Serkis Premieres XR Film 'Nevatars' at Venice Immersive — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Andy Serkis premiered "Nevatars" at Venice Immersive, a 30-minute XR narrative adventure co-directed with Josh Nelson Youssef of immersive studio Boona, about a young artist whose discarded creations escape a digital trash bin.
- The concept traces to 2011, when Serkis and Imaginarium co-founder Jonathan Cavendish first asked what happens to unused concept art — Google's 100 Zeroes division later approached the duo to adapt the story for the immersive format.
- The voice cast includes Daisy Ridley, Josh Gad, Kathleen Turner, Steve Zahn, Kelly Marie Tran, and Serkis himself.
- Originally built for the Android XR platform, "Nevatars" was tapped in April as one of the first titles for Google's XREAL Aura AR smart glasses — one of only two Aura-supported projects at this year's Venice Immersive.
- The Imaginarium's Phil Robertson described the experience as augmentation rather than escapism: "it surrounds you without shutting you off from the world behind a pair of goggles."
- Serkis and Cavendish plan to develop "Nevatars" as cross-media IP, with Cavendish saying Serkis "thinks in 4D while the rest of us think in 2D."
Why it matters: For Venice Immersive, "Nevatars" is one of only two titles showcased on Google's XREAL Aura AR glasses, giving the lightweight hardware its highest-profile creative launch to date. Serkis's pivot from performance capture into narrative XR positions The Imaginarium to develop "Nevatars" as cross-media IP, betting that story-driven immersive work can find audiences beyond traditional headset owners.
Ask SkimNews
