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Hollywood's next Platform Shift is changing traditional filmmaking. Light Sail VR's Matt Celia Brings Together Film Producers, Executives and Practitioners to Advance the Immersive Supervisor Role at TIFF '26 LOS ANGELES & TORONTO - Audiences aren't just watching films and television anymore. The same stories and intellectual property are moving across VR headsets, AR glasses, spatial formats, and platforms that did not exist... September 9, 2026 at 10:13 a.m. Light Sail VR's Matt Celia Brings Together Film Producers, Executives and Practitioners to Advance the Immersive Supervisor Role at TIFF '26 LOS ANGELES & TORONTO - Audiences aren't just watching films and television anymore. The same stories and intellectual property are moving across VR headsets, AR glasses, spatial formats, and platforms that did not exist a few years ago, yet most production workflows were built for the traditional screen and still treat what comes next as an afterthought. "If you wait until the traditional production is finished to think about immersive, some of the decisions you need may already be behind you." Light Sail VR, a 2025 Emmy-winning immersive cinema studio, will raise that issue at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), running Sept. 10-20, 2026. Co-founder and Chief Creative Director Matthew Celia has curated a panel bringing together a film producer, an executive and a practitioner to examine the emerging role of the immersive supervisor, why immersive thinking belongs in pre-production rather than post-production, and how filmmakers can create new value from existing IP as formats continue to multiply. TIFF '26 Session Details Joanna Popper is CEO of Laurel Beach, an AI and media consultancy, and former chief metaverse officer at CAA, with leadership across AI, XR and immersive media. She will moderate the panel. Matt Celia is co-founder and chief creative director of Light Sail VR, with more than a decade of immersive production experience across over 200 projects for major entertainment and technology partners. Lance Sloane is a media executive and producer at Paramount Skydance, with senior leadership experience across immersive entertainment at Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. Darren Brandl is co-Founder of XRTV and former co-founder and COO of Crypt TV, with over 80 television and immersive productions totaling more than $100 million. Where: Metro Toronto Convention Centre When: Sept. 10, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. "Traditional filmmakers already know how to tell stories. That part doesn't go away," said Celia. "What changes is where those stories can live and how an audience experiences them. If you wait until the traditional production is finished to think about immersive, some of the decisions you need may already be behind you. The immersive supervisor brings that thinking into the room early, while those set and production decisions can still be made." The Platform Shift Facing Traditional Filmmakers Light Sail VR has spent 10 years translating traditional filmmaking into immersive production. "Some filmmaking instincts carry over and some don't," said Robert Watts, co-founder and executive producer of Light Sail VR. "That matters now because more productions are being asked to work across formats that were never part of the original filmmaking process." Light Sail VR has applied that experience across narrative, franchise and live productions, including " The Faceless Lady," projects for " The Boys Gen V," and the Emmy-winning " SNL 50th Anniversary Special." In each case, production decisions had to account for how audiences would ultimately experience the work outside traditional film and television. The medium itself is still developing. On Light Sail VR's " Inside the Shot" video podcast series, filmmaker and entrepreneur Adam Lisagor described the current moment in immersive filmmaking as "Lumière territory," comparing it to cinema's earliest years, when filmmakers were still establishing the language audiences now take for granted. For traditional filmmakers, the issue is not abandoning established craft. It is knowing what carries forward and what changes with the medium. The Immersive Supervisor Moves Into Prep The immersive supervisor helps filmmakers make decisions early enough to preserve future immersive options while the set, performers and production resources are still available. That may mean considering how a scene will be experienced, what should be captured for later use, and whether decisions made for one format will work when the same intellectual property moves somewhere else. "Spatial video. AR glasses. Volumetric capture. Every format coming next is going to break a different traditional instinct on a set somewhere," said Celia. Frequently Asked Questions What is an immersive supervisor? An immersive supervisor is a production role that helps filmmakers plan for immersive and emerging formats from the beginning of a project rather than adding those considerations after production. What does an immersive supervisor do? An immersive supervisor helps filmmakers make production decisions that will work for immersive audiences and preserve material that may be needed when the same intellectual property moves into another format. When does a film production need an immersive supervisor? A production may need an immersive supervisor when it is being created for immersive media or when filmmakers want the option to extend the project into spatial video, AR, location-based entertainment or other emerging formats. How did the immersive supervisor role emerge? Major shifts in filmmaking have often created new production roles. Digital filmmaking introduced the digital imaging technician in the 1990s. The growth of visual effects established the VFX supervisor in the 2000s. Today, immersive and spatial formats are creating new responsibilities around how stories are captured and experienced, leading to the emerging role of the immersive supervisor. Why doesn't a traditional monitor tell the whole story in immersive filmmaking? A traditional monitor shows only one framed view. In immersive media, the audience may be able to look around the scene, so filmmakers have to consider what exists outside that frame and how the full environment will feel in the final experience. As Matthew Celia puts it, "The monitor is lying." The image on screen may look right while the immersive experience tells a different story. What skills do filmmakers need