Sony Pictures Sept. 20 announced a bigger push in the virtual reality space, announcing a partnership with VR and augmented reality company Reality One to produce VR content based on Sony’s films and franchises.
Sony Pictures’ virtual reality group will produce narrative VR experiences with Reality One, which earlier this year co-produced Gnomes and Goblins, an original VR production for filmmaker Jon Favreau. Sony expects to begin distributing the new VR content before the end of 2016.
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“Through this groundbreaking pact with Reality One, Sony Pictures will expand our efforts to develop new audiences and new revenue from our studio’s content, leverage longstanding relationships with some of the best creative minds in the business, and explore exciting opportunities for high-quality, interactive storytelling in this new medium,” Jake Zim, senior VP of VR for Sony Pictures, said in a statement. Sony put Zim in charge of its VR efforts in late June.
Gigi Pritzker, cofounder of Reality One, added: “Clint Kisker and I founded Reality One to create immersive content from the world’s best storytellers and we believe this landmark partnership will allow both Sony Pictures and Reality One to take maximum advantage of Sony’s wealth of intellectual property, relationships with established storytellers and willingness to experiment with new technologies.”
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Sony only recently began delving into VR, introducing a VR experience for its new Ghostbusters movie at Madame Tussauds New York in July.
