The City of Light recently welcomed its inaugural TouchDesigner Summit, marking a significant milestone for the creative technology community in France. The event, organized by OVVO Studio in collaboration with Derivative's TouchDesigner team, served as the final stop on a European tour that had already brought together communities in Dublin and London. For Paris, this gathering represented more than just a meetup – it was an opportunity to establish the city as a new hub for digital art and creative technology.
OVVO Studio, which has been part of Paris's creative scene for nearly two decades, played a central role in making the summit a reality. The live art and technology studio was originally founded by Shandor Churry in 2006 with the ambitious philosophy that "everything is possible, even if everyone says otherwise." Over the past year, Amir B Ash joined forces with Churry and Cyrille Macé to relaunch OVVO as a new collective, maintaining the original name while injecting fresh energy, fostering new collaborations, and focusing on connecting communities across the creative technology landscape.
The summit took place on July 9th at Point Éphémère, a former warehouse turned arts center situated along the Canal Saint-Martin. This grassroots hub for experimental music, art, and performance buzzed with activity from morning until midnight. The venue's industrial charm and waterside location provided an ideal backdrop for a day dedicated to exploring the creative possibilities of TouchDesigner, a node-based visual programming language used for real-time interactive multimedia content.
The program featured a carefully curated mix of presentations, combining five in-depth 30-minute talks with a lightning round of shorter presentations. The day was punctuated by casual networking opportunities and culminated in an Open Beamer jam session that allowed attendees to showcase their work in a relaxed, collaborative environment. Greg Hermanovic and Isabelle Rousset from Derivative kicked off the proceedings with warmth and humor, establishing a tone that balanced technical expertise with genuine friendliness throughout the day.
The speaker lineup represented a diverse cross-section of the TouchDesigner community, each bringing unique perspectives and expertise to the stage. Louk Amidou explored generative visuals shaped by movement and interaction, while also examining artificial intelligence's role in digital creation. Fabien Bouchard, known professionally as Parse/Error, dove deep into the new Operator family of POPs (Particle Operators), demonstrating advanced techniques for particle system manipulation.
Philippe Dubost shared valuable insights from his work on prototyping mobile-style applications for interactive installations, bridging the gap between traditional app development and immersive experiences. Jacques Hoepffner focused on TouchDesigner's adaptation in performative art forms, showing how the software can enhance live artistic expressions. Cécile Lebon offered attendees a comprehensive look at visual storytelling workflows specifically designed for show production, revealing professional techniques used in large-scale productions.
One of the day's standout presentations came from Sumeet Rohilla, whose talk "TouchDesigner Diaries: Anatomy of an Installation" peeled back the layers of large-scale immersive projects. Rohilla revealed a creative process that seamlessly fuses light, sound, visuals, and audience interaction into living, breathing experiences that respond dynamically to their environment and participants.
Sébastien Mercier showcased how TouchDesigner fundamentally changed their approach to graphic design, demonstrating workflows that push beyond traditional static design into reactive, responsive visual creation. Florian Rouzaud Cornabas unpacked detailed workflows for creating modular interactive installations, emphasizing the importance of building flexible, scalable systems that can adapt to different spaces and requirements.
Vincent Sanjiv explored the challenge of adapting creative technology workflows to difficult environments, showing how limited resources can become opportunities for innovation and community building. His presentation resonated particularly well with attendees working in resource-constrained situations, proving that creativity often thrives within limitations.
OVVO Studio's own Shandor Churry delivered a presentation titled "Beyond the Screen: Integrating Physical Systems and Digital Realms." His talk championed the concept of giving digital creations a tangible presence, demonstrating methods for bridging code, physical objects, and environmental elements in ways that make abstract ideas truly come alive in the physical world.
As the formal presentations concluded and the room settled into a more relaxed atmosphere, organizers had one final surprise in store. A birthday cake appeared with lit candles as the entire community joined together to celebrate Greg Hermanovic's birthday. This spontaneous moment transformed what could have been a standard industry gathering into something that felt more like a family reunion, reminding everyone present that beyond the code, projects, and technical workflows, it's the human connections that make the creative technology community truly thrive.
Behind the scenes, the event's success required considerable coordination and teamwork. From last-minute equipment management to ensuring a steady flow of coffee throughout the day, community members pitched in to help wherever needed. Special recognition goes to the OVVO Studio team – Shandor Churry, Cyrille Macé, Sara Bigdeli Shamlou, and Evann Foy – who worked tirelessly to keep everything running smoothly throughout the intensive day-long program.
The organizers didn't limit their celebration to just the summit itself. The following evening, with support and assistance from INPNDNT PARIS – a community-driven initiative founded by visionary festival organizer Slava Kostyakhin – they hosted an after-party featuring a impressive lineup of live audio-visual performances. The roster included renowned artists such as Dasha Rush, Neurotypique, Canblaster, Milkorvaa, Yssue, The Glad Scientist, Cotton Pills, and Minereed.
While the summit focused on learning and knowledge sharing, the after-party provided an opportunity for attendees to unwind and experience the creative output of the community in a more social setting. This dual approach proved that Paris possesses both the technical talent and the cultural appetite necessary to support a thriving creative technology scene.
Across both nights, meaningful connections were established, new collaborations were sparked, and numerous conversations included variations of "We should do this more often." The feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive and unanimous in one key message: Paris needs more events like this. In a city that overflows with traditional art but is still developing its new-media infrastructure, gatherings like the TouchDesigner Summit serve as more than just social occasions – they function as catalysts for growth and innovation.
These events provide artists with essential platforms, professional networks, and inspiration to dream bigger and push their creative boundaries further. By making the digital art scene more visible and accessible, such gatherings contribute directly to the community's growth and sustainability. The visibility created by successful events like this summit helps attract more talent, resources, and opportunities to the local scene.
The impact of the Paris TouchDesigner Summit extended far beyond the banks of the Seine River. In the weeks following the event, friends and colleagues in Tehran reached out to the organizers, explaining how the Paris summit had inspired them to finally establish their own local meetup. What began as casual conversation quickly transformed into reality, resulting in an equally warm and ambitious event that demonstrated the significant creative talent that exists in places often overlooked on the global creative technology stage.
Looking forward, if the TouchDesigner Summit Paris 2025 represented just the first step in establishing the city as a creative technology hub, it certainly won't be the last. The success of this inaugural event has laid a strong foundation for future gatherings, while the ripple effects continue to inspire similar initiatives in cities around the world. The summit proved that with the right combination of community spirit, technical expertise, and organizational dedication, any city can become a vital node in the global network of creative technology practitioners and enthusiasts.
