Chris Michaels - Director of Digital, Communications & Technology, National Gallery

Leading digital transformation in the cultural sector. Chris sits on the National Gallery board with a remit to bring real, meaningful and lasting change to an institution which will be 200 years old in 2024. Immersive media, particularly VR, holds rich potential for the arts. He was previously Head of Digital at the British Museum, where he completed VR partnerships with Samsung, with Oculus Rift/Facebook and with Google.

Prior to that Chris was CEO at childrens' education mobile startup Mindshapes. Backed by Index Ventures and some of the world's greatest gaming entrepreneurs, Mindshapes released over 40 apps with partners including the BBC and the Jim Henson Company; winning multiple awards and delighting children and families around the world.

Chris has previously been an SVP at international media company Chorion; Digital Publisher at HarperCollins, and started professional life in advertising. He has a PHD in American Literature from the University of Bristol.

Gillian Ferrabee - Director, Creative Lab at Cirque du Soleil Media (Canada)

Gillian Ferrabee wrote and directed her first play at the age of 10 –an updated version of Snow White. She chose to play Dopey, and in her version Snow White went into the audience at the end of the play to choose her prince, or princess (both options were equally encouraged). 

She has been fascinated with storytelling, and with the connection between creativity and our bodies for as long as she can remember. Her first professional career was as a contemporary dancer. Later she became an actor for TV and film. And in 2004 she joined Cirque du Soleil’s casting team. As an artistic casting advisor, she travelled the world finding extraordinary talent, and scouting new trends in performance and design. She was on the team that cast the Beatles LOVE show, as well as others in the company’s repertoire. In 2012 she was named Director of the Creative Lab at the new company, Cirque Du Soleil Media. She now leads a team in developing projects destined for the International TV, film and new media markets, including projects with partners such as Google Chrome, Fox studios and most recently the VR Occulus project ‘Inside The Box: Kurios’ for Samsung.