Designed to take full-dome content “to the next level,” the organizers of  “Dome Fest West” announced that their recently concluded Second Annual event – which ran October 6-9 at the Orange Coast College Community Planetarium in Costa Mesa, CA - was a solid success. Over 250 attendees from around the world enjoyed the festival during the course of its three days.

The 2022 film festival kicked off Oct 6th with a screening of Lena Herzon's Last Whispers. The film was very well-received by the audience, and members of the creative team were on hand for a brief Q&A after the screening. The festival closed with a screening of 3-2-1 Liftoff!, which was also a big hit with the full-dome crowd.

On Oct. 8, Nanea Reeves shared a keynote talk entitled "Building The Mindful Metaverse." Her talk outlined some of the work being done by TRIPP to create immersive, full-dome experiences that can help people relax and find inner peace. Ed Lantz gave a talk on Oct. 7th entitled "XR Stages, The Metaverse, and Domes: A Grand Convergence?" in which he discussed some of the ways that full-dome theaters are being used to create next-generation entertainment experiences.

With the conclusion of the Second Annual Dome Fest West festival, it has become clear to those working within this rapidly exploding field that the DFW festival continues to play an important role in the fulldome community. In fact, even The Hollywood Reporter covered this year’s event: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/dome-fest-west-immersive-entertainment-1235229035/

With 47 films selected from over 130 submissions, this year's DFW festival was a celebration of the artform. The audience had a great time, and the full-dome community continues to grow in Los Angeles. Thanks to the hard work of the organizers, Dome Fest West is quickly becoming one of the most important events in the world for full-dome filmmakers.

Regarding the success of Dome Fest West 2022, Ryan Moore, Executive Director and Founder of the event, said, “This was the most successful full-dome festival we've ever presented. Los Angeles was the center of the entire full-dome industry for one long weekend, and the global community came out in full force to support us. We had full-dome films from all over the world, and the response by the attendees was overwhelmingly positive. Immersive cinema is growing, and we're excited to be playing an integral role in it again, when we return for our Third Annual event in 2023."

The producers of DFW also wish to thank all of this year’s sponsors: Cosm; New Audio Technology; Orange Coast College; LightSailVR; Mesmerica; Vortex Immersion Media; Bridge Arts Media; Festoon Software; Nest Immersion; and Experience 360°.

About DOME FEST WEST FOUNDERS

Ryan Moore 
Dome Fest West Executive Director/Founder Ryan Moore is also the founder of Experience 360°, a Burbank-based Virtual Experience Design Studio that has been creating branded and narrative immersive content since 2015. Moore’s diverse career within the film production arena includes experimental branded content (for clients Disney, Toyota and GoPro;) TV commercials (for clients Pepsi and Jack In The Box;) music festival coverage (for client Fuse Media;) and Reality TV projects (including the series The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.

Ed Lantz 
DFW Co-Founder Ed Lantz is an immersive media entrepreneur, engineer, producer and experience designer. Lantz left aerospace engineering in 1990 to transform traditional planetariums into immersive visualization environments, designing over a dozen dome theaters worldwide including Egypt’s Library of Alexandria Planetarium, Domodigital at Papalote Museo del Niño in Mexico City, and the National Space Centre in Leicester, UK.  He sees modern digital domes as “digital temples of transformation” for their ability to combine art and science to create compelling immersive journeys, performances and experiences with positive impact. His company Vortex Immersion Media develops immersive media venues and experiences for clients and audiences worldwide.

Kate McCallum
DFW Co-Founder Kate McCallum is an award-winning multi-media producer/writer, with 20 years background at NBCUniversal and Paramount Studios. She is also the founder of c3: Center for Conscious Creativity, a 501c3 whose mission is to “Create a better future through the power of arts, media and storytelling,” and Bridge Arts Media, a media development and production company. McCallum produces full-dome and immersive content, served six years on the Producers Guild of America New Media Council, is a member of the TV Academy, and recently co-authored Handbook of Research on the Global Impacts and Roles of Immersive Media.

About DOME FEST WEST
Launched in Fall 2021, Dome Fest West is an annual, immersive Dome film festival and conference designed to introduce the global immersive Dome filmmaking community to Hollywood’s new, up-and-coming content creators.

Presenting “The World’s Best Dome Media that Exists Today,” Dome Fest West annually showcases full-dome film screenings, new technology presentations, industry panels, interactive workshops and exclusive parties. Immersive filmmakers from around the globe attend the festival each year – an event which has been designed to take immersive Dome content “to the next level.”

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