Hollywood, CA –
Infinity Festival Hollywood, the world’s preeminent event celebrating trends and innovations in tech and entertainment, recently wrapped up its sixth season by hosting the 2023 Monolith Creative Awards, in which visionaries in the fields of television, film, gaming, fine art and more were honored for their unique contributions to storytelling and technology. One of the first notable awards shows of the season, the prestigious Monolith Creative Awards capped off a week of distinctive programming, state-of-the-art film screenings, and lavish parties in storied Hollywood locations that have come to define the annual Infinity Festival Hollywood.
Hosted by Z by HP, NVIDIA, and Barco, this year’s Infinity Festival Hollywood took place November 1-4 and continued to expand its impressive roster of featured talent from Hollywood and Silicon Valley with such panels as “Creating the ‘Spider-Verse’: An Animated Conversation,” with Academy Award-winning filmmakers Chris Miller and Phil Lord and VFX supervisor Michael Lasker; and “Behind The Screen” with Gareth Edwards, director and co-writer of sci-fi drama “The Creator,” and Industrial Light & Magic’s on-set VFX supervisor Andrew Roberts.
Chris Miller and Phil Lord accepting Monolith Award for 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'
Many top industry figures and artists were also on hand Friday, November 3, when IF Hollywood held its annual Monolith Creative Awards honoring “story advanced by technology.” Among the night’s big winners were “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (Sony Pictures Imageworks), which took home the Quantum Breakthrough Award; last year’s groundbreaking sci-fi/fantasy epic “Avatar: The Way of Water” (James Cameron, Jon Landau, Ryan Champney and Vaughn Cato), which won the prestigious Georges Méliès Pioneering Filmmaker Award; and Tom Grane and Mob Scene, who won the Monolith Plus Award for the related making-of documentary “Opening Pandora’s Box.”
Other feature film winners included Intel’s Ravi Velhal and ARR Studios’ A.R. Rahman,
who took home the Outstanding Cinematic Immersive Experience Award for “Le Musk,” their 37-minute cinematic sensory experience produced, directed and scored by Oscar and Grammy-winning composer Rahman.
Intel’s Ravi Velhal & ARR Studios’ A.R. Rahman accepting Monolith Award for “Le Musk”
In television, HBO Entertainment’s “Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon” won Outstanding Virtual Production Scene for “Creating the Dragonstone Bridge,” while in the gaming space, winners included Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment’s “God of War Ragnarök” and Larian Studios’ “Baldur’s Gate 3,” both for Outstanding Narrative Video Game World. New media artist Refik Anadol, whose latest canvas for AI-generated art is currently featured at The Sphere in Las Vegas, was given the Best New Media Fine Art award for his series "Living Paintings.”
Additional 2023 Monolith Creative Award winners included Disney Studio Lab’s “Remembering,” for Outstanding Narrative MXR (hybrid) Experience Award; “In Search of Time,” for Outstanding Use of A.I. Storytelling; and Nexus Studios and Google’s “Gorillaz Presents,” for Outstanding Marketing for Tech-Based Entertainment.
The Monolith Creative Awards are voted on each year by a panel of creatives and innovators from major Hollywood studios, tech companies and Fortune 500 companies. This diverse group of creatives and innovators bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the table, ensuring that the most deserving projects are recognized.
“Each year, the Monolith Awards give us a unique opportunity to celebrate those trailblazing minds who have truly advanced the intersection of storytelling and creativity during a world-renowned Festival devoted to exploring this unique convergence,” says Jay Williams, Chief Operating Officer for Infinity Festival and Co-Chairman of the Monolith Creative Awards.
In addition to the Awards show, this year’s Festival included a host of networking events and parties at notable Hollywood locations, including nya Studios and The Aster, and state-of-the-art screenings at the iconic Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences Mary Pickford Linwood Dunn theater, where Paramount Pictures screened “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” entirely in HDR, providing a glimpse into the future of cinema technology.
“This year, we were privileged to feature the Barco Lightsteering HDR projectors, which I believe will forever alter the future of cinematic exhibition,” says Williams.
To learn more about this and other advancements highlighted at this year’s Infinity Festival Hollywood, and for information about the Monolith Creative Awards, please visit:
https://infinityfestival.com/
Jay Williams (Chief Operating Officer for Infinity Festival and Co-Chairman of the Monolith Creative Awards) with BTS team from "Avatar"
About Infinity Festival Hollywood
Infinity Festival Hollywood is a multi-day, unique event held annually each November in Los Angeles. The event, which brings together creative talent from Hollywood and Silicon Valley, celebrates “story enabled by technology” through curated exhibitions, panels, screenings and events. The festival is supported by several Hollywood studios and leading tech companies. Infinity Festival is held at nya (formerly Goya) studios and The Aster, with screenings and special events taking place at various locations in Los Angeles. Infinity Festival Venues have included United Talent Agency, The Griffith Observatory, LightHouse ArtSpace, Capitol Records, Dolby Screening Room, Google Spruce Goose, Sony Studios and other iconic venues. Past featured guests include Academy Award winners, writers, artists, celebrities and technologists -- all innovators in each of their fields.