Dane Smith

Dane Smith brings more than a decade of experience as a producer and innovator in visual effects and entertainment production to his role leading global; business development and strategy at THE THIRD FLOOR.  Across his career, Dane has managed delivery of studio and independent projects ranging from live-action and animated feature to television series and emerging media platforms, including motion pictures like Deadpool, Warcraft, San Andreas, Star Trek Beyond, Transformers: Age of Extinction, The Amazing Spiderman, Looper and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and 2.  In television, he has worked on top episodic shows such as Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, The Man in the High Castle and Game of Thrones.

Dane was visual effects producer on the acclaimed stop-motion animated feature Anomalisa, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature Film, as well as Golden Globe and Annie Award nominations, in 2016.  Dane has also contributed to the evolution of 3D stereoscopic production and conversion with projects like Deepsea Challenge forJames Cameron. For his work on BATTLE FOR TERRA, he won the Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature at the 2008 Ottawa International Animation Festival and numerous other accolades and prizes.

In 2015, he extended his work to virtual reality, producing VR-presented episodes of Stan Lee and Kapow Entertainment’s Cosmic Crusaders and founding Ember Immersive, a company designed to produce and distribute premium cinematic VR projects, products, and technology. Further credits in VR include Mr. Porter VR, Sword Art Online, The Mansion TIVR and UFCTIVR. This work garnered a 2017 TELLY ‘Craft ‘ Award for Virtual Reality.

As an early adaptor and influencer in the immersive medium, he has spoken at SIGGRAPH, BAFTA, VRLA, VR on The LOT, DIGITAL HOLLYWOOD and  GNOMON and numerous Virtual/Augmented reality conferences on immersive technology, digital production, and animation.

As an educator, Smith curated a series of lectures and courses in the exploration of Immersive Media.  A faculty member at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects for over a decade, his curriculum includes instruction on Virtual Reality Production, The History of Visual Effects and Stereoscopic Filmmaking.

Recent speaking engagements include a panel based on Immersive technology and its impact on the industry at the 2019 HK Filmmart in Hong Kong, 2018 IFFLA Festival in Beverly Hills, the Producers Guild Panel on Animation, CES and Gnomon Event on Visualization.