Joanna Popper was most recently the Chief Metaverse Officer at leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Based in Los Angeles, Popper led emerging technology and metaverse initiatives for the agency and its clients. Popper joined CAA in 2022 from HP, where she led its XR initiatives for Go-To-Market, overseeing the launch of award-winning technology, such as the HP Reverb G2 VR headset (winner of Red Dot Design Award, CES Innovation Award, IF Design Award) and HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition (winner of VR Hardware of the Year, Entertainment Technology Lumiere Award, Red Dot Best of the Best, CES Innovation Award, IF Design Award). While leading HP’s VR go-to-market, the business grew 10x to a multi-million dollar business. Previously, she was Executive Vice President of Media & Marketing at Singularity University, a NASA-based, Google-backed organization founded by Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis to train leaders on the future of technology including artificial intelligence, VR/AR, robotics, blockchain, and digital biology. She was also the Vice President of Marketing at NBCUniversal, where she worked across properties, including television, film, digital, and parks, and launched top-rated hits in primetime, music award shows, sports, news, daytime, and more for Telemundo. She started her career as an investment banker in New York and Brazil and then a consultant at McKinsey & Company. She served as Executive Producer on BREONNA’S GARDEN, FINDING PANDORA X, and FIGHT BACK, the award-winning immersive content, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, and SXSW. FINDING PANDORA X won Venice’s Golden Lion for Best Immersive Experience and SXSW’s best Virtual Cinema Award. BREONNA’s GARDEN received awards and recognition for social impact from PGA Innovation, Unity, Auggie, Filmgate, and Aurea. FIGHT BACK won an audience award at Venice. She was selected as “50 Women Can Change the World in Media and Entertainment,” ”25 Pioneers in the Metaverse,” “Top 50 Original Thinkers in VR,” “Top Women in Media: Game Changers,” “Top Women in Media: Industry Leaders,” “Digital It List,” and “101 Women Leading the VR Industry.” She has sat on numerous boards and in advisory roles including as Metaphysic Board Observer, the Coalition for the Women in XR Fund, Unity Charitable Fund Advisory Board, Vidcon Industry Advisory Board, AIXR Steering Committee and CES Consumer Technology Association AR/VR Working Committee. Popper graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor’s degree, and The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania with an MBA.

Shicong Zhu is the Head of Studio (LA) at DramaBox, where she leads the creative and operational expansion of vertical micro-dramas in the U.S. market. An award-winning filmmaker and USC MFA alumna, she is a pioneer in bridging traditional cinematic storytelling with the high-velocity world of vertical content, recently launching the first-ever academic micro-drama course in partnership with Cal State LA.

Jawhara Tariq is the Chief Operating Officer of Fanfix, where she leads vertical content and shapes the platform’s approach to creator-led programming and next-generation media formats. Tariq joins Fanfix from Mythical Entertainment, the digital-first entertainment studio behind one of YouTube’s most-watched channels, where she served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development & Investments. There, she managed the studio’s portfolio of creator-entrepreneurs, drove investment strategy across emerging talent, and expanded the brand’s FAST channel into a seven-figure revenue operation. Prior to Mythical Entertainment, she served as Vice President of Strategy and Chief of Staff for Hartbeat, comedian Kevin Hart’s entertainment company, where she led strategic planning during the company’s $100 million capital raise and helped launch the newly consolidated brand to market. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Guy Gadney is CEO and Founder of Charismatic.ai which is at the forefront of Creative AI. He has run three start-ups as well as working for international media and telco organisations. With Charismatic.ai, Guy is transforming the use of AI in film, television and video games, focusing on the power of good storytelling and bridging the gap between the creative and technology industries, working with design partners including four-time Oscar winners, Aardman Animations and PSB Channel 4. He has produced Emmy and BAFTA-nominated digital productions, and interactive narratives for Warner Bros, Dreamworks, Sky and the BBC, as well as the award-winning AI game adaptation of John Wyndham’s The Kraken Wakes. Guy is on Innovate UK’s BridgeAI Advisory Board, a Trustee of Sheffield Doc Fest, on the Board of Oxford’s Story Museum, and a co-founder of The Collaborative AI Consortium in 2019, researching the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Creative Industries.

Kelly Garner is the founder and CEO of Treefort Media, an independent production company with a track record in premium scripted drama, documentary, and true crime for partners including Audible, Netflix, and Sony Pictures TV. A director of photography turned television producer turned executive, his visual instinct and Treefort's deep roots in award-winning short-form narrative have brought the company to its current focus: building a portfolio of vertical microdrama franchises.