Dan Kovacs is an Emmy Award-winning Producer/Director dedicated to driving meaningful connection at the intersection of big business and bold storytelling. Over the past 20 years, he's operated at the center of customer engagement and content development — cutting his teeth in live television and feature documentary work at PBS before moving into Fortune 500 in-house creative leadership. As a serial entrepreneur, Dan spent a decade leading two different creative agencies, connecting cutting-edge production solutions to multi-million dollar visions. His teams were fortunate to take home an Emmy Award, several Emmy nominations, and many a Golden Telly while serving clients like Salesforce, NBC, MTV, Chipotle, and Gilead Sciences. Today at Voia, Dan is focused on what he sees as the most important shift in the industry: ensuring the human element leads the way as Hollywood develops and adapts to AI. As a passionate early adopter of emerging tools, he believes the future belongs to creators who embrace new technology while retaining the creative instinct and emotional intelligence that make stories resonate.

Stacey Kelly is a filmmaker and video content strategist who advises media and tech companies on building audiences with platform-native video content. With over 250 million views across YouTube, LinkedIn, and social for brands and creators, she combines storytelling, scalable production, and generative AI to help brands create content that performs. She’s led viral campaigns for Paramount+, Property Brothers, BuzzFeed, and Amazon, grew VidCon’s YouTube channel with original content, and also it's TikTok to 100K+ in six months, anddirected content that grew Wishbone App’s unique daily views from 300K to over 2 million. Stacey is one of the few people in this space who has worked at the studio level, inside creator networks, and produced high-performing content across all the major platforms. A RunwayML Creator Partner and member of the Television Academy’s AI Task Force, Stacey is also a trusted voice on the future of branded content and AI storytelling. She’s spoken at the Producers Guild of America, Studio71, The New School, Curious Refuge, Acadium+, Rideback Rise, Atlanta AI Film Festival, and Savannah College of Art and Design. 

Esha Bargate is a Global Media Entrepreneur, Media strategist, and Nonprofit leader advancing innovation at the intersection of storytelling and emerging technologies. She serves as President and Director of the AI/VR Motion Picture Guild™ (AIVR MPG™), a San Francisco–based 501(c)(6) Professional Association dedicated to AI, immersive media, and ethical filmmaking practices. As the founder of Esha Bargate Productions LLC, she has built initiatives that connect creators, technologists, and industry leaders across global markets. Esha is the creator of the Global AI Filmmaking & Creative Ecosystem™, Ethical Standards Council™, and AI Meets Cinema™. She serves on the 2026 Telly Awards Executive Judging Council and has been recognized by Deadline for her contributions to media innovation, international collaboration, and responsible AI adoption in the creative industries.

Evette Vargas is an award-winning writer, director, producer, and creative force whose work spans film, television, immersive media, and AAA videogames. Featured in Forbes, named by The New York Times as an “Artist to Watch,” and Audience Award winner of the Cannes Showcase, Evette is known for bold, character-driven storytelling and building elevated, culturally resonant worlds across mediums. Born in the Bronx, Vargas sharpened her craft at NYU Tisch (BFA) and UCLA (MFA) and co-founded Indigo Reign Films, a next-generation studio producing premium film, TV, and brand entertainment. Vargas wrote, directed, and produced Confessions, winner of the Audience Award at the Cannes Showcase, now being developed for television with showrunner Tim Kring (Heroes). Her digital series Dark Prophet, starring Henry Rollins, was in contention for two Interactive Emmys, cementing her reputation as a frontier-shaping, tech-driven storyteller. She sold her drama Muses to TNT, developed series for MGM, eOne, Shout! Factory, and Exile Content, and served as TV Development Executive at Hidden Empire Film Group. Her producing/directing credits span Amazon, MTV, Bravo, DirecTV, Vivendi, and interactive work for Fast & Furious, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Madonna, Wu-Tang Clan, Activision, and EA. In immersive media, Vargas wrote The Current War VR Experience for the Benedict Cumberbatch film and created Evette Vargas ImmersivePlay, Final Draft’s industry-standard template for videogame and VR narrative. She served as showrunner/writer for the AAA-scale narrative videogame WorldOne and continues to lead large-scale interactive storytelling. As a filmmaker, she has written, directed, and produced 25+ award-winning films, episodes, and digital projects. Vargas’ upcoming features include The Mara, Diniz vs. Naouri, and Bird on a Rock (produced with Tiffany & Co.). Vargas has been the winner, finalist or fellow of the Nicholl Fellowship (Top 30), Sundance Episodic Lab, ABC/NBC NHMC Program, Producers Guild Program, Alliance of Women Directors Latina Fellowship, among others. A champion of equity, she founded The Writers Room 5050 Foundation and hosts the award-winning New Hollywood Podcast. A member of the WGA, PGA, and the Television Academy, Vargas brings cinematic vision, emotional truth, and entrepreneurial fire to every project and when she’s not building universes, she collects action figures, typewriters, and shoes.

