Real-time engines and virtual production
For narrative teams moving from script to engine.
EMBER
SUMMITA summit at the edge of story, tech and creativity
Film, games, streaming, music and XR no longer live in separate rooms. EMBER brings the people who make them, and the people building the tools behind them, to Cagliari, Sardinia. Tech training, two full days on the main stage, the EMBER AI Film & Game Festival, a live Pitch Fest and a bonfire on Poetto beach.
- Where
- Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
- When
- May–June 2028 · dates announced soon
- Format
- Pre-day training and sunset cruise + two full summit days
- Access
- Open registration
- Pass
- From $149 · Summit Pass $1,799
Every great fire starts as one ember.
The idea
An ember is small. Give it air and fuel and it becomes the fire everyone gathers around. Stories grow the same way: an idea becomes a film, the film becomes a game, the game becomes a soundtrack, a series, a world people keep coming back to.
That overlap is now how the industry works. Film, games, streaming, music, XR and the AI tools running through all of them feed one another, and the best stories move between them. EMBER puts the people who build across those media in one room, starting small and built to grow, year after year.
An island built in layers
3,500 years of story, one layer on another
Sardinia's Nuragic towers, Phoenician and Punic ports, Roman roads, Pisan walls and Spanish-era bastions sit on top of one another. In Cagliari you can walk through all of them in an afternoon. Each layer added to the story without erasing the one beneath it. That is the model EMBER is built on: media stacking, overlapping and feeding each other, on an island that has always worked this way.
- TodayFilm, games, streaming, music, XR
- 1800sBastione di Saint Remy
- 1500sSpanish-era bastions
- 1300sPisan towers of the Castello
- RomanKarales and its amphitheater
- PhoenicianThe harbor town of Karaly
- NuragicStone towers across the island
From spark to fire
Pre-day · morning
Forge
Hands-on tech training masterclasses.
Pre-day · afternoon
Kindling
Opening address, Catching Sparks, sunset cruise on the Gulf of Angels.
Day 1 · full day
Firelight
Main stage, investment panel, the festival opens, open-air screening.
Day 2 · full day
Open Flame
Festival awards, Ember Circle, Pitch Fest finale, bonfire on Poetto.
Optional
Sardinia on Screen
A day touring the island's filming locations.
Pre-day morning · Forge
Tech training masterclasses
EMBER opens with a morning of hands-on technical training, run with developers and trainers from CG Pro. Forge is open to Sardinian creatives, students and working professionals alongside summit guests, so the island's own talent is in the room from the first hour.
AI tools in the creative pipeline
Where generative tools fit, and where craft still decides.
Portfolio and talent masterclass
How to present work that gets you hired or funded.
Previz and pipeline for cross-media IP
Building a story once so it can travel to film, games and beyond.
Full program
A pre-day and two full days
Everything happens in Cagliari. No buses between sites, no lost afternoons in transit. Times are draft and may shift as speakers confirm.
Pre-day
Forge & Kindling
Tech training in the morning. In the afternoon the summit opens and the first fire is lit on the water.
- 08:30Coffee and registration
- 09:00–10:30Forge: tech training, first blockTwo tracks run in parallel.TRACK AReal-time engines and virtual productionTRACK BAI tools in the creative pipeline
- 10:45–12:15Forge: tech training, second blockTRACK CPortfolio and talent masterclassTRACK DPreviz and pipeline for cross-media IP
- 12:15–13:30LunchMixed seating: summit guests and local attendees together.
- 14:30–15:00Kindling: arrivals and welcomeOn a terrace in the Castello district.
- 15:00–15:30Opening addressFrom spark to fire: how stories grow across media.
- 15:30–17:00Catching SparksAn informal meet-and-greet with the summit's luminaries, open to Forge and Summit pass holders.
- 18:00–20:30Sunset cruise on the Gulf of AngelsCocktails on the water with the city and the Devil's Saddle headland behind you. No stage, no speeches.
- 21:00Welcome dinnerFamily-style, Sardinian menu.
Day 1 · full day
Firelight
The first full day on the main stage. The festival opens and the day ends with an open-air screening.
- 08:30–09:30Breakfast
- 09:30–10:15Keynote: one ember, many firesHow a single idea becomes a film, a game, a series and a soundtrack.
- 10:15–11:15Main stage: when a story crosses mediaAdaptation and IP across film, games, streaming and music.
- 11:15–11:45Break
- 11:45–12:45Business and investment panelWho is funding cross-media IP now, and what they look for.
- 12:45–14:15Long-table lunchSeated by discipline, not by company.
- 14:15–16:00Festival: AI film screenings, block oneOfficial selection shorts, with filmmakers in the room.
