Digital Domain Media Group Brings High-End VFX to Sports Teams and Venues

Digital Domain Media Group has brought its expertise in high-end visual effects for feature films and advertising into the world of sports and event venues through a new initiative. The company announced the launch of its new venture this week at the IDEA Conference, the premiere conference for the event presentation industry. The company’s first productions resulting from this effort, created for the New York Mets, are playing now at Citi Field in New York and on MLB.com.

The 60-second piece, “Heads-Up-Display,” puts a sci-fi twist on a classic showdown. In it, a robo-superstar catcher shuts down the league’s fastest base stealer, using both his high-tech tools and raw athletic talent. It plays at the start of the games, with shorter versions running right after big plays to whip up crowds. “Heads-Up Display” is the first in a series of episodes featuring members of a futuristic Mets team engaged in exciting plays.

DDMG also created a nostalgic visual homage celebrating the Mets’ history. “Amazin’” combines archival historic photography and cutting-edge visual effects to bring Shea Stadium back to life. Both pieces were directed by DDMG’s Marc Dominic Rienzo.

Following the worldwide response to its work on “virtual” Tupac Shakur, the subsequent launch of its virtual performer business and the announcement with CORE Media Group that the company will create a virtual Elvis Presley, DDMG continues to expand into new areas. Through this effort, DDMG will help sports teams and venues create fan experiences that inspire and excite in new ways.

“We continue to roll out initiatives that bring our expertise in the creation of high-end visuals to new opportunities,” said DDMG CEO and chairman John Textor. “Whether it’s live concert stages, sports arenas and stadiums or training venues, we are seeing great demand for digital content that entertains and informs in new ways. In these pieces for sports teams, for example, we are creating whole new characters and worlds – assets that can be taken into videogames, action figures and transmedia of all kinds. The digital domain is truly a big place and we are just starting to explore it.”