NewImages XR Market Blazes International Trails

variety.com:

Ben Croll Running concurrent with the wider festival, NewImages’ mercantile section has become an event unto itself, hosting a global who’s who from the XR scene while helping in no small part to reshape the field.

As it stands to welcome nearly 250 participants – roughly half divided between market participants and heavyweight decision makers – this year’s fully in-person event should do little to reverse that trend. “We’re very international,” says XR market head Ellen Kuo. “With more than half of our participants coming from outside Europe, and with several coming from the U.K., Italy, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Poland, I call [our network] Paris beyond Paris.” Driving this year’s robust turnout are the XR Development Market for projects at earlier phases and the XR Art Fair for those winding down a festival run and looking for distribution – though, as it accounts for 70% of NewImages’ market activity, the development expo is clearly the bigger draw. “Coming here is the point of entry for non-European content producers,” Kuo explains. “Works-in-progress come to Paris because France is the number one country in terms of resources.

From accomplished producers to tech startups to smart distributors, France has the most developed immersive industry.” This year’s development market spotlights 45 projects selected by Kuo and her team, with the preponderance of titles coming from France, Taiwan and Canada reflecting the three countries where XR investment most flourishes.

As to other trends revealed by the various projects, NewImages organizers find a number of shared themes. “XR has always been used to tell stories that are not visible in mainstream content,” says project manager Manon Blot. “For example, we saw a