VFX and Hollywood Meet Mobile Apps

I’m an iPhone user and apps are a very real part of my life. I have apps for currency exchange, language translation, and several games and of course, my favorite, Amazon.com loaded to my phone. Having been in the VFX industry for a little while now, it occurred to me that VFX artists and Hollywood haven’t really had all that much to do with mobile app development. Since gaming apps are all about entertainment and telling a good story, I think Hollywood has a lot to offer app development. So, it was with interest that I read an article recently about a new startup that joins Hollywood talent with mobile app developers.

Creative Mobile Labs is backed by talent agency CAA and telecommunications giant Qualcomm. Its idea is to pair creative people with app developers to produce quality apps. Creative Mobile Labs has no plans to license characters from movie studios and develop mobile games around preexisting content. Instead the startup aims to create new stories, characters and franchises. The startup will take CAA’s writers and computer graphics artists into a whole new frontier, using their skills to create innovative apps. I’m wondering how this will evolve and what the marketing around this will look like. Will the apps attract cult followers? Will the VFX piece really be as good on an app? I can’t wait to see this part of the industry develop.

I do think this is an exciting development and could create another outlet for VFX professionals to apply their skills. Imagine playing a 3D game on your phone that has robust characters, amazing visuals and a good story. If Creative Mobile Labs is successful there could more partnerships between app development companies, post production studios and Hollywood talent. I’m going to watch this one closely.