Ethan Shaftel

Last updated
Ethan Shaftel
CitizenshipUnited States
Occupation(s)Film director, VR creator
Years active2000s–present
Website ethanshaftel.com

Ethan Shaftel is an American film and virtual reality (VR) director, writer, and producer. He has directed narrative films and immersive media projects that have been screened at international festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, Venice, and Annecy. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Career

Shaftel graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. [5] While at USC, Shaftel won a $100K feature production deal for his short film Hulahoop in AntEye’s talent discovery awards program. [5]

Film

Shaftel directed the independent science fiction film Suspension (2007), distributed by Warner Brothers, which received the Spirit of the Independents Award at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. The film was also shown at Cinequest, the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film, and Sci-Fi London. [6]

He also wrote and directed "Flesh Computer", starring philosopher David Chalmers, released as part of Galaxy of Horrors (2017), a science fiction horror anthology, as well as on the "DUST" and "ALTER" streaming channels by Gunpwoder & Sky. [7] [8]

Immersive

Shaftel later shifted his focus toward VR and immersive storytelling. His 2017 VR short film, Extravaganza, premiered at the Tribeca Festival and was featured in the virtual reality section of We Are One: The Global Film Festival in 2020. [9] [10]

In 2019, Shaftel directed Kaiju Confidential for ShadowMachine, starring Paul F. Tompkins and Blake Anderson, from the Comedy Central television series Workaholics. It was shown at the Sundance Film Festival and received a nomination for an Annie Award. [11]

In 2020, Shaftel's project Ajax All Powerful was selected for the Venice Film Festival. The short animated VR piece involved changes in the users scale and perspective. [12]

His 2024 project, Gargoyle Doyle, starring Jason Isaacs and Haley Joel Osment, competed at Annecy International Animation Film Festival and won the Cristal Award for Best VR. It was also awarded the XR Fan Experience Award at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, XR Film & Experience of the Year at the XR Awards, and the People’s Voice Webby Award for Best Narrative Experience. [4] [13]

His VR work was featured in the “Imagining Tomorrow’s Entertainment” online course from The Great Courses. [14] In 2025, Shaftel was selected to present the Immersive category of the BAFTA Student Film Awards. [15]

Games

Ethan also directed games for Parker Brothers / Hasbro including Shout About Movies, Shout About Music, Shout About Television. [16]

Filmography

Film

VR and immersive media

References

  1. ↑ Hensley, J. J. (2000-04-27). "Dot-coms share the wealth". The Pitch. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  2. ↑ Gayet, Mathieu (2020-06-17). ""VR might be the medium that I have been looking for" - Ethan Shaftel (AJAX ALL POWERFUL)". XRMust. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  3. ↑ Maynard, Meleah (2018-03-29). "Everybody Wins In The Street Fighter II Bonus Stage VR Experience | Live Design Online". www.livedesignonline.com. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  4. 1 2 Fink, Charlie. "Award Winning VR Film 'Gargoyle Doyle' Now In Quest Store". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-05-12.
  5. 1 2 Graser, Marc (2000-11-20). "AntEye inks deal with Seventh Art". Variety. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  6. ↑ "Imagining tomorrow's entertainment". thegreatcourses.com.
  7. ↑ "Flesh Computer by Ethan Shaftel | Short Film". Short of the Week. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
  8. ↑ Guest (2014-10-22). "Flesh Computer by Ethan Shaftel |Sci-Fi Short Film". Directors Notes. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
  9. ↑ MarBelle (2017-07-03). "Ethan Shaftel Talks VR Filmmaking on an Indie Budget for 'Extravaganza'". Directors Notes. Retrieved 2025-05-12.
  10. ↑ Robertson, Adi (2017-05-03). "At Tribeca's VR showcase, artists are trying to move beyond empathy". The Verge. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  11. ↑ Shaftel, Ethan (2019-01-26), Kaiju Confidential (Short, Comedy), Blake Anderson, Paul F. Tompkins, ShadowMachine, retrieved 2025-05-12
  12. ↑ "Creating the VR Short 'Ajax All Powerful'". Maxon. 2023-08-22. Retrieved 2025-05-12.
  13. ↑ kentbye. "#1294: Buddy Comedy "Gargoyle Doyle" Pushes at the Edges of Mixed Reality Storytelling – Voices of VR Podcast" . Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  14. ↑ "The Great Courses". www.thegreatcourses.com. Retrieved 2025-06-02.
  15. ↑ "2025 BAFTA Student Awards Finalists announced". Bafta. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
  16. ↑ "Ethan Shaftel". MobyGames. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.