Radical Welcomes Three Big Hollywood Stars to Its Advisory Board

Radicalthe developer of AI motion capture and real-time 3D creation tools, has announced the addition of three heavyweights to its advisory board:

• Habib Zargarpour, nominated for two Academy Awards and won two BAFTAs in visual effects while at ILM, and a founding member of the Visual Effects Society (VES)
  
• Joe MarksFormer CTO of Wt Digital and Vice President and Researcher at Disney Research
• Danish Allan Smithwhose VFX production credits include The Mandalorian, Dune: Part 1, And Avatar: The Way of Water

These appointments mark an accelerated focus on growth for Radicalwith next year unveiling extensions to the company's product roadmap, including in pre-production planning and visualization for filmmakers.

The company will make concerted efforts in developing its real-time 3D visualization capabilities over the coming months, it said. RadicalCEO and co-founder Gavan Gravesen.

R&D is at the heart of our product and commercial strategy. The arrival of Dane, Joe and Habib will help us take Radical at the forefront of real-time 3D content creation. It’s an exciting time for the team.

Habib Zargarpour

A visual effects and virtual production supervisor, Zargarpour’s multimedia experience spans industry giants including ILM, EA Games, Microsoft, and Unity. His 30+ years of industry experience reflect his passion for visual development and virtual production, earning him two Academy Award nominations and two BAFTA wins for Tornado (1996) and The Perfect Storm (2000). Zargarpour received a VES Award for the EA-developed racing game Need for Speed: Most Wanted in 2006.

In his latest venture, Digital Monarch Media, Zargarpour is revolutionizing the storytelling process in film by implementing the strategies and technologies he explored during his career as a game developer, working with the likes of Steven Spielberg (Ready Player One)Jon Favreau (The jungle Book), and Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049).

By taking up his duties with RadicalZargarpour comments: I think online collaboration tools will change the way filmmakers visualize their projects. I was looking for a platform that could do this efficiently and at scale. When I saw what Radical is being built, I was immediately excited to join their advisory board. We know that many tools are too complex and Radicals approach will eliminate these obstacles.

Joe Marks

Former CTO of Wt Digital / Wt Tools at Unity joins the team Radical Advisory Board member with over 40 years of experience in applied computing and machine learning. Prior to Wt, Marks served as Executive Director of the Center for Machine Learning & Health at Carnegie Mellon University, as well as Vice President and Research Scientist at The Walt Disney Company, and Director of Research at Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs (MERL).

Upon his appointment to RadicalOn the advisory board, Joe added:

“Democratizing and simplifying storytelling has long been a passion of mine, but it's not easy to do. Radical has made enormous progress towards achieving this goal. Anyone can easily create worlds with props and animated characters to communicate ideas, drama, and emotion, even if they have no prior experience in 3D. How cool is this?”

Marks holds a PhD in Computer Science from Harvard University and his areas of expertise include computer vision, AI, CG, video processing, human-computer interaction, and media delivery.

Danish Allan Smith

Smiths’ portfolio as a media technology evangelist and visual effects producer is extensive. He has held faculty positions at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects and Chapman University, in addition to in-house positions at Sony Pictures Imageworks (The Amazing Spider-Man) and the third floor (The Mandalorian, Dune: Part 1, Avatar: The Way of Water), Smith is an entrepreneurial technology executive with a passion for emerging technologies and creating innovative content.

Specializing in AI, XR, VFX, game engines, and virtual production, Dane Smith embodies a blend of technological mastery and creative vision, pioneering new methods of storytelling in the digital age. As a business strategist for emerging media and co-founder of Parts + Labor, he integrates machine learning and AI into production, contributing to projects like Apple TV and Alfonso Cuaron’s miniseries DisclaimerHe played a key role in the launch of the Mario Kart attraction in Osaka and in the production of Charlie Kaufman's Oscar-nominated film. Anomaly. His work influences major brands such as Marvel Comics, Warner Brothers and McDonnell Douglas, and he is a sought-after international consultant on next-generation visual experiences. Dane is featured in leading industry publications, serves on several prestigious boards and founded the Virtual Production department at the Gnomon School of VFX + Gaming. His expertise spans the intersection of technology and the creative industries.

Commenting on his decision to join the advisory board, Smith explained that the world is now a blank canvas for artists and entrepreneurs. Radical seized the opportunity to define this paradigm shift, framing the next revolution in commerce, art and technology. This is the perfect opportunity to influence the future of content creation.