How AMD is Blending Tech & Art - James Knight

James Knight, AMD's Global Director of Media and Entertainment, shares some behind-the-scenes insight into his vast history of working on some of the biggest films in Hollywood, from the original Avatar to Gareth Edwards' The Creator to Pixar's Elemental.

We also dive into:

‣ How AMD works with filmmakers and studios to push filmmaking technology forward
‣ Why virtual production is not just about GPUs
‣ Where AI tools fit into creative workflows

And a whole lot more!


📧 GET THE VP LAND NEWSLETTER 
Subscribe for free for the latest news and BTS insights on video creation 2-3x a week: 
https://ntm.link/vp_land

📺 MORE VP LAND EPISODES

Inside Coffeezilla's '$10,000,000' Virtual Production Studio
https://youtu.be/FjAkmqJCbJY

Fully Remote: Exploring PostHero's Blackmagic Cloud Editing Workflow
https://youtu.be/L0S9sewH61E

Imaginario: Using AI to speed up video search and editing
https://youtu.be/4WOb5Y1Qcp0

Connect with James and AMD:

AMD - https://www.amd.com
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@amd
Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/AMD
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/amd
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AMD
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@amd
James @ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-knight-9a576
James @ IMDB - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2595922

James Knight is the Global Director of Media and Entertainment at AMD (Advanced Micro Devices). He leads a team that supervises alliances with Visual Effects, virtual production, video streaming, and post-production computing applications. Knight and his group also work directly with the world's most prominent studios, media brands, and sports and entertainment platforms. Knight's work spans over two decades in production, post-production, visual effects, and virtual production. He is a member of the Visual Effects Society (VES), a the British Academy of Los Angeles (BAFTA) where he served on the board from 2010-2016, and the Oscars/Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

#############

📝 SHOW NOTES & SOURCES

Check out vp-land.com for all the show notes for this episode.

#############

⏱ CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro
01:30 James Knight's Journey in Filmmaking
03:45 The Impact of Avatar on Virtual Production
07:40 The Virtual Production Umbrella
12:25 Flipping Post-Production and Previs
17:19 Evolution of Virtual Production
21:52 Technical Aspects of Virtual Production
25:00 CPU and GPU Working in Tandem
31:24 AMD's Role in The Creator
35:06 The Impact of AI on Film Production
40:01 AMD's Collaboration with Pixar for Elemental
48:12 The Role of AMD in Camera Technology
52:46 James' Thoughts on Approaching  AI
53:45 Outro