Global creative services company Deluxe announced this month that Deluxe VR has joined with PROXi to create cinematic 360° virtual reality (VR) experiences. PROXi was founded by Guy Norris, one of the industry’s foremost action directors and stunt coordinators, and his son Harrison Norris (both credited on Mad Max: Fury Road, Ghost in the Shell and Suicide Squad). The new JV is promising PROXi will integrate its creative, directing and live action 360° production expertise with Deluxe VR’s best-in-class global VFX, real-time rendered VR and on-set data services to create live-action VR spectacles of the biggest movies for worldwide audiences.
Deluxe president and GM of Visual Effects and VR Ed Ulbrich recently worked with the Norrises on Warner Bros’ hit movie Suicide Squad. The Norrises then went on to create the VR experience for SuicideSquad that debuted at Comic-Con 2016. Ulbrich said, “Guy is one of the biggest and most highly regarded names in action design and stunts, and with Harrison’s inspiration, he’s taken that passion into virtual reality. Some of the most compelling movie-based VR experiences come from big action sequences, and Guy is brilliant in that realm. Joining forces to extend Guy’s creative team with our specialisation in VR and VFX is a perfect fit.”
Norris said, “VR has let us unleash so many new ways to bring audiences inches from the action; the kind of experiences that have the interactivity of high-end gameplay and the immersiveness of cinematic film. It’s a new way of creating entertainment targeted specifically for the new generation of audiences. That’s where PROXi and Deluxe VR are such a perfect fit. Deluxe has a global reputation for artistry and innovation, and they have creative talent and technologists based all over the world. They’ve also been developing the kind of interactivity that elevates experience immersion. Together, we can create productions of the biggest scale and scope.”