Google Spotlight Stories and Nexus Studios Release New VR Short “Rain Or Shine”

Google Spotlight Stories and Nexus Studios Release New VR Short “Rain Or Shine”

November 17th, 2016

Jerry Beck

Google Spotlight Stories and Nexus Studios announced the debut today of their new 360, interactive story, Rain or Shine. directed by animator Felix Massie.

Massie is an award winning animation director and published children’s book author based at the Nexus Studios in London. The film is now available on YouTube 360, as well as on the Google Spotlight Stories App on iOS and Android phones. Or you can watch it right here:

There is also a new “How to Watch 360” video on YouTube, featuring Rain or Shine, and you can view that here.

ABOUT “RAIN OR SHINE”
The sun is shining, the birds are singing, there’s a spring in everybody’s step. Everyone in London is enjoying a perfect summer’s day…Until Ella steps outside. Everywhere she goes it rains – is she going to ruin everyone’s day forever? Together with Nexus Studios, Google Spotlight Stories proudly presents RAIN OR SHINE, directed by Felix Massie. The studio’s most interactive short yet — as with other Spotlight Stories, the viewer can look around, and in doing so, can find subplots and surprises, in addition to hold for the viewer to return to main view before returning. Click here for the trailer for their newest story.

ABOUT FELIX MASSIE (DIRECTOR)
Felix Massie studied animation at the International Film School of Wales, Newport and graduated in 2007 after completing his graduation film, ‘Keith Reynolds Can’t Make It Tonight’. He moved to Bristol and worked at Aardman Animations, animating and directing commercials, broadcast and online content. He also made two more films there; ‘The Surprise Demise of Francis Cooper’s Mother’ (2008) and ‘The Ongoing Life of Peter Peel: Can, Can, Can’t ‘(2010) and he was animation director on the BAFTA Nominated TATE Movie Project website (2011). Felix moved to London in 2011 where he finished his fourth film at Nexus: ‘In The Air Is Christopher Gray’ (2013), which won the Grand Prix for Animation at Encounters Film Festival. He is currently developing ‘Super Special’, an animated comedy series for kids TV and web (selected for MIFA Pitch at Annecy and Cinekid 2016) and is the Author of recently published ‘George Pearce and his Huge Massive Ears’, the second in his series of children’s picture books, published by Frances Lincoln in the UK.

ABOUT NEXUS STUDIOS
Nexus is an Academy Award nominated animation studio based in London with a worldwide reputation for creative storytelling across a range of media. Dedicated to the development of unique voices in filmmaking, Nexus hosts a roster of directing talent working with multi-disciplinary skills in animation, live-action and interactive media. Their work includes an Oscar nominated short (This Way Up), Grammy nominated and MTV Award winning music videos, Cannes Grand Prix & Gold Lions and Black D&AD pencil winning commercials. Nexus is at the forefront of exploring interactive storytelling. Their extensive projects include interactive work for Google, The White House, Tate Modern and The New Yorker. They are known for their innovative animated work in virtual reality and augmented reality. Nexus also produce original content and are the recipients of the BFI Vision Award for feature development and are developing a slate of original content in film, TV and VR.

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Jerry Beck

Writer, cartoon producer and author of more than 15 books on animation history. A former studio exec with Nickelodeon and Disney; currently on the faculty at both CalArts in Valencia and Woodbury University in Burbank, California.