Shaun Foster is a Professor of 3D Digital Design, Professor, and Strategic Technology & Innovation Specialist at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). With 20+ years of experience at the crossroads ofinteractive 3D design, XR/VR, AI, and education innovation, Shaun helps organizations and educators leverage emerging technologies for transformative learning and creative experiences. A recognized leader in next-gen 3D graphics, immersive media, and interdisciplinary collaboration, Shaun has led award-winning projects across national television, advertising, product marketing, andinteractive learning. His work bridges creative design, advanced technology, and strategic innovation, helping teams and institutions navigate an increasingly complex digital landscape. Shaun is a (Gold) Authorized Unreal Engine Instructor, an Epic Games ICVFX Fellow, and an RIT Faculty Fellow of Generative AI. His current focus includes XR/VR eye tracking, AI-driven experiences, previz-virtual production, and collaborative 3D ecosystems using Unreal Engine and UEFN. He frequently collaborates on global innovation initiatives and serves as a thought leader on the convergence of generative AI, 3D design, and future-focused education.

Griff Furst is a PGA producer, director, and actor with over 40 feature films and 150 professional credits spanning two decades in Hollywood. Born on September 17, 1981, in Van Nuys, California, Furst grew up on the set of St. Elsewhere, where his father, actor Stephen Furst, was a series regular. Watching that cast and crew work together as a creative family instilled in him a lifelong passion for making things — one that has driven a career defined by range, productivity, and an instinct for finding an audience. His producing credits include Devil's Peak (Billy Bob Thornton, Robin Wright), 57 Seconds (Morgan Freeman), Alice (Grand Jury Prize nominee, Sundance Film Festival), Universal's Half Baked 2, and the upcoming Sierra Madre starring Kiefer Sutherland, directed by Justin Chadwick. He also produced the cult horror franchise entries Tales from the Hood 2 and Tales from the Hood 3, and You Might Be the Killer starring Alyson Hannigan, which premiered at Fantastic Fest. Furst is the founder of Curmudgeon Films, the legacy production banner under which much of his feature work has been produced. Furst made his directorial debut with the Lionsgate-distributed horror feature 30 Days to Die, followed by Starve, which premiered as an official selection at the Sitges Film Festival. His early work in independent genre film led to a long-running relationship with Universal Television, which commissioned him to direct over a dozen movies of the week across their networks. As an actor, Furst has appeared in The Magnificent Seven, The Founder, Focus, Now You See Me, Trumbo, and I Love You Phillip Morris, for which Variety praised his ability to make a lasting impact with minimal screen time. Most recently, he guest- starred in Apple TV+'s Shrinking and CBS's NCIS: Origins. In 2025, Furst founded New Power Studios (NPS), a YouTube-first production company built on the thesis that the world's largest video platform deserves Hollywood-grade storytelling. NPS operates out of a dedicated creator campus in Calabasas, California, where Furst is building the infrastructure to develop, produce, and distribute serialized content at a pace and scale traditional studios cannot match. The company currently runs multiple channels and business lines, including scripted series, documentary programming, edutainment, and B2B storytelling services for brands. NPS's flagship project is humAIn, a scripted AI-narrative series launching in June 2026. humAIn is a first-of-its-kind alternate reality game (ARG) fused with a premium anthology series that explores the collision between artificial intelligence and human identity. The show is designed to blur the line between audience and participant, inviting viewers into a layered mystery that unfolds across video, social media, live phone lines, and physical artifacts mailed directly to fans. The pilot features creator talent Jack Gordon and Jimmy Here, with a press strategy that leads with the ARG experience itself rather than cast announcements. Furst attended Chatsworth Hills Academy, where he played baseball and football through high school. At age ten he turned down a series regular role on the ABC series Howie and Rose to focus on athletics. After high school, he trained at The Beverly Hills Playhouse under Oscar-nominated director Milton Katselas. He also played drums and sang vocals in the hard rock/hip-hop outfit Blindcide, whose single "Breakdown" received radio play and who opened for Black Eyed Peas in 2008. He is of Ukrainian Jewish and Irish Catholic ancestry and frequently collaborates with his older brother, Nathan Furst, a film composer whose credits include Act of Valor and Need for Speed. Furst married Angela Meredith on July 3, 2011, at Greystone Mansion. They have two children, a son named Abram and a daughter named Stevie Dean, named after both of their fathers. The family lives in the greater Los Angeles area.