Speakers & Talks - 2026
Talks are split between pub-floor sessions which are for the entire event audience to see, and individual room sessions which will go in parallel, so participants can choose their preferred content. Talk topics vary, but the underlying idea is to have world-class experts share insight into their processes, latest technology achievements, unique and important projects and similar.
Speakers will be added continuously as the event date approaches.
Keep an eye on this page.
Dries Depoorter
In this engaging talk, Dries Depoorter delves into his world of his art, blending the boundaries between technology and creativity. Attendees will be taken on a journey through Depoorter’s recent and upcoming projects, offering insights into the conceptual and technical processes behind his works. Dries will showcase live demonstrations of his art in the form of giving away likes or followers. This lecture offers a unique opportunity to learn more about the projects that have brought him worldwide recognition.
Belgian creative technologist and artist Dries Depoorter, based in Ghent, creates thought-provoking work about technology, surveillance, AI and social media in a playful way that makes people laugh while delivering serious messages in an accessible way. His projects explore digital culture that can inspire marketers: privacy challenges, artificial intelligence applications, surveillance and authentic social media projects.
With his unique background in electronics and digital innovation, Dries has become a voice for forward-thinking brands and marketing professionals looking to navigate today’s complex digital landscape. His artistic approach can directly inspire brands to think differently and develop original marketing concepts that stand out. Through his work, Dries demonstrates how combining creativity with technological insight creates viral moments.
His award-winning “Die With Me” app, accessible only when a user’s phone battery drops below 5%, demonstrates how scarcity and unique user experiences can create powerful engagement. On Black Friday, he doubles the price of his app instead of offering discounts, showing brands how breaking marketing rules can create attention.
In his viral project “The Follower,” Dries leverages open cameras and AI to reveal the reality behind curated Instagram moments—offering marketers an unfiltered look at consumer behavior and content creation.
Meanwhile, “The Flemish Scrollers” uses AI to automatically identify politicians using smartphones during parliamentary sessions, highlighting how technology can create accountability and transparency in public spaces.
Dries has exhibited at prestigious venues including the Barbican in London, Art Basel, Mutek Festival in Montreal,ZKM, Bozar, WIRED and Ars Electronica.
As a speaker, he’s shared insights with innovative organizations including TEDx, MoMA, SXSW, Chanel, Adidas, Samsung, Deloitte, KBC and Adobe.
Faruk Heplevent
DNA Of A Procedural City – Scope City 2.0
This presentation introduces Scope City 2.0, a procedural city generation system developed by The Scope to create photorealistic urban environments for modern CGI productions. The talk will explore how a small studio approached the challenge of building scalable digital cities and developed a production pipeline combining Houdini, Maya, and Substance Designer to enable fast generation, high performance, and strong artistic control.
Attendees will get an inside look at the procedural asset creation workflow, material and texture systems, and the use of OpenUSD and MaterialX for interoperable pipelines. The presentation will also demonstrate how procedural tools can support a wide range of applications – from automotive CGI and VFX to virtual production, game environments, and emerging AI research scenarios.
Through production examples and technical insights, the session will outline how procedural approaches can help studios build flexible, reusable city environments while maintaining photorealistic quality and creative direction.
Faruk Heplevent is the Founder, CEO, and Creative Director of The Scope GmbH, the Hamburg‑based CGI studio that has redefined how the world’s leading carmakers visualise their vehicles. A trained photographer, Faruk entered the industry in 1990 as an assistant on still‑life sets, moved into high‑profile automotive shoots by 1999, and – in 2007 – channelled three decades of craft into launching The Scope, coining the term “CG Photography” to describe the studio’s purely computer‑generated, camera‑grade imagery. Under his leadership, The Scope has produced award‑winning campaigns and launch assets for Audi, BMW, Tesla, NIO, Genesis, Volkswagen, Toyota, and many more, earning recognition at Cannes Lions and other international festivals. Faruk’s R&D mindset led to Scope City (2022), a procedural, photoreal urban “city generator” that gives clients fully customisable cityscapes – a breakthrough highlighted by industry partners and podcasts. Today, he balances creative direction with thought‑leadership on the convergence of CGI, real‑time engines, and AI, sharing insights on stages and in media worldwide. When not iterating on the next visual toolset, Faruk enjoys life in Hamburg with his wife and four sons.
AJ JEFFERIES
MOONJAM
Rendering With Character
A retrospective of his 25 year-long career to date, with a strong focus on CHARACTER and the tools and techniques that have allowed him build a career as a solo CGI artist
- Technical breakdowns of how he stages and lights scenes.
- Adapting a physically accurate workflow to push shape, form and style.
- Behind the scenes clips from his commercial and personal animation projects, including his latest, award winning short “DUCKS”.
AJ Jefferies is a multi-disciplinary digital artist, animator, director, illustrator and character designer from the UK. With a career spanning over 25 years, AJ has created countless images, characters and animations for the advertising, gaming and entertainment industries. Along with his professional work, AJ also enjoys writing, directing and animating his own independent short films, almost always about weird, screaming creatures.
