Hello. My name is Karen Vanderborght, a tech savvy, hands on creative director, born and raised in Brussels. Now based in Toronto, I haven’t lost that slightly off kilter, imaginative Belgian swagger.

I have a diverse and international background, as well as an eclectic music collection. Starting in the “naughties” as a media artist, VJ/DJ-ing, curating underground media art, even co-founding an art house cinema which still operates to this day. To blow off steam, I played Space Invaders on my Atari 2600 and Fantavision on my Playstation 2. Since moving to Canada, I worked as a director, DOP, and editor for broadcast documentary productions, and upgraded to a Nintendo Wii.

Over the last 4 years I have circled back to my first passion - exploring new technologies to propel stories to places they have never gone before. I feel grateful to be able to work as a creative director on VR, AR and interactive productions with clients like the United Nations, the National Film Board of Canada and Radio Canada, among others. Winters can be long, so narrative games are my blanket, and my PSVR headset, my cushion.

I teach design and technology courses at OCADU and appear regulary as a panelist, talking about VR and AR practices. Recently I received grants from the Canada Arts Council and Ontario Arts Council for my AR project, Grey Matter and got some great press reviews.

I look forward to the opportunity to make beautiful, weirdly contagious projects together. Let's mix and match VR, AR, 360° video, volumetric video, point clouds with innovative storytelling.

My strengths:

• I want things to look good, because original ideas deserve great execution.
• My currency is ideas, and I combine a vivid imagination with practical solutions.
• I’m generous by nature and inspire people to give their best.
• My goal is to make people smile in childlike wonder and want to tell all their friends about it.
• I am a thinker who tinkers playfully with new technology, linking creative code with human-centered design and captivating content.
• Give me the tiniest seed of an idea and I will nurture it into a coherent story.
• I’m a rebel (with a cause -yours!) who can count and whom you can count on.

From my martial arts practice I strive to maintain the shoshin attitude (the beginner’s receptive mind).