U.K.-based film and TV producer Catalyst Global Media is moving into interactive storytelling and working on a virtual reality project about an historical Antarctic expedition gone wrong.
Catalyst, which is producing upcoming Simon Pegg comedy horror movie “Slaughterhouse Rulez for Sony, in association with Pegg and Nick Frost’s Stolen Picture banner,” and made “Peter & Wendy” for ITV, has hired Jaspal Sohal as a creative within Catalyst Interactive. He joins from Creative England where he was head of games.
The VR expedition project will be created by Catalyst and Twenty 46 Studios. It will be based upon an ill-fated 1897 Belgian expedition in which a multinational crew became trapped in the northernmost part of the Antarctic for 13 months.
The Interactive division will be headed by Catalyst co-founder Al Hardiman. “Catalyst Interactive is strategically aligned to incorporate our storytelling skills with cutting-edge technology to create a truly immersive gaming experience while Catalyst will ultimately own the IP for subsequent projects,” he said.
“We are also utilizing our skills at producing projects, partnering with the best video game experts like Twenty 46 Studios, who bring together the right components to create a conceptual product that is ready for large-scale publishers to continue its development.”
The move into interactive storytelling adds to Catalyst’s existing work across film and high end TV.
Its upcoming TV projects in development include “Cognition,” a serial killer drama it is making with John Woo. On the features side it has “Finding Your Feet,” a U.K. romcom starring Timothy Spall and Joanna Lumley; eOne has U.K. distribution and Protagonist is selling it internationally.
