How to Build Beyond GenAI for Storytelling & Production
Hollywood's already shooting with Gaussian Splats, and stories are starting to branch on their own — the tools to build both are here.
This workshop is the perfect preparation for the Worlds in Action Hack in LA, just before SIGGRAPH:
What comes after prompting a single AI video or splat? A full production and storytelling pipeline!
District Cinema, Volinga, Playhouse, and Reactor show how splats are shaping Hollywood productions, how interactive worlds get built, and how branching stories come to life in real time.
🎬 Splats on the Studio Floor: How District Cinema is bringing Gaussian Splats into Hollywood workflows
🧩 Volinga's Plugin for Unreal: Closing production pipeline gaps directly inside Unreal
🌐 Interactive Worlds with Playhouse: Turning generative content into explorable experiences
🔀 Branching Narrative with Reactor: Real-time, choice-driven stories and edutainment
Join our other session:
🗓️ Agenda:
⏰ 11:00 AM – 11:15 AM PT
🔀 Real-time Branching with Reactor
👤 Ahmed Ahres
📝 How to build branching stories and educational experiences that shift with every choice
⏰ 11:15 AM – 11:30 AM PT
🎬 Splats on Hollywood Sets
👤 Rene Hernandez-Ayerdis & Barnabas Csutak
📝 How different departments are adopting splats, the workflows in use today, and the limitations still being solved
⏰ 11:30 AM – 11:45 AM PT
🧩 Volinga Plugin Walkthrough
👤 Fernando Rivas-Manzaneque
📝 A look at how Volinga's Unreal Engine plugin addresses production pipeline gaps in working with 3DGS
⏰ 11:45 AM – 12:00 PM PT
🌐 Playhouse Walkthrough
👤 Grace Ng
📝 Building interactive worlds from generative content
Speakers:
👤 Ahmed Ahres is Head of GTM at Reactor, streams real-time interactive video from frontier world models straight into apps. Previously founded an a16z Speedrun-backed AI company and worked on computer vision at Revolut.
👤 Rene Hernandez-Ayerdis is Head of Studio Innovation at District Cinema. Built virtual production pipelines for Disney+'s The Mandalorian, Amazon Prime, Discovery Channel, and Disney Imagineering, with prior stops at Bentley Systems, Pixomondo, and PHNTM.
👤 Barnabas Csutak is a producer leading Reality Capture at District Cinema. Nearly a decade in physical production with Lionsgate and Netflix before moving into Virtual Production and Gaussian Splatting.
👤 Fernando Rivas-Manzaneque is the CEO and co-founder of Volinga AI, building professional 3DGS tools for film and virtual production.
👤 Grace Ng is an AI Worldbuilder and founder of Playhouse. One of the first award-winning AI filmmakers (2022); has spoken at SXSW, AWE, the White House, and the UN. Past clients include Sony, ESPN, and GE.
About:
Reactor streams real-time, interactive world models into apps in a few lines of code. $59M in Seed and Series A funding led by Lightspeed; team includes alumni from Apple, Meta, Google, Luma AI, and Netflix.
District Cinema is a Creative Technology Studio specializing in Virtual Production, Reality Capture, In-Camera VFX, and Production Software for film, TV, and immersive experiences.
Volinga turns scans, photos, and video into 3DGS environments for Media & Entertainment, Product Visualization, and Simulation & Training, with an Unreal Engine plugin and integrations across Pixotope, Aximmetry, and Disguise.
Playhouse helps creators and brands turn their IP into interactive worlds fans can explore and participate in.
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