Oculus Story Studio
| File:Oculus story studio logo.png | |
| Company type | Virtual reality film studio |
|---|---|
| Industry | Films and virtual reality |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founder | Saschka Unseld Max Planck Edward Saatchi |
| Defunct | May 2017 |
| Headquarters | , |
| Parent | Oculus VR |
| Website | StoryStudio.Oculus.com |
Oculus Story Studio operated as a virtual reality animation film division under the umbrella of Oculus VR. Established in 2014 by former Pixar veterans Saschka Unseld, Max Planck, alongside producer Edward Saatchi, the studio’s mission was to innovate in VR cinema and assist creators venturing into this developing technology.
Their inaugural project, Lost, premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Following this, their second release, Henry, earned the Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Interactive Program in 2016, underscoring the studio’s leadership in immersive narrative experiences.
In May 2017, Oculus announced the discontinuation of Story Studio as part of a revised strategy for its virtual reality content development.
Filmography
Before its closure, the studio completed three productions.
Lost
The first title from Oculus Story Studio, Lost, was helmed by Creative Director Saschka Unseld. This piece places viewers within a nocturnal woodland setting where a robot embarks on a quest to locate its lost hand.
Henry
Henry, the studio’s sophomore film directed by Ramiro Lopes Dau and featuring narration by Elijah Wood, follows a hedgehog facing challenges in making friends. It debuted in Hollywood on July 28, 2015, and marked a milestone as the first original VR short to receive an Emmy for Outstanding Original Interactive Program.
Dear Angelica
The third film, Dear Angelica, made its debut at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Saschka Unseld and produced by Edward Saatchi, it showcases artwork by Wesley Allsbrook with musical contributions from Drazen Bosnjak and Sarah Jaffe, featuring performances by Geena Davis and Mae Whitman. The narrative offers an emotionally charged visual exploration of memory and grief, created entirely through the Oculus Quill VR drawing and sculpting tool.
References
- Pages with broken file links
- Defunct American animation studios
- Defunct American film studios
- Virtual reality companies
- Entertainment companies based in California
- Software companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Companies based in Menlo Park, California
- Mass media companies established in 2014
- Mass media companies disestablished in 2017
- 2014 establishments in California
- 2017 disestablishments in California
- Defunct companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Oculus VR
- Defunct software companies of the United States