Virtual reality treat

The Dream Collector, a 11-minute VR film, and Free Whale, a seven-minute VR film, are among those vying for awards at the upcoming Venice Film Festival. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A sci-fi aficionado, Lou named his studio Sandman after Neil Gaiman's comic book series The Sandman.

"It's a story about dreams, and I think the VR experience is a kind of a dream," he says.

VR lets viewers forget where they are. And that is the reason why Lei Zhengmeng, 30, named his VR studio after La Pinta－the fastest ship of explorer Christopher Columbus.

Lei and his team at La Pinta Studios will be at the Venice Film Festival with their 11-minute VR film－The Dream Collector, which is about an old man, a dog and magic.

Speaking about his participation in the festival, Lei says: "We received an email (in July) from the organizers a week before the announcement of the participating films, asking whether we wanted to do our film's premiere at the festival.

"I then knew that our film was in!"

The studio was founded a year ago, and the film is its first work.

Before founding the studio with two friends in 2016, Lei worked at Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group.

"After years with a big company I wanted to do something small and beautiful," says Lei.

Lou and Lei know each other and appreciate each other's work.

They will both give talks about VR filmmaking in Shanghai on Friday, together with Shao Qing, the CEO of a Shanghai studio, whose VR film Chuang (In the Pictures) is also competing in Venice.

Lei thinks that participating in the festival is a good way to popularize VR films in China, and says that as investments in VR grow, content companies will focus on creating good products and telling good stories.

As of now, the market value of VR content, such as VR games and films, is expected to hit 28 billion yuan ($4 billion) in five years, says a report released in June by iResearch Consulting Group.

Meanwhile, Lou has started work on his next project.

"In this field, experience from traditional films is of no use," says Lou. "The new technology gives us a chance to leapfrog and transcend."

Contact the writer at xingyi@chinadaily.com.cn