Sundance Institute for Virtual Reality Filmmakers

Sundance Institute Opens Residency for Virtual Reality Filmmakers

Adi Robertson | November 3, 2015

The Sundance Institute is collaborating with cinematic virtual reality company Jaunt to fund making VR art. The "New Frontier/Jaunt VR Residency" is part of Sundance's existing New Frontier program, which funds and showcases art that blends film, performance, and technology. Interactive artist Lynette Wallworth is the first person selected for the six-month residency, and she'll eventually be joined by three other artists.
In addition to an unspecified grant, participants will get access to Jaunt's VR camera hardware and software. That's a bigger deal than it would be in traditional cinema, since quality VR rigs — which can blend together video from over a dozen cameras — are still expensive and relatively rare. But Jaunt and other VR cinema companies are benefiting as well. They're working in a small field that hasn't yet settled into an industry, and residencies like these help normalize VR filmmaking.

Jaunt VR, a leading VR studio that's building a camera of its own, has agreed to be one of Nokia's first partners for the device.  Source: http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/28/9064499/nokia-vr-camera-ozo

<more at http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/3/9663938/sundance-institute-jaunt-virtual-reality-residency; related links: http://www.sundance.org/blogs/news/launch-of-new-frontier-jaunt-vr-residency (Sundance Instittue and Jaunt Studios Launch Sundance Institute New Frontier | jaunt VR Residency. November 3, 2015) and http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-vr-sundance-new-frontier-jaunt-studio-20151103-story.html (VR Watch: Sundance creates a residency program in virtual reality. November 3, 2015)>