Samsung to launch VR movie studio in New York, partners with Sundance

Samsung has confirmed that it is setting up its own virtual reality (VR) movie studio in New York to create immersive content for its Gear VR device. The South Korean giant has entered into a year-long partnership with Sundance Institute to foster creativity and encourage more use of VR with film-makers.

Samsung made the announcement at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, taking place in Park City, Utah on 22 January. Although the company has not revealed much about the content its VR team would create, it has confirmed that the new studio will be located in an existing New York City Samsung office. The office's marketing team will be responsible for creating awareness and collaborating with the company's various partners in producing VR content, Cnet reported.

Marc Mathieu, chief marketing officer at Samsung USA said at the event: "At Samsung we love stories. And we love to help people tell stories." The Gear VR manufacturer's partnership with the Sundance Institute hints at the future of virtual reality; in the years to come, tech companies like Samsung may be able to pave way for virtual reality to make a niche for itself in Hollywood as well.

Bringing the feature into mainstream cinema would be the next big venture for Samsung. With the growing popularity of VR, tech companies are expanding their horizons and targeting video gamers to include smart-device enthusiasts.

VR movies are believed to be in high demand at film festivals and Sundance has arranged for its members to watch VR content this year. Those who missed out on the opportunity were provided with the option of watching VR content via the Milk VR app using Samsung's Gear VR or Google's Cardboard headsets, according to a Tech Times report.