Dome Fest West 2026 Announces IMAX Veteran Phil Streather as Keynote Speaker

Phil Streather of Principal Large Format, Keynote Speaker Dome Fest West 2026

Dome Fest West 2026 Returns to the Fiske in Boulder Colorado on April 23-26, 2026.

List of films that have been selected to screen as part of Dome Fest West 2026

IMAX Veteran to Share New Capture Techniques and Expand Access to Live-Action Fulldome Filmmaking

LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, April 2, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Could a single camera setup produce both a fulldome film and a theatrical IMAX feature? That’s the question Phil Streather, award-winning producer of the $50 million grossing IMAX Hall of Fame title Bugs! 3D and the founder of Principal Large Format is bringing to Dome Fest West 2026. Phil will deliver a special keynote presentation at the festival on Sunday, April 26, 2026, drawing on more than three decades of giant screen and immersive filmmaking to offer the fulldome community a rare window into the technical and creative evolution of large-format cinema, and what it could unlock next.

At a time when dome producers, planetariums, and immersive creators are seeking new ways to expand live-action storytelling, Phil’s appearance offers a uniquely valuable perspective: what can the fulldome industry learn from the technical and creative evolution of giant screen filmmaking, and what might those lessons make possible next?

“Phil Streather brings exactly the kind of perspective our field can benefit from right now,” said Ryan Moore, Executive Director of Dome Fest West. “This is a rare opportunity for the planetarium and fulldome community to hear directly from someone with deep experience in IMAX and giant screen filmmaking, and to explore how those lessons could inform the next generation of live-action immersive storytelling.”

A Leader in Giant Screen and Immersive Production

Phil Streather is an award-winning giant screen filmmaker and founder of Principal Large Format, with more than three decades of experience in immersive, stereo 3D, and giant screen production. He conceived and produced the IMAX hit Bugs! 3D, which was inducted into the IMAX Hall of Fame in 2018 and has grossed more than $50 million worldwide. His credits also include Flight of the Butterflies 3D, Tiny Giants 3D, and Arctic 3D: Our Frozen Planet, reflecting both creative leadership and deep technical expertise in next-generation capture systems.

Phil is currently developing several giant screen 3D films, including India’s Wild, focused on Indian culture and wildlife, and African Voices, which explores human-wildlife coexistence across the continent. He serves as a board member of the Giant Screen Cinema Association and is a full voting member of BAFTA.

Phil Streather’s Presentation at Dome Fest West

Titled “From Giant Screen to a Possible Dome First Workflow: What Immersive Capture Has Taught Us — and What Comes Next?”, the keynote will trace the evolution of live-action immersive cinema from IMAX and giant screen to fulldome, examining key lessons in resolution, brightness, scale, and image geometry along the way.

The session will trace the shift from the early limitations of dome exhibition to today’s breakthroughs in 8K projection and LED dome environments, a landscape in which immersion is increasingly defined not simply by screen size, but by the total visual experience.

A central focus will be the potential for a “Dome First” approach to image capture, specifically, whether filmmakers could shoot in fulldome 1x1 8K and extract a usable image for IMAX 1.43 4K from the same footage. Phil and a team from the GSCA Innovations Committee are currently investigating this through active camera testing, making this one of the most timely and forward-looking sessions DFW26 has to offer.

For planetarium professionals, dome producers, and immersive creators, the presentation is an especially rare opportunity to gain insight from a filmmaker whose career has been shaped by the demands and technical standards of IMAX and giant screen cinema, and who is now actively applying that knowledge to the future of fulldome production.

For planetarium professionals, dome producers, and immersive creators, the presentation is an especially rare opportunity to gain insight from a filmmaker whose career has been shaped by the demands and technical standards of IMAX and giant screen cinema, and who is now actively applying that knowledge to the future of fulldome production.

“I’m delighted to join Dome Fest West”, said Phil Streather, Founder, Principal Large Format, “both as a new board member and as a keynote speaker at this year’s Fest. I am very much looking forward to sharing some of the lessons immersive filmmaking has taught me, through years of work in giant screen and IMAX. With LED fulldome is entering a fascinating new phase, and I’m excited to explore with this community how evolving capture and exhibition technologies may help shape its future.”

Join The Conversation

Phil’s presentation will take place on Friday, April 24, 2026, as part of Dome Fest West’s Fulldome Forward Expo. Festival attendees with All-Access Passes or Friday tickets will be able to attend, and a Q&A session will follow, giving participants the opportunity to engage directly with him on topics ranging from immersive capture strategy to workflow design and the future of live-action fulldome filmmaking.

Festival Tickets Available Now

All-Access Passes and individual block tickets for Dome Fest West 2026 are available now at domefestwest.com. The festival runs April 23 to 26, 2026, at the Fiske Planetarium in Boulder, Colorado, and features 38 films across nine thematic blocks, along with filmmaker Q&As, networking events, and special presentations.

About Dome Fest West 2026

Dome Fest West is North America’s leading festival dedicated to fulldome cinema, bringing filmmakers, planetarium professionals, and immersive creators from across the globe to Fiske Planetarium in Boulder, Colorado, each spring. The 2026 festival runs April 23 to 26 and showcases 38 curated films from international filmmakers across nine thematic programming blocks, from cutting-edge astronomical visualizations to experimental and artistic immersive experiences. Through four days of screenings, keynotes, filmmaker Q&As, and structured networking, Dome Fest West fosters the connections and conversations that move the medium forward.

Ryan Moore
Dome Fest West
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