Teams with Kite & Lightning on initial project, GE’s "Neuro," for debut at E3
Deluxe Entertainment Services Inc. (Deluxe) has rolled out a new slate of technology and services to develop content for immersive entertainment and virtual reality experiences. Coinciding with this announcement, Deluxe has recently completed work on “Neuro,” developed with creative VR studio Kite & Lightning for GE, debuting today at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, Calif.
“For 100 years, Deluxe has been at the forefront of entertainment innovation. Adding a suite of virtual reality services is a natural extension of the company’s industry leading digital postproduction capabilities into this new high-growth content arena,” said Stefan Sonnenfeld, CEO, Deluxe Creative Services. “Deluxe has established a workflow precedent that gives our clients better ways to build high-res 360 content faster and more efficiently.”
Deluxe’s new VR services draw on the collective talent at Deluxe companies worldwide, including Method Studios and Company 3. Current and future customers can benefit from the company’s best practices and toolsets for optimizing immersive content creation workflows.
“Deluxe will provide its virtual reality customers a premier pipeline for the processing and development of content in the virtual reality world, automating a process that can otherwise be very time and labor intensive,” said David Kassler, CEO, Deluxe Entertainment Services.
“Neuro” is an entirely computer generated five-minute immersive film, which is being shown on the latest VR headsets, and was developed using AMD graphics technology. With creative direction by Kite & Lightning co-founders Ikrima Elhassan and Cory Strassburger, the team helped bring to life the video’s main character–a detailed digital model of Ladytron DJ/band member, Reuben Wu. To ensure an accurate likeness, special attention was paid to all aspects of his virtual alter ego. In addition to creating a photo-real digital model, his facial performance was captured and animated to match the narrated voiceover. Deluxe also provided ADR (automated dialogue replacement) for the project.
Deluxe and Kite & Lightning will be demonstrating the “Neuro” VR experience during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity being held June 21-27, 2015 in Cannes, France.
Eleanor Adds Director Candice Vernon To Its Roster For Spots and Branded Content
Director Candice Vernon has joined production house Eleanor for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She has already wrapped several jobs at Eleanor, which waited to announce her until they had a body of work together.
Via Eleanor, Vernon made history as the first Black director on a Febreze commercial. The “Small Spaces” campaign marks a major departure from Febreze’s typical blue-and-white world. The home of the “Revolving Door” commercial is a beautiful array of bold sunset hues, African prints, and African art.
Vernon said, “I asked myself, what feels right to me? What feels new? I wanted to bring an essence of not just Black Americans but the full diaspora. I wanted to make a statement that we’re not a monolith.”
Following the success of the “Small Spaces” campaign, Febreze brought Vernon back for a comedy-infused trifecta exploring the hilarious situations that call for an air freshening hero.
Febreze Brand VP Angelica Matthews said, “About two years ago, we realized the consumers that were the most loyal to Febreze were the African American consumers. And the more we learned, the more we realized the richness that we were really missing. So we said we have to go beyond just Black casting, we need to get Black directors that truly understand the culture that truly understand how to bring authentic performances out on screen. We really looked around the industry and noticed there’s actually a shortage of African American directors who have experience doing commercials. When we all saw Candice’s reel, we could all tell the passion for the craft, passion for really trying to help us from where we are to where we’re trying to go.”
Vernon brings a unique lens to... Read More