Directory Profile

Laird Malamed is the founding COO and CFO of Oculus VR, Inc, acquired in 2014 and the center of Meta's Reality Labs division. Currently, Malamed directs long-term  AR/VR/MR interaction models at Meta's Reality Labs Research. He is a 30+ year veteran of the entertainment industry.  Malamed was Sr. Vice President and head of development at Activision Blizzard overseeing software, hardware and manufacturing for products such as Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, Spider-man and Skylanders. He started his career in sound editing at Sony Pictures and Lucasfilm.  In his role as Adjunct Professor in Interactive Media, he works closely with all of the MFA thesis candidates on their final projects.  Malamed earned a joint BS degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering and Film & Media Studies, and a MA from USC's School of Cinematic Arts. Malamed is a member of the MIT Corporation, the governing board of MIT. He is on the Alumni Council for the School of Cinematic Arts and has served on the boards of the California Sceince Center and iCivics . He co-hosts "The Magic of John Williams" podcast as part of TheIndyCast podcast and co-hosts "For Your Ears Only," the music of James Bond as part of BondCast.