for immersive media? Filmmakers still need strong storytelling and production craft. They also need to understand how audience experience changes when a story moves beyond the traditional screen. For the next generation of filmmakers, that knowledge will increasingly become part of the craft. About Light Sail VR Light Sail VR is an immersive cinema company based in Los Angeles and founded in 2016 by Matthew Celia and Robert Watts. The team earned a 2025 Emmy for its work on the SNL 50th Anniversary Special in VR and has delivered more than 200 projects across narrative, live performance, and emerging media formats, including work for platforms such as Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest. The studio works with global entertainment and technology partners and focuses on building production systems that support immersive storytelling in real-world environments. For more information, visit https://lightsailvr.com/ and follow the company on LinkedIn. Light Sail VR is a trademark of Light Sail VR. 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Roadside Attractions and Vertical announce the arrival of "Babies" By SHOOT Friday, August 28, 2026 3 Views LOS ANGELES - Ahead of its world premiere as a Gala Presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival, Roadside Attractions and Vertical acquired the U.S. Rights to Babies, writer/director Lauren Miller Rogen's (Like Father, For A Good Time, Call...) sharply observed ensemble that deliberates one of modern adulthood's biggest questions: "Should we have children?" The Roy Thomson Hall World Premiere of Babies on September 12th will mark exactly one year since AGC and CAA launched worldwide sales on the film at a distributor presentation during TIFF 2025 - a yearly cycle that the Festival organizers hope will become a familiar one for indie films following the launch of an official market at the festival this year. Starring Academy Award(R) nominee Anna Kendrick (Woman of the Hour), Golden Globe(R) and Emmy Award(R) winner Seth Rogen (The Studioe), Golden Globe(R) and Emmy Award(R) nominee Issa Rae (Insecure), Dan Stevens (Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire), Emmy Award(R) nominee Kate Berlant, Emmy Award(R) nominee Zach Cherry (Severance), SAG(R) Award nominee Ed Helms (The Hangover), Tony Award(R) nominee Ashley Park (Emily in Paris), with Academy Award(R) nominee Sharon Stone and Academy Award(R) nominee David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck), Babies will be released theatrically in 2027. A happily married couple (Anna Kendrick, Seth Rogen) surrounded by friends with kids are forced to confront their indecision about becoming parents when their divorced friend (Kate Berlant) and her daughter move in with them. Babies is an honest and heartfelt comedy about defining what we really want for ourselves and the truths about parenthood that most people are too polite to say out loud. Lauren Miller Rogen stated, "Every woman I know has been asked around 1 billion times if they're going to have children. For some, the answer is obvious. For me, it was a lot more complicated. Babies is the exploration of the funny, weird, and life-changing things that happened to me along the way to the answer. I feel so fortunate that Roadside and Vertical believe in the movie as much as I do and am thrilled to have them as partners in bringing it to theaters." In a joint statement, Roadside Attractions co-presidents Howard Cohen and Eric d'Arbeloff and Vertical chairman Rich Goldberg and CEO & partner Peter Jarowey said, "Lauren has made the kind of smart, perceptive comedy theatrical audiences rarely get anymore - one that stands in the tradition of the great Hollywood films that dare to examine the way we live now. Babies taps into a conversation happening everywhere, finding humor in the pressures, expectations, and contradictions of modern adulthood. It's poignant, hilarious, deeply relatable, and brought to life by an extraordinary ensemble cast." Monarch Media and AGC Studios co-financed and produced Babies with LYLAS Pictures. The film was produced by LYLAS Pictures' Lauren Miller Rogen and Jen W. Ray, Monarch's Steve Barnett and AGC's Stuart Ford, and executive produced by Monarch's Vicky Patel and Alan Powell, AGC's Miguel A. Palos, Jr. and Zach Garrett, and LYLAS' Sophie Høegh. Additional below-the-line talent includes Goya Award(R)-winning cinematographer Eduard Grau (The Room Next Door), Academy Award(R) nominated editor Joi McMillon (Moontlight), Emmy Award(R)-winning production designer Julie Berghoff (The Studio), and Academy Award(R) nominated costume designer Danny Glicker (Milk), with casting by Emmy Award(R) nominees Lindsay Graham and Mary Vernieu (Remarkably Bright Creatures) and music by Nami Melumad (Griffin in Summer). The deal was negotiated by Roadside Attractions co-president Howard Cohen, CEO and partner Peter Jarowey on behalf of Vertical, and AGC's Anant Tamirisa. CAA Media Finance negotiated on behalf of the filmmakers. REGISTRATION REQUIRED to access this page. Registration is FREE and FAST. Friday, August 28, 2026 Actors Willem Dafoe, Jonathan Bailey and Peter Dinklage have joined the voice cast of Starburns Industries' "Lincoln in the Bardo," based on acclaimed author George Saunders' New York Times bestseller and 2017 Booker Prize-winner. Saunders adapted the screenplay, with Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Duke Johnson directing. It was announced earlier that Tom Hanks stars as the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, in the live action portion of the film. CAA Media Finance and WME Independent are handling sales at the upcoming TIFF: The Market. The film employs a unique blend of stop-motion animation and live action to explore one of the most intimate moments of Lincoln's life, centering on his relationship with his recently deceased eleven-year-old son. Blending history and imagination, the story unfolds through an unforgettable ensemble of characters - living and dead, historical and invented - to explore themes of love, empathy, and the human capacity for connection in the face of unimaginable grief. Reverend Everly Thomas - the ghost of a minister who died believing he would go to heaven, but, to his dismay, found out otherwise - is voiced by Dafoe. Bailey is voicing Roger Bevins, the ghost of a young gay man who took his own life over a failed love affair and instantly regretted it. Dinklage is voicing Hans Vollman, a ghost obsessed with his dream of being reunited with his much-younger wife.