IF: White Spark Pictures announces partnership with UK-based production company Loud Minds

Western Australian independent production company White Spark Pictures (WSP) will work with UK-based venture Loud Minds on VR and immersive experiences as part of a new partnership.

Founded by Walking With Dinosaurs producer Tim Haines in 2019, Loud Minds announced its debut commission last year with Surviving Earth, an eight-part series for Universal Television Alternative Studio, which visits eight dramatic mass extinction moments throughout Earth’s history.

Haines said other programming the company had in development similarly uses state-of-the-art CGI and high-end animation, lending themselves to immersive experiences, designer VR companion entertainment, and long-term content brand extensions.

“So much of my earlier work, and that currently in development at Loud Minds, is the sort of high concept content with great storytelling that lends itself to a companion VR or themed immersive experience,” he said.

“Demand is increasing all the time, and as technology continues to develop, White Spark Pictures will help us extend our TV brands across a variety of new platforms”.

The partnership comes after WSP launched a new standalone technology business for its VR distribution concept Surround Sync, which allows for 7.1 surround sound in more than 200 headsets at any one time and can be scaled to suit different venue sizes.

WSP founder Briege Whitehead developed an early version of the technology for her 2018 XR documentary short The Antarctica Experience, before using it in the release of the VR documentary Beyond the Milky Way, which premiered at WA Museum Boola Bardip in December 2021.

Whitehead said her company was excited to work with Loud Minds and share the crossover and commercial opportunities now available through VR.

“Our passion for VR filmmaking comes from a desire to take audiences to places they would otherwise find difficult to visit,” she said.

“Now, working with the impressive creative minds of Tim and his talented team, we will be able to explore whole new worlds – developed with CGI, animation, and other cutting-edge techniques – to place audiences front and centre in some incredible new stories about our planet.

“Given its visionary credentials, it feels right and fitting that Loud Minds is our first official producer partner, and we look forward to seeing where our combined thinking and expertise might take us. We hope this partnership is the first of many.”

Published by Sean Slatter on May 13, 2024 on if.com.au