope Suomalainen Hannu Anttila Harri Pesola Heikki Rotko Kaius Meskanen Mika Rautiainen Ville Hulkko Hannu Verkasalo Joonas Makkonen Olli Rundgren Topias Soininen Jesse Heikkila Vesa Perala Jani Penttinen Jouni Maaranto Tarmo Virki Laura Avonius Will Cardwell Nilay Oza Tuomas Kosonen Jari Tuovinen Peter Vesterbacka Laurent Martin Vamsi Palukuru Jussi Autio Chris Thur Jussi Harvela Antti Keranen Jari Mieskonen Sami Hyrylainen Jarno Eerola Projjol Banerjea Arkady Fridman Are Traasdahl Helge Hoibraaten Karl Kathuria Miguel Silva Jonathan French Paul Finster Lindsay Stewart Christina Castellano Brian Kline Juraj Siska Oliver Lietz Jason Porath Tom Link Cheng Wu Hal Vogel Jon Vlassopulos Seth Schachner Christian Egeler T.J. Vitolo Mohammad Raheel Khalid Brian Johnson Kanwaldeep Kalsi Jan Ameri Eero Kaikkonen Janet Greco Fred Pfaff Margus Uudam Andrew Knight Rob Rosenberg Suren Pai Sanjay Macwan  Claude Theoret Martin Enault Stephane Rituit Olivier Trudeau Anick Beaulieu Richard St. Pierre Daniel Japiassu Thomas Jelonek Kristjan Laanemaa Urmas Peiker Mike Klyszeiko Kris Kolo Nathan Pettyjohn Anne-Marie Enns Tracy Swedlow Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen Joel Unickow Trygve Refvem Jarno Vanto Sami Paihonen Pekka Parnanen Anton Gauffin Sami Niska Ekaterina Gianelli Andrew Johnston Pia Erkinheimo Beni Cohen JR Dawkins Robert O’Neill Nita Pilkama Imram Ahmed Jakub Majkowski Andrew Bud Peter Northing Ted Iannuzzi Felix Froede Kris Ramanathan Werner Haan Patricia Steele Bradley Glenn Simon Schatzmann Jonathan French David Hoga Agnes Chung Christoph Huning Jonathan Levy-Bencheton Thierry Cottenceau Jean-Christophe Perier Christophe de Courson Petri Martikainen Richard Collins Janne Neuvonen Pasi Ilola Tony Hope Heini Vesander Miki Kuusi Ville Makinen Wilhelm Taht Roope Soumalainen Hannu Anttila Harri Pesola Heikki Rotko Kaius Meskanen Mika Rautiainen Ville Hulkko Hannu Verkasalo Joonas Makkonen Olli Rundgren Topias Soinenen Vesa Perala Jani Penttinen Tarmo Virki Laura Avonius Will Cardwell Nilay Oza Tuomas Kosonen Jari Tuovinen Claude Theoret Martin Enault Stephane Rituit Olivier Trudeau Anick Beaulieu Richard St. Pierre Daniel Japiassu Thomas Jelonek Kristjan Laanemaa Urmas Peiker Mike Klyszeiko Kris Kolo Nathan Pettyjohn Anne-Marie Enns Tracy Swedlow Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen Joel Unickow Trygve Refvem Jarno Vanto Sami Paihonen Pekka Parnanen Anton Gauffin Sami Niska Ekaterina Gianelli Andrew Johnston Pia Erkinheimo Beni Cohen JR Dawkins Robert O’Neill Nita Pilkama Imram Ahmed Jakub Majkowski Andrew Bud Peter Northing Ted Iannuzzi Felix Froede Kris Ramanathan Werner Haan Patricia Steele Bradley Glenn Simon Schatzmann Jonathan French David Hoga Agnes Chung Christoph Huning Peter Vesterbacka Laurent Martin Vamsi Palukuru Jussi Autio Chris Thur Jussi Harvela Antti Keranen Jari Mieskonen Sami Hyrylainen Jarno Eerola Projjol Banerjea Arkady Fridman Are Traasdahl Helge Hoibraaten Karl Kathuria Miguel Silva Jonathan French Paul Finster Lindsay Stewart Christina Castellano Brian Kline Juraj Siska Oliver Lietz Jason Porath Tom Link Cheng Wu Jon Vlassopulos Seth Schachner Christian Egeler T.J. Vitolo Mohammad Raheel Khalid Brian Johnson Kanwaldeep Kalsi Jan Ameri Eero Kaikkonen Janet Greco Fred Pfaff Margus Uudam Andrew Knight Rob Rosenberg Suren Pai Sanjay Macwan Patricia Steele Bradley Glenn Simon Schatzmann Jonathan French David Hoga Agnes Chung