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Tech host Will Smith needs help funding his VR talk show
The tech journalist is looking for help funding the 5-episode first season of 'The Foo Show.'
News of tech journalist Will Smith's VR talk show broke in April and he's looking for help funding the first season. Smith has taken to Kickstarter to raise money for the The Foo Show's 5-episode affair that will debut on Oculus Home and Steam in December. After the premiere, the plan is to release two episodes in both January and February and the entire first season can be yours with a pledge of $20.
The Foo Show wants to use virtual reality to take viewers inside the world of film, video games and science. Each episode will interview creators from those disciplines from inside the experiences they've created. If you're familiar with Smith's work at Tested, you know what to expect here, only this time the videos should be way more interactive thanks to the addition of VR and 3D rendering.
Smith says he and the Foo crew have already built tools for the VR show that work similar to a regular video production studio. Since the workflow is already in place, new episodes can be recorded and released quickly. Smith sees this project as way to prove you don't need millions of dollars to produce a VR show. He says the cost per episode ranges from $5,000 to $20,000, depending on the amount of resources needed for building virtual sets, guest avatars and adapting art. Of course, there are travel and on-set personnel costs, too.
As we've already mentioned, the first episode of The Foo Show will premiere in December after the Kickstarter campaign ends. For now, you can catch an episode with Firewatch creators Campo Santo in VR right here.
