COSM STUDIOS ANNOUNCES DEAL WITH BAOBAB STUDIOS TO BRING 'NAMOO', ERICK OH's ACCLAIMED ANIMATED SHORT FILM, TO PLANETARIUM AND FULLDOME THEATERS GLOBALLY

NEW YORK, March 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cosm Studios announced it will enter an exclusive agreement with Baobab Studios to distribute Erick Oh's acclaimed animated short, Namoo, to planetariums and fulldome theaters around the world.  Baobab Studios has created a 360 fulldome experience adapted from the VR version of Namoo for Cosm.

NAMOO is a narrative poem brought to life through hand-crafted animation. Inspired by the passing of the director's grandfather, NAMOO – which translates to "tree" in Korean – follows the beautiful and heartbreaking moments of a man's life, from beginning to end. It was written and directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Erick Oh (OPERA) and marks his most personal and ambitious work to date. The film was produced by nine-time Emmy Award-winning Baobab Studios, executive produced by John Cho and produced by Larry Cutler, Eric Darnell, Maureen Fan, and Kane Lee.  The film was named one of the 15 shortlisted films by the Academy, was nominated for two Annie Awards, was named Best Animated Short from the 2022 Gold List Awards, and was nominated for a Producers Guild of America (PGA) Innovation Award. The theatrical version of the short has been acquired by Warner 150 and is now streaming on HBO Max, and the VR experience is currently available on Oculus Quest.

Cosm Studios is a part of Cosm,  established in 2020, the fusion of Evans & Sutherland, Spitz Inc., and Cosm Immersive  (formerly LiveLike VR) to form a global experiential technology company uniquely qualified to deliver the best in immersive entertainment.  More recently, Cosm launched Cosm Studios to create, produce, and distribute immersive films, tapping both emerging and veteran content creators.

Cosm's Experience Center in Salt Lake City showcases the company's immersive experience expertise on a 20-meter LED Dome in stunning 8K resolution.  This technology allows customers to come together – for the first time – in the same physical space while enjoying a virtual experience without a headset.  This merging of the physical and virtual experience is called Shared Reality, and sets the pace for the future of immersive entertainment.

"Baobab is one of the most respected animation studios in our industry," said Neil Carty, Head of Cosm Studios.  "These creative content producers are known for their immersive storytelling and diverse characters. We look forward to our collaboration as we bring Namoo out of the headset and into planetariums and fulldome theaters where audiences will have an opportunity to experience the film together in 360 for the first time."

 "The vision Baobab shares with Cosm to uniquely transform Namoo for planetariums and domes around the entire globe marries our love of both the theatrical and immersive collective viewing experiences in the most awe-inspiring way we can imagine as filmmakers," said Kane Lee, Baobab Studios' Head of Content. "We couldn't be more excited to kick off our collaboration with Cosm than with a project that at its core not only embraces art and innovation, but the full human experience."

About Cosm
Cosm, a global experiential media and immersive technology company, provides a full stack experience solution including the physical design, engineering, and manufacturing; as well as the software, display engine, and content production to deliver immersive experiences at scale. Our technology redefines the way people experience content across three primary markets: Sports and Entertainment, Science and Education, and Parks and Attractions.

This convergence of real and virtual worlds is on display today at the Cosm Experience Center in Salt Lake City.  There, you can see and feel Shared Reality, our brand of immersive experience, showcased on a 20-meter LED Dome's 5,000 square foot display in stunning 8K resolution – with 29.5 million pixels shining 10x brighter than the best digital cinematic display.

About Baobab Studios
Founded by Maureen Fan, Eric Darnell, and Larry Cutler in 2015, nine-time Emmy^® Award-winning Baobab Studios is the world's leading independent interactive animation studio. With a mission to inspire you to dream and bring out your sense of wonder by making you matter, Baobab Studios has released eight projects to date — INVASION!; ASTEROIDS!; JACK CROW: THE LEGEND; BONFIRE; BABA YAGA; PAPER BIRDS; and NAMOO — all to critical acclaim and commercial success. Named Fast Company's 2018 Most Innovative Company, its awarding winning works (traditional, VR, and AR) have been viewed millions of times and have starred such diverse talents as John Legend, Oprah, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Hudson, Glenn Close, Daisy Ridley, Constance Wu, Diego Luna, Liza Koshy, Tye Sheridan, Elizabeth Banks, Ethan Hawke, Lupita Nyong'o, Ali Wong and Edward Norton. The studio's IP is currently being adapted into books (MacMillan, Penguin Random House), film (Roth/Kirsch, Disney), original series with the premium streamers, and games. Recently the studio announced a deal with Disney+ to develop an animated anthology series called THE WITCHVERSE, based on the Emmy-winning VR short film, BABA YAGA.

Social Handles
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook @baobabstudios
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook @experiencecosm

Press Contacts:
Baobab Studios
Fumi Kitahara
[email protected]

Cosm Studios
Neil Carty
[email protected]

SOURCE Cosm Studios