Rockefeller Center® To Present First Public Viewings Of The Acclaimed, Complete Virtual Reality Series Spheres
January 18 – March 3, 2019
Tickets To Experience The Three-Part VR Series Are On Sale
SPHERES, which sold out of Sundance in an unprecedented seven figure deal, was written and directed by Eliza McNitt, executive produced by Darren Aronofsky, and is narrated by Millie Bobby Brown, Jessica Chastain and Patti Smith
Presenting Sponsor Rockefeller Center with Exhibition Presented by RYOT
New York, NY (December 21, 2018)—Tishman Speyer will host the public premiere of the acclaimed three-part virtual reality series, SPHERES, at New York’s iconic Rockefeller Center, beginning January 18th through March 3, 2019. New Yorkers and visitors will have the unique opportunity to purchase tickets to all three 15-minute episodes using an Oculus Rift headset in a custom-designed screening room at Rockefeller Center. Tickets are limited.
SPHERES made history earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival when it was acquired by CityLights, becoming the first ever VR experience to sell at a major film festival for seven figures. In September 2018 it became the first virtual reality experience to be programmed and screened at the Telluride Film Festival.
Written and directed by Eliza McNitt, executive produced by PROTOZOA PICTURES’ Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel and produced by Jess Engel, Arnaud Colinart, and Dylan Golden, the series stars Millie Bobby Brown, Jessica Chastain and Patti Smith. SPHERES won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Virtual Reality Immersive Story at the 2018 Venice Film Festival. SPHERES was scored by Grammy-nominated artists Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein (Stranger Things).
Presented by Rockefeller Center with support from RYOT, tickets will be available for advanced-purchase beginning December 20, 2018 for $50. Screenings will take place seven days a week in 600 Fifth Avenue, (entrance on 48th Street between Fifth and the Plaza), in a custom-designed space-inspired dark room with seven viewing stations. Tickets are available for purchase at www.rockefellercenter.com/attractions/spheres.
“We’ve poured our hearts into this experience and it’s a dream to have SPHERES at Rockefeller Center. Together, we’re making virtual reality accessible to the public,” said writer and director Eliza McNitt. “Now audiences can be transported from New York City to the heart of a black hole. I can’t wait for you to join us on this journey to the cosmos.”
“CityLights made the decision to purchase SPHERES at Sundance because we knew it was something special that audiences would want to experience, as long as we gave them a chance. Our vision for its potential is now unfolding as we partner with New York’s famous Rockefeller Center,” said Joel Newtonwith CityLights. “This is the beginning of something new in VR as we bring immersive content to the public.”
“We are so excited to host the public premiere of SPHERES, this incredible virtual reality experience, at Rockefeller Center,” said Michaella Solar-March, Managing Director Marketing and Experience at Rockefeller Center. “We are constantly looking to bring unique cultural and entertainment offerings to our tenants and all New Yorkers, and this is a perfect fit.”
“RYOT is a studio built on innovation in content—and supporting SPHERES is part of our commitment to representing the best there is to offer in VR—we are pleased to share it with the public in this incredible setting,” said Smiley Stevens, RYOT’s Global Creative Director.
Rockefeller Center, the most recognized commercial property in the world, encompasses six square blocks between Fifth Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas, from 48th to 51st Streets, rising 70 stories above beautiful Midtown Manhattan. It is not only a place of business, but also a premier destination for world-class shops, restaurants and entertainment venues. Millions come to Rockefeller Center each year to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, skate at The Rink at Rockefeller Center®, celebrate at Rainbow Room or Bar SixtyFive, and see one of the NBC shows that calls Rockefeller Center home including The Today Show and Saturday Night Live.
SPHERES is a three-chapter virtual reality journey to uncover the hidden songs of the cosmos. The full series world premiered at the 2018 Venice Film Festival with the debut of the first chapter, Chorus of the Cosmos, narrated by Millie Bobby Brown. The second chapter, Songs of Spacetime, world premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and was narrated by Jessica Chastain. The third chapter, Pale Blue Dot, premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival and was narrated by Patti Smith. The series, presented by Oculus Studios and Protozoa Pictures, features original music from Grammy-nominated artists Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein of SURVIVE (Stranger Things) with sound design by Craig Henighan.
SPHERES is written and directed by Eliza McNitt and presented by Oculus Studios & Protozoa Pictures. It is produced by Jess Engel, Arnaud Colinart, and Dylan Golden in association with Kaleidoscope. Production companies are Protozoa, AtlasV, Crimes of Curiosity and Novelab. Supported and powered by HP Virtual Reality Technology with the installation designed by the Phi Centre.
For tickets:
www.rockefellercenter.com/attractions/spheres
Location:
600 Fifth Avenue – Entrance on 48th Street between Fifth and the Plaza
About Protozoa
Protozoa Pictures is Academy Award®-nominated director Darren Aronofsky’s production company. Founded in 1996, based in Brooklyn and headed by Aronofsky, partners are Ari Handel, and Scott Franklin. Credits include the critically-acclaimed films: White Boy Rick, mother!, Jackie, Noah, Black Swan, The Wrestler, The Fountain, Requiem for a Dream, π and the series One Strange Rock for NatGeo. SPHERES is Protozoa’s first virtual reality project.
About Tishman Speyer
Tishman Speyer is a leading owner, developer, operator and fund manager of first-class real estate around the world. Founded in 1978, Tishman Speyer is active across the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia, building and managing premier office, residential and retail space in 28 key global markets for industry-leading tenants. The firm has acquired, developed and operated a portfolio of over 167 million square feet with a total value of approximately US $88 billion spread over 406 assets. Signature assets include New York City’s Rockefeller Center, São Paulo’s Torre Norte, The Springs in Shanghai, Lumière in Paris and OpernTurm in Frankfurt. Tishman Speyer currently has projects at different stages of development in Boston, Brasília, Frankfurt, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Los Angeles, New York City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Washington, DC. The firm also operates portfolios of prominent office properties in Berlin, Chicago and London. For more information, visit tishmanspeyer.com and find us on social @tishmanspeyer.
About RYOT
RYOT is Verizon Media Group’s Emmy Award®-winning, Academy Award®-nominated premium content studio. RYOT has produced a slate of critically-acclaimed projects that have debuted at Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, and Hot Docs, among others. Our content impacts audiences globally, with sales and distribution through a variety of platforms, including HBO, Showtime, Netflix, Hulu, ESPN, National Geographic. Highlights include back-to-back Academy Award® nominations for Best Documentary Short Subject (2016 and 2017), as well as the only studio at both Sundance Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival to have official content premieres across every category and format. RYOT is a division of Verizon Media Group, Verizon’s family of media properties.
About HP Virtual Reality Solutions
HP’s VR approach is founded upon its rich history of product innovation and deeply rooted customer relationships, which enables it to deliver the most immersive technologies that help businesses lead their industries. HP’s versatile, high-powered devices empower customers to create and consume VR content. The company’s commercial grade products are designed for mission critical business applications that require high levels of security, manageability, reliability and ISV certified applications. For more information, visit www.hp.com/go/reinventreality.
About Phi
Headquartered in Montreal Canada and dedicated to art in all its forms, Phi is a multidisciplinary arts and culture organization that cultivates all aspects of creation, development, production and dissemination. Phi is at the intersection of art, film, music, design and technology. Through a strong emphasis on content creation, eclectic programming and innovative uses of technology to enhance arts, Phi fosters collective experiences and unexpected encounters between artists and audiences. For more information, visit
