NEW YORK, NY (March 7, 2024) – Today, ATLAS V announced that GRAMMY-nominated singer and actor Taylour Paige (ZOLA, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, The Toxic Avenger) will voice the SXSW festival-bound, ASTRA. The latest immersive experience from acclaimed director, Eliza McNitt—whose groundbreaking VR experience, SPHERES (produced by Darren Aronofsky, starring Jessica Chastain, Patti Smith and Millie Bobby Brown) sold out of Sundance in 2018 for a record-breaking seven figure deal and inked a distribution model for the still nascent field—ASTRA is a cosmic mixed reality narrative experience exploring the mystery of life in the universe.

“Taylour has a remarkable ability to portray characters that are both grounded and otherworldly. I couldn’t be more honored to collaborate with her on ASTRA. This mixed reality experience unfolds from the human perspective of exploring life in the Universe. It was so exciting to watch her craft a character that spans space and time, transporting audiences on a journey to worlds beyond our own,” said director Eliza McNitt.

Produced by multi-award-winning French studio ATLAS V (Wallace and Gromit in The Grand Getaway, SPHERES, Emperor) in collaboration with META, this interactive experience combines spatial storytelling with cutting-edge mixed reality and captivating cinematic sequences.

The discovery of an astrobiologist’s lost belongings transports users on an otherworldly voyage that spans our solar system and reaches into the vastness beyond. The search for life in the cosmos echoes the quest to understand loss on Earth.

ASTRA will be released in Spring 2024 and available on Meta Quest 2 and 3 headsets.

Hidden in the lost belongings of an astrobiologist are clues for the journey ahead. Welcome to “Astra,” your ticket to the stars. This Mixed Reality Experience transports you from Earth to the deepest corners of the cosmos as you embark on a quest to uncover the key ingredients of life in the Universe. Step foot on planets and their dark moons in a search for future worlds and far away beings.

Eliza McNitt is a writer and director. She is an Emmy Awards Finalist and recipient of the VR Grand Prize at The Venice Film Festival. She explores the cosmic collision of science and art. From astronauts to astrophysicists, McNitt works alongside scientists to tell stories about the human connection to the cosmos.

Her VR experiences have appeared at Sundance, SXSW, AFI Fest, Cannes NEXT, CPH:DOX, Tribeca, Telluride, and Venice. She’s a two time Intel Science Fair winner, Alfred P. Sloan grant recipient, and Gold Screen Young Director’s Award winner at Cannes Lions. ASTRA will be McNitt’s third immersive experience to premiere at SXSW.

McNitt is the creator of SPHERES, a three chapter VR journey through the hidden songs of the Universe. Executive Produced by Darren Aronofsky, SPHERES stars three generations of women as the voices of the cosmos including Millie Bobby Brown, Jessica Chastain, and Patti Smith. Distributed throughout the world, SPHERES was featured on the Today Show, exhibited at Rockefeller Center, performed live as a TED Talk, and made history as the world’s first ever acquisition of a VR experience out of Sundance.

McNitt is a Sundance Institute Screenwriting and Directing Lab Fellow for her narrative feature film BLACK HOLE.

ABOUT TAYLOUR PAIGE

Taylour Paige is an American actress best known for her starring role as the titular character in Janicza Bravo’s A24 feature, ZOLA, for which she won the 2022 “Film Independent Spirit Award” in the category of Best Female Lead. Her performance also

garnered her a 2021 “Gotham Independent Film Award” nomination for Outstanding Lead Performance, and two “Black Reel Award” nominations in the categories of Outstanding Actress and Outstanding Breakthrough Female Performance in 2022.

Up next, Paige is currently in production on HBO Max’s upcoming horror television series WELCOME TO DERRY, a prequel to the two Stephen King-based “IT” movies, directed by Andy Muschietti. The series is set to release in 2024.

Additional upcoming credits include Tony Kaye’s dark comedy THE TRAINER, Max Barbakow’s comedy BROTHERS, and Macon Blair’s adaptation of THE TOXIC AVENGER. She will also star as the female lead, opposite Eddie Murphy, in the highly anticipated reboot of BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL FOLEY for Netflix.

In 2020, Paige appeared in the critically acclaimed Netflix film adaptation of August Wilson’s play MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM, directed by George C. Wolfe and written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. She received a 2021 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture on behalf of her performance. The film was released in theaters on November 25, 2020, and was later available to stream on Netflix on December 18, 2020.

Previous credits include Lena Dunham’s Sundance 2022 title SHARP STICK, Katie Aselton’s comedy MACK & RITA (2022), Yann Demange’s crime drama WHITE BOY RICK (2018) and Eddie Huang’s directorial debut BOOGIE (2021). In 2022, Paige received praise for her performance opposite Kendrick Lamar in a short film which accompanied “We Cry Together,” a song off Lamar’s Grammy winning concept album, Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers.

Paige currently resides in Miami.