Leviathan executive producer Jason White departed Thursday, Nov. 1 for Melbourne, Australia to attend the second international Pause Fest Digital Festival, Nov. 8-11, that brings together world leaders and creative innovators, and to participate as a speaker amid famous companies and present Leviathan’s first short film.
White is accompanied by Daniel Ryan, Energy BBDO’s in-house editor who co-directed the short as a personal project.
Pause Fest events include 14 screenings, six industry workshops, eight interactive projects and the daylong Nov. 8 PauseStage conference, presented by Autodesk.
White had been a speaker Melbourne-based Pause Stage’s debut last year and was invited by festival founder George Hedon to return this year as a speaker and submit a film.
Among the screenings will be the Nov. 9 world premiere of “Lilith,” Leviathan’s first original narrative film. The chilling social commentary on technology and isolation was conceived by Tim Sepulveda during a brainstorming session last summer. Leviathan’s design director, now freelancing, he also co-directed.
The 5-minute piece is about an isolated, dystopian future seen through the eyes of Lilith, a young woman whose life is all-consumed by her interactive device. Local actress June Marsh portrays Lilith.
“In an increasingly connected world, a social paradox arises when so many get lost in their own devices, tuning out the real world around them. Our piece contemplates how an individual’s future might appear through this lens of isolation,” comments White.
“Lilith” was shot over six days last June on Chicago and Milwaukee locations. Leviathan staffers Brandy Olsen produced and Mike LaHood and Andrew Maggio edited. DP was freelancer Aaron Edwards; visual effects by Draftfcb’s Rick Thompson and Energy BBDO’s postproduction supervisor Dustin Camilleri provided original music.
“We are especially proud of this piece because we feel it speaks to our audience and makes deep emotional connections,” says White, who cofounded Leviathan with Chad Hutson and Matt Daly in 2010, after four years as creative director at Filmmakers former Lift Motion Designs.
“The visual effects challenges were somewhat daunting, but we made every effort to embed subtle hidden messages to contrast with the Zen-like contemplative story,” White says.
White’s subject at the Nov. 9 professional development all day event is “Moving Masses: The Art of Transformative Visual Experiences.” The seven other speakers come from noted companies in Australia and London.
