NexTech hires visual effects pioneer Dr Barry Sandrew to lead the company's foray into Hollywood

NexTech AR Solutions (CSE:NTAR) (OTCMKTS:NEXCF) is tapping the services of a Hollywood veteran to lead the augmented reality company’s foray into the entertainment business.

The New York- and Toronto-based company has hired Dr Barry Sandrew to take on the chief operating officer and executive producer role of AR Studios, which produces immersive augmented reality (AR) content.

Sandrew brings three decades of founding and leading visual effects production studios in Hollywood and has worked on 65 of the highest-grossing 3D feature films released over the past ten years.

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An inventor as well as an entrepreneur, Sandrew holds 34 patents in the visual effects vertical and is known as the original inventor of digital colourization of black and white films. He also pioneered work in converting two-dimensional feature films to 3D.

Sandrew and NexTech AR’s president Paul Duffy will collaborate on the buildout of Los Angeles-based AR Studios and its proprietary location-based entertainment venue, Presence.

“At NexTech we are building an innovative concept for immersive entertainment that I’ve been waiting almost a decade to materialize,” Sandrew said in a statement Thursday.

“Within AR Studios the technology, talent, and opportunity to create this new form of storytelling have converged into what promises to become a game changing entertainment venue.”

“Exciting work”

NexTech AR’s Duffy told shareholders that AR Studios could be the “most exciting and important work” that the augmented reality company achieves.

“Bringing Barry Sandrew’s entrepreneurial vision and technical expertise into the company will greatly expand NexTech’s value proposition as a leader and cutting-edge innovator in augmented reality,” Duffy said.

NexTech AR is known for its proprietary e-commerce platform, ARitize, which enables retailers to transform two-dimensional images into true 3D AR experiences for consumers.

AR Studios is expected to launch in the fourth-quarter 2019.

Contact Angela at [email protected]

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Story by ProactiveInvestors