Comic books helped define world-building. Dungeons & Dragons and LARP made it possible to step inside those worlds. The internet transformed character sheets into code and networked identities. VR gave those identities a body by allowing users to exist as avatars. Now, virtual production and real-time engines are allowing performers to inhabit those worlds, blurring the line between actor and avatar, set and simulation, and story and lived experience. Using scenes from the upcoming short film VERSE (Tribeca 2026) and the 2025 hit Sinners, this panel explores the emerging language of virtual production, from real-time workflows and motion capture to hybrid staging and avatar-driven performance, and how these tools are opening new ways to explore identity, trauma, and connection. Panelists Noam Argov and Sappir Argov (filmmakers and game designers), Eric Leonardis (neuroscientist), Michael Ralla (Oscar-nominated VFX supervisor, Sinners, Avengers), Nicole Pacent (Criminal Minds, Mystique in the upcoming Marvel's Wolverine video game), and PHIA (The Virtual Reality Show) discuss how these technologies are used in major studio films and how creators can apply them to their own work. Moderated by Beth Accomando (KPBS Cinema Junkie host; founder, Film Geeks SD).
