Building on recent virtual reality (VR) successes with Mike Shinoda's Fort Minor, CBS Interactive, Wevr and many others, the principals of award-winning integrated creative + production company The Uprising Creative have launched virtual reality content studio VEHICLEvr (http://vehicle-vr.com). The new venture focuses specifically on the creation, development, production and direction of original and branded VR content, as well as providing high-end VR production services to its partner companies.
VEHICLEvr launches with a roster of directors including Darren Craig, Jeff Nicholas, Jonathan Craven, Justin Hantz, Dan Huiting and Alexander Thompson, as well as a partnership with commercial representation company Resource that allows VEHICLEvr to facilitate original and branded VR content development and production for a select portion of Resource’s roster of directors and production companies. VEHICLEvr is represented for original content through UTA, for music videos through Tommy LaBuda Representation, and for commercial, branded content, and experiential projects through Resource.
With a wide array of new VR projects currently in active development for numerous sponsorship, production and distribution partners, VEHICLEvr will continue to deliver the type of high-end, engaging VR content that The Uprising Creative started producing earlier this year. Its upcoming slate spans shorts to original series and features, from comedy and sci-fi to music- and food-based projects, with talents like social media star Marcus Johns, Wolvesmouth chef and artist Craig Thornton, and comedian and actor Ari Stidham (CBS's "Scorpion" via Endless Media) attached.
The operation will be supported by Uprising principles and staff talents in expanded roles. Jeff Nicholas will serve as Managing Director and Head of Development alongside VP of Partnerships and Experiential Brian Schopfel, EP and Head of Production Jonathan Craven, VP of Digital Experiences Austin Mayer, VP of Technology and Innovation Keith Hoffman, VP of Finance Bryan Beuhring, Studio Manager Shakur Zazani, Producers David Adametz, Cat Chiang and Lauren Ciell, and others.
"Right now, VEHICLEvr is under NDA on at least 10 projects that are already in the pipeline… and that was all pre-launch," Schopfel confirmed. "Across our original and partner-based projects, we have several that will be dedicated to different technologies and distribution platforms. We are putting serious resources into making original and branded VR content that will define the future."
"While speaking on VR panels at SXSW, Cannes Lions and Digital Hollywood this year, people keep asking me when we're launching our VR studio," Nicholas added. "We intentionally started out slowly, so we could really understand the medium and the challenges of creating compelling content for VR. But with the success of the Fort Minor and CBSi projects, along with the fun we're having experimenting and creating VR content in general, it really propelled us to take the next step and launch VEHICLEvr. It felt inevitable."
In addition to developing, producing and directing original VR content, VEHICLEvr will also leverage Uprising's full creative, digital and experiential capabilities, as well as its strengths in traditional content development and production, to create well-rounded campaigns and experiences that go far beyond VR headsets.
"Virtual reality is the really special place where technology and empathy collide," Nicholas began. "It creates an immersive universe for storytelling unlike any that has come before it. With VEHICLEvr, we are creating a home for our directors, producers, makers, and creative partners to explore and create VR content largely unencumbered by deadlines and clients; we're writing the rules as we go."
The latest Digital Hollywood event (http://digitalhollywood.com) is currently happening in Marina del Rey, where Nicholas will be on today's panel, "The Contours and Technology of VR-AR-Immersive: It Feels Like Magic."
To learn more about The Uprising Creative, please visit http://theuprisingcreative.com.
About VEHICLEvr
VEHICLEvr is The Uprising Creative's VR content studio, developed out of a passion for immersive storytelling and a drive to push the medium forward through new methods of creative development and technical production. Launched in 2015, VEHICLEvr is driving full-speed ahead into the unknown… Learn more at http://vehicle-vr.com.
