Austin, TX (March 17, 2023) – Stars Collective, the renowned filmmaker and artist incubator community founded by Peter Luo (Crazy Rich Asians, Marshall, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark), joined with SXSW to host a private dinner celebrating immersive filmmakers accepted to South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference and Festival’s exclusive XR program. The event kicked off the SXSW XR Experience Exhibition which took place March 13-15 and showcased outstanding immersive projects by an array of talented international producers. At the three-day experience, guests were invited to explore the latest VR/AR storytelling from some of the most creative minds in the world.
SXSW recently announced the winners of its XR Experience Competition as part of its annual Jury and Special Awards announcement. Consensus Gentium took home the top prize, directed and written by Karen Palmer, and produced by Tom Millen, Thalia Mavros, Jackson Lapsley Scott, and Tuyet Huynh. The Special Jury Award went to Body of Mine from director, producer, and writer Cameron Kostopoulos.
Formally known as Virtual Cinema, the SXSW XR Experience showcases outstanding VR + AR + MR creations and innovative technological advances from independent up-and-comers and creative heavy hitters from around the world with the goal of widening the scope of storytelling. Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies are finding new ways to enhance the ability to perceive and experience the world around us, and the projects presented in the XR Experience emphasize narratives and art in the immersive world.
“As Stars Collective continues to build on its commitment to Web3, we’re thrilled to partner with SXSW to honor and showcase the work of these brilliant creators,” said Luo. “Through our collaboration with the XR Experience Exhibition, our goal is to bring this community of innovators and storytellers together to further explore the next phase of filmmaking through VR and AR.”
SXSW Sr. Mgr, Film & TV, XR Programming, Blake Kammerdiener said, “This year’s SXSW XR Experience was filled with a group of creators who were really pushing the envelope of creativity with their diverse work. It brought together an audience from around the world to discover this exciting immersive art. It was a pleasure to work with Stars Collective to bring these creators together and grow the immersive art community.”
Stars Collective, along with its brands Footage, SC Meta, and Scinema, has continued to establish its vision and business strategies for Web3 and the metaverse, and will launch its Web3film platform Footage and its metaverse platform SC Meta this year. Information can be found at starscollective.com
# # #
About Stars Collective
Stars Collective is a filmmaker and artist incubator community committed to Diversity, Innovation, and Empowerment. Founded in 2020, Stars Collective aims to support filmmakers and artists from all over the world with diverse backgrounds by connecting them with abundant resources to maximize their artistic expression and full potential. Since its inception, Stars Collective has produced and financed projects like Jamojaya, directed by Justin Chon, starring Rich Brian, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival; Nezouh, directed by Soudade Kaadan, which won the Armani Beauty Audience Award at the Venice film festival; Playland, artist-filmmaker Georden West’s debut feature, which will premiere in the Tiger Competition at the 2023 International Film Festival Rotterdam; and Wuhan Wuhan, directed by Yung Chang, produced by Donna Gigliotti, Diane Quon and executively produced by Donnie Yen.
Stars Collective was founded by CEO Peter Luo who has been an advocate for bringing Asian culture to Hollywood. Peter has brokered content deals with prominent filmmakers such as Robert Zemeckis, Sam Raimi, Sylvester Stallone, James Wan, F. Gary Gray, Roland Emmerich, and Jon M. Chu, and has been involved in a wide range of critically and commercially successful films including Marshall, starring Chadwick Boseman; John Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians; the sci/fi horror hit Greta, starring Chloe Grace Moretz; Midway, the WWII action/drama starring Woody Harrelson, Patrick Wilson, Dennis Quaid, Mandy Moore, and Luke Evans; the horror/mystery/thriller Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark from Guillermo del Toro; horror film Malignant directed by James Wan and distributed by New Line; and the supernatural horror film UMMA for Sony Pictures, which is a Starlight collaboration with Sam Rami and stars Sandra Oh.
Stars Collective recently premiered Justin Chon’s (Ms. Purple, Blue Bayou) music drama Jamojaya, which it financed and co-produced, at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews.
