SPHERE ENTERTAINMENT NAMES GLENN DERRY EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, MSG VENTURES
BURBANK, Calif., Feb. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Sphere Entertainment Co. (NYSE:SPHR) announced today that Glenn Derry, an Academy Award winning technologist with over 30 years of industry-defining entertainment technology experience, has joined the Company as Executive Vice President of MSG Ventures.
In this role, Mr. Derry will oversee a wide range of technology initiatives across MSG Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sphere Entertainment focused on developing advanced technologies for live entertainment. MSG Ventures also supports Sphere Studios, the immersive content studio dedicated to creating multi-sensory entertainment experiences exclusively for Sphere, and the Sphere platform overall, including future Sphere venues. Mr. Derry will work across the organization to deploy both new and existing technologies that enhance Sphere's live entertainment and experiential content, which has been redefining immersive experiences since the first Sphere opened in Las Vegas in September 2023. He will be based at Sphere Studios in Burbank, and report to Jim Dolan, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sphere Entertainment.
"Our vision for Sphere was to combine cutting-edge technologies with storytelling – bringing audiences together to share in experiences they cannot experience anywhere else," said Mr. Dolan. "Glenn is a creative technologist whose work has had a significant impact on the entertainment industry. His expertise will be an asset to Sphere as we continue to build on this next generation entertainment medium and reinforce our position at the forefront of immersive experiences."
"Throughout my career I have focused on developing technologies in service of creative visions that expand the possibilities of entertainment, and there is no better opportunity to continue that work than at Sphere," said Mr. Derry. "Sphere sets a new standard for immersive experiences, and together with my colleagues across the organization we look forward to creating new tools and experiences that push creative boundaries and drive innovation across the industry."
As one of Hollywood's leading technological innovators, Mr. Derry brings to Sphere extensive experience from various facets of the film and gaming industry, where he is credited with introducing the concept of "virtual production." He joins Sphere Entertainment from AGBO, an Academy Award winning independent film, television, and gaming studio, where he served as President of Production Technology. In this role, he helped lead the establishment of AGBO's innovative virtual production and animation pipelines that service transmedia explorations of the company's intellectual property.
Prior to joining AGBO Mr. Derry served as Vice President of Visual Effects at 20th Century Fox Studios following the acquisition of Technoprops, an R&D firm specializing in motion capture and emerging visual production technology. Mr. Derry was the founder and CEO of Technoprops, and over nearly 20 years he built the company into a force recognized for redefining creative and technical innovation in the film industry. Among Technoprops' achievements was developing a state-of-the-art head-mounted camera system widely adopted for capturing an actor's facial movements. Mr. Derry and his team received an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Technical Achievement Award for the groundbreaking design and engineering of this system. Over the course of his tenure at Technoprops, Mr. Derry was involved in some of the most technically ambitious projects in film and video games, including Avatar, Star Wars: Rogue One, Avengers – Age of Ultron, Zero Dark Thirty, The Jungle Book, Minority Report, and Halo 4, among many notable others.
Mr. Derry began his career in the film industry creating practical effects, including advanced puppets for movies, before transitioning into his work in visual effects and virtual production.
About Sphere Entertainment Co.
Sphere Entertainment Co. (NYSE:SPHR) is a premier live entertainment and media company. The Company includes Sphere, a next-generation entertainment medium powered by cutting-edge technologies to redefine the future of entertainment. The first Sphere venue opened in Las Vegas in September 2023. In addition, the Company includes MSG Networks, which operates two regional sports and entertainment networks, MSG Network and MSG Sportsnet, as well as a direct-to-consumer and authenticated streaming product, MSG+, delivering a wide range of live sports content and other programming. More information is available at sphereentertainmentco.com.
Contact:
Sphere Entertainment – [email protected]
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SOURCE Sphere Entertainment Co.