Inaugural Project Is A VR Experience for Sony Pictures' "Can You Walk The Walk?" to Support Robert Zemeckis' Highly Anticipated Motion Picture "The Walk"

CULVER CITY, Calif., July 7, 2015 — (PRNewswire) — Create Advertising Group, one of the world's most accomplished and specialized boutique creative services agencies, has launched a new division CreateVR, dedicated to developing branded, state-of-the-art virtual reality experiences, it was announced today by David Stern, Owner and Founder of Create Advertising Group, and Jonathan Gitlin, Partner and President of Television and Gaming for Create.

CreateVR will work with a wide range of entertainment clients as marketers embrace virtual reality to create innovative and organic brand extensions utilizing the next generation in enhanced story-telling technology. 

CreateVR unveiled its inaugural project, "Can You Walk The Walk?," an effective tie-in to the upcoming film The Walk, directed by legendary filmmaker Robert Zemeckis, during the Summer of Sony event that was hosted for invited media last month in Cancun, Mexico.  The experience was also presented to those who attended CineEurope late last month in Barcelona. 

The immersive virtual experience invites users to simulate Philippe Petit's historic high-wire walk between the towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.  Petit trained for years to make his 'coup' possible; now virtual reality has made such a feat possible for the rest of us.  

"We believe virtual reality has the potential to become the next great marketing frontier," said David Stern, founder of Create Advertising Group. "Our job is to relate a brand to the VR world in an experience that feels organic and true to the source material.  We are creating virtual environments that double as innovative brand extensions. Once consumers have had a VR experience based around a specific project or brand -- they are invested -- they've had a personal experience and their relationship with the material is forever changed. It is as powerful a hook as we have ever seen."

Added Gitlin, "We could not be more challenged or amazed by the vivid and true-to-life worlds that we are able to create or re-create in virtual reality."

Said Jake Black, head of motion graphics and virtual reality for CreateVR and team leader on the "Can You Walk The Walk?" experience, "As virtual reality platforms like Project Morpheus begin to roll out in the coming year or two at a price point attractive to consumers, the applications for this extraordinary new technology, especially among our entertainment, branding and gaming clients, will continue to grow. It was amazing watching press and everyday consumers finally getting a chance to experience 'Can You Walk The Walk?' and we are already talking to clients about our next applications."

To launch the division, CreateVR has turned to a team of highly-skilled technologists, marketers and gaming industry veterans including Black, Tom Ham, and Dan Pfister.

About David Stern

David Stern is the Founder and President of Create Advertising Group located in Culver City, CA and London, UK. Established in January of 2005, Create is a postproduction editorial company specializing in the crafting of cutting edge audio-visual promotional material (trailers, TV, branding campaigns, and now VR experiences) to support the launch of feature films, DVDs, video games and television series.  Stern has grown Create to over 30 Final Cut/Premiere edit bays and a booming Graphics department, as well as a London office opened in 2009.

Current and past projects include Fantastic Four, Get Hard, Avengers Age of Ultron, Netflix, Goosebumps, Hotel Transylvania 2, Minions, The Walk, and The Lego Movie, to name a few.

Stern's entree into the entertainment arena came through Young & Rubicam Advertising, where he served as Vice President, Account Director, for the Los Angeles Entertainment Division; having transferred from Y&R's New York office in account management roles. Later, Stern held the position of Senior Vice President, Producer/Business Development for Intralink Graphic Film Design for ten years.  Intralink produced advertising material to support theatrical projects. Stern has a Masters of Business Administration from Columbia University and a Bachelors of Business from Emory University.

About Jonathan Gitlin

Known for crafting memorable campaigns, Jonathan Gitlin's creative leadership has helped expand Create Advertising's portfolio into television and gaming. For television, Create has produced memorable trailers and spots for some of the most daring and creatively ambitious programs on the air, among them "Sons of Anarchy," "Orange is the New Black," "Fargo," "Manhattan," and "The Americans." In the gaming arena, the company has become equally well known for innovative ads launching mega hits such as "Dark Souls II," "God of War 3," "Twisted Metal," "Just Dance 4," as well as the console debut of PlayStation 4.

Additionally, its branding division has worked closely with market leaders such as Netflix, Machinima, the BBC and Sony PlayStation.

About Jake Black

Jake Black oversees all of the creative aspects for the company's motion graphics and virtual reality projects. Black's in-depth knowledge of motion graphics, gaming, and the latest advances in virtual reality technology have helped Create to organically grow into this new arena.

Black began his career in entertainment at Create Advertising in 2006 as a Production Assistant. He has held numerous positions at Create including Designer, Post Production Supervisor, Associate Creative Director as well as Creative Director. He has been integral to marketing campaigns for franchises and projects including The Amazing Spider-Man, PlayStation 4, "God of War," "Dark Souls 2," "Just Dance," and Alice In Wonderland. 

Black was part of the award-winning team at Create Advertising that received Golden Trailer Awards for best motion graphics for the film adaption of "Hitman."   

About Tom Ham 

Tom Ham recently joined CreateVR to help expand growth in the gaming and virtual reality-based businesses.

Most recently, Ham was Head of Publisher Relations at Machinima, the leading multi-channel network (MCN) that specializes in gaming related content distributed across several platforms including YouTube, mobile and Xbox.  During his tenure at Machinima, he oversaw games programming for Machinima Realm, Machinima Respawn and the Xbox App Teams. Most recently he was an integral part of the highly successful "Early Access" program where top YouTubers are able to access highly anticipated games prior to their actual launch.

A recognized media pundit well known for his reviews of video games and observations of the industry, Ham began his career as a game reviewer for one of the nation's most esteemed newspapers, The Washington Post. He also reviewed games for CNET's Gamecenter and Ziff-Davis' GameSpot. He has been a regular contributor to USA Today, Newsweek and The New York Daily News. And his opinions and reviews have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, Details, Maxim, Playboy, Next Generation, Electronic Gaming Monthly and GamePro.

About Dan Pfister

Dan Pfister, producer of gaming and virtual reality at Create Advertising Group, oversees projects in the gaming and virtual reality departments.  Pfister began his career in advertising at Razorfish, working on digital media strategy for both Apple and Nike.  He made the move from San Francisco to Los Angeles and began at Create Advertising in 2008 as a Production Assistant. He has grown with the company and has helped diversify Create's portfolio of work by pushing new business in gaming, branding and television. 

He has been an integral part of the creative team for franchises and brands including PlayStation 4, "Little Big Planet," "Twisted Metal," DTS, PlayStation Vita, "Dark Souls 2," "Just Dance," and "Need For Speed."