Problem: Independent movies struggle to make an ROI for their investors without audience. Audiences love to feel included and often don’t have much access to a production. How can fans interact and become more involved in a movie production?

Solution: VR SuperFan creates a portal into the movie or event process. Productions are in control of how much access they give their virtual audience, by posting windows where they will livestream a camera on a stand in their production space, from the writing room to production office to set to editing to composing to visual effects.

If your production has an event to share, livestream it. If your production wants to cross-promote other projects while enjoying access to their audience, join VR SuperFan! When you do, assign a Host to move the VR SuperFan livestream camera around and interact with the audience that joins.

Audiences crave interactivity! Have contests to become a VIP Guest on set with the Host. Hide an object on set for the VR Superfans to discover. Give a PA an earpiece and let a VR Superfan dictate their actions as if they were an NPC. Allow your Host to get creative as a liaison between the cast and crew and audience. Post it all to social media and build your loyal superfans.

Future plans are to create a 360 live-streaming experience where fans can VR into a space and choose where to look. An umbrella over the 360 camera could have your logos and URLs.

The importance of a VR Superfan Host

The Host is a person assigned to the livestream camera, and has several responsibilities.

• In charge of placement of the camera, preferably on a tall stand with a heavy base.
• Knows set etiquette. Pays attention to the needs of the set, sensitive to people working and proper times to interact with cast and crew and when to be quiet during a take or safety meeting.
• Interacts with the Virtual Live Studio Audience by monitoring the chat via a tablet or phone. Acts as liaison between cast & crew and the virtual audience.
• Interacts with in-person VIP Guests, who might have won a contest to be on set, and helps them interact with the Virtual Live Studio Audience.
• MOST IMPORTANTLY: Understands the security needs of the production and doesn’t reveal secrets that are important to production, such as certain story elements. Production should think carefully about giving access to strangers and placement of camera. A starting place would be shooting in public where random passersby might also be watching and loading their own videos to social media.

How to subscribe your production to VR Superfan

We’re looking for productions who want to interact with audience and cross-promote with other projects. Too many indie films try to market and sell their projects alone. Why not commit to helping others and in so doing tap into a larger audience?

Send us a message and tell us about your project. We will ask for a thumbnail at least 500 pixels wide. Then you will set up your own landing page with a schedule of when you want your audience to participate in your process, and send us the link. Go ahead and schedule your livestreams and link them to your schedule, and update as you go. We will scrub all the schedules and create a daily updated list of upcoming opportunities for fans.

Instructions for creating a scheduled livestream

On the phone or tablet you intend to use, log into your YouTube account and click the Plus to create a livestream. Then click on the Pencil to edit, give your livestream a name, schedule for later when you intend to go live, and verify all other settings. Make sure you Select Audience for the legally required; “Is this video made for kids?”

Projecting into the future.

The goal of VR Superfan is to livestream from a 360 camera, so that audiences can zoom wherever they want to on set, and even use VR goggles to be a fully immersed Superfan. This could be a 360 camera that you purchase, or a rental from us that’s fully setup. Instructions for 360 live-streaming will come with the debut of the first 360 VR Superfan camera, which would include a cell data plan, long-life battery, and an umbrella to block out certain angles that could have your own URL and QR codes, etc.

At some point, a subscription fee will be requested, but hopefully VR Superfan proves to be a valuable add to your marketing budget. Please consider donating via the Donate Button, to help us with startup costs.