- 16:00–18:00Festival: the Play Lab opensPlayable AI-driven games and interactive works. Open through Day 2.
- 17:00–18:00Main stage: music and soundScoring games, films and series as the tools change.
- 19:30–21:00Dinner in the Marina quarter
- 21:30–lateOpen-air festival screeningSelected shorts under the sky in the old town.
Day 2 · full day
Open Flame
The second full day. It builds to the festival awards and the Pitch Fest finale, and ends around one fire.
- 08:30–09:30Breakfast
- 09:30–10:15Keynote: the long gameWhat Sardinia's longevity culture teaches about sustaining creative work.
- 10:15–11:15Main stage: building for the next audienceAI, interactivity and attention.
- 11:15–12:15Main stage: talent, risk and green-lighting original work
- 12:15–13:30Lunch
- 13:30–14:30Festival: AI film screenings, block twoFinal selection, plus the last hour of the Play Lab.
- 14:45–15:45The Ember Circle and festival awardsHonors for craft, and the festival prizes for film and games.
- 16:00–18:00Pitch Fest finaleSelected creators pitch original projects to studio, streamer and financing decision-makers. Winners announced at the close.
- 18:30–19:45Closing receptionOpen to the local community.
- 20:00–21:30Closing dinner
- 22:00–lateBonfire on Poetto beachThe whole summit around one fire.
Optional
Sardinia on Screen
For attendees and production professionals who want to stay a day.
- Full dayLocation tourA guided day showcasing landscapes and villages across the island as filming locations, for producers and location scouts weighing Sardinia for their next project.
Day 1 and Day 2
EMBER AI Film & Game Festival
A juried festival for short films and games made with AI tools, where the story still leads. Screenings and a playable showcase run across both summit days, and winners are honored at the Ember Circle on Day 2.
Every entry is judged first on story and craft, then on how the tools served the work. Creators keep full rights to what they submit.
FILMAI short filmNarrative shorts up to 15 minutes.
FILMAnimation and VFXWork where AI shaped the look or the pipeline.
GAMESPlayable workGames and interactive pieces shown in the Play Lab.
CROSS-MEDIAStory worldsOne story told across film, game, music or XR.
MUSICMusic and soundScores and soundtracks for film and games.
SARDINIAMade on the islandA prize for work by Sardinian creators.
Day 2 · the finale
Pitch Fest
Every project in the room starts as a spark. Pitch Fest is the last session of the summit, and the one nobody leaves early. Selected creators pitch original film, game, series and interactive projects live to a panel of studio, streamer and financing decision-makers.
Winners are announced at the end, in front of the full room, before everyone heads to the closing reception. The call for pitches opens with registration.
- 1SubmitCreators send an original project: film, series, game, XR or cross-media IP.
- 2SelectionA shortlist is chosen to pitch on the main stage.
- 3Pitch liveEach team pitches to studio, streamer and financing leaders, with questions from the panel.
- 4Winners announcedCalled at the close of Open Flame, in front of the whole summit.
Why Cagliari
A capital with something to say
Cagliari is Sardinia's capital and main gateway: an international airport 15 minutes from the center, a working harbor, a walkable old town on the Castello hill, and Poetto beach minutes away for the closing fire.
The island also has a practical reason to host. Sardinia is working to grow film production, and EMBER puts international filmmakers, game developers, educators and technologists in direct contact with local talent, institutions and locations.
Who it's for
Mid-size on purpose
Big enough for range and energy, small enough that you actually meet people, across every medium a story can travel through. Registration is open to anyone.
Film, TV and streamingExecutives, producers, directors, showrunners and platform leaders.
Games and XRDevelopers, studio heads and interactive creators.
Music and soundArtists, composers and audio teams scoring films, games and series.
Brand storytellersMarketing and brand leaders who work in story.
ToolmakersTechnologists building the AI tools reaching all of these fields.
Educators and studentsFrom Italy, Europe and the United States.
Investors and platformsFinancing, distribution and the people who green-light original work.
Sardinian creativesBusinesses and institutions building a production ecosystem on the island.
Passes
Two ways in
Full access
EMBER Summit Pass
$1,799
- Forge tech training and Catching Sparks
- Two full summit days on the main stage
- AI Film & Game Festival screenings and awards
- Pitch Fest finale and Ember Circle honors
- Sunset cruise, welcome and closing dinners
- Closing reception and the Poetto bonfire
For Sardinian locals
Forge Community Pass
$149–$249
- Forge tech training masterclasses
- Catching Sparks meet-and-greet
- Day 2 closing reception, open to the community
Registration opens with the date announcement. Founding partner opportunities are available now.