Bicoastal m ss ng p eces has hired Catherine Day as head of VR/AR/360 and added VR director Sam Smith to its roster. The moves fortify the production and entertainment company’s already established pedigree in virtual reality storytelling which includes delivering one of the first commercial VR projects, Dos Equis’ “Virtual Masquerade,” bringing a U.S. President into VR with Bill Clinton’s “Inside Impact,” and turning out a groundbreaking VR sports documentary “Follow My Lead: The 2016 Finals” for the National Basketball Association and Oculus.
Day comes over to m ss ng p eces from Jaunt VR where she was head of unscripted/executive producer. In her new role, Day will drive VR/AR/360 efforts from m ss ng p eces’ Los Angeles office, and oversee several original VR series that will be announced jointly with WME and partners in the coming months. In her previous role at Jaunt VR, Day led projects for ABC News, RYOT/Huffington Post, Camp 4 Collective, XRez, Tastemade, Outside TV, Civic Nation and Conservation International.
Meanwhile Smith is a creative director and VR director who previously worked with MediaMonks on projects for Expedia, Delta, Converse and YT. Smith also has an extensive background in commercial visual effects. His deep understanding of postproduction and VFX gives him a unique edge in development of VR/360 projects, and as a technical advisor to m ss ng p eces.
Smith and Day build on a company talent base which recently added such other notables as: Ray Tintori who co-directed the 25-minute “Follow My Lead” experience, which transports the viewer through the 2016 NBA championship and helped redefine long-form for VR; Yehuda Duenyas, a.k.a. Mindride, who is best known for his creative and technical work on the Ad Council’s lauded “Love Has No Labels” campaign and the “Airflow” flying VR simulator; and Yung Jake who’s part of Jaunt’s VR Residency and is currently developing a VR/360 experience for the 2017 Sundance Institute New Frontiers program.
Additionally, as part of its expansion into developing original VR content, m ss ng p eces has signed with WME for representation. Earlier this year m ss ng p eces won an Emmy for its original series “Videos 4U,” a co-production with Ira Glass and This American Life.
