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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday January 30 2018, @07:47AM   Printer-friendly
from the a-big-chunk-of-virtual-cheese dept.

A VR Movie Set in Space Just Landed a 7-Figure Deal at Sundance. Yes, You Read That Right

Every year the biggest news out of the Sundance Film Festival is always the hefty sums handed over to independent filmmakers for their passion projects. From Fox Searchlight dropping $1 million for future Oscar nominee Beasts of the Southern Wild in 2012 to Amazon Studios' massive $12 million buy of The Big Sick at last year's fest, everyone in Park City is hustling to make a deal. But that hustle has always been reserved for traditional films, not the virtual reality ones. Until now.

In an unprecedented move, VR financing and distribution venture CityLights announced today that it is acquiring Spheres—a three-part series that lets viewers explore the depths of space in VR—in a massive seven-figure deal. Neither side is revealing the exact figure, but for a medium that's never sold at Sundance, it's still a very big deal, and one that demonstrates VR filmmaking has the clout and buzz of its traditional film predecessors. It might even show that 360-degree immersive films will one day be as big a part of festivals as movies themselves.

"This is a historic moment for the VR industry; it signifies that a viable storytelling medium has emerged," says Jess Engel, who produced Spheres along with Arnaud Colinart, and Dylan Golden. "Deals like this establish VR as its own marketplace for independent creators, producers, and investors."

The Sundance Film Festival is held in January in Park City, Utah.

Also at Variety, LA Times, and Engadget.


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  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday January 30 2018, @04:52PM (2 children)

    by Freeman (732) on Tuesday January 30 2018, @04:52PM (#630453) Journal

    A space exploration VR film could be very interesting. I would love a Planet Earth like experience for Space in VR.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday January 30 2018, @08:55PM (1 child)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday January 30 2018, @08:55PM (#630591) Journal

      I would love a Planet Earth like experience for Space in VR.

      Bit of a confusing sentence, but I guess a Planet Earth like experience just means "filmed in 4K or better, narrated by an old British dude".

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday January 31 2018, @03:41PM

        by Freeman (732) on Wednesday January 31 2018, @03:41PM (#630979) Journal

        Any old dude with a british accent and a 4k camera could fit the bill in your scenario. I'm going with production quality (including great video, but likely 100% animated) and interesting content. Interesting, cool facts about the planets, and other objects in the sky would be cool. A layman's interpretation of where each of the Voyager craft are, what they measure, stuff like that, and as good of an artist's and scientist's representation of what it looks like where they are. I'm assuming just cold dark space, but it would be cool to see where they've been and how they've gotten there, etc.

        --
        Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
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