Boxing legend story among IP deals signed by Manchester’s Virtual Reality Associates

Virtual Reality Associates (VRA), the Manchester-based VR studio, has put pen to paper on three intellectual property deals in three days.

The company, founded in September last year, said it now plans to tell the story of late Moss Side boxing trainer Phil Martin, explore ‘brain hacking’ with an original drama series and launch a racing e-sport – all through the power of emerging VR technology.

VRA founder and chief exec Nathan Newman said: “It’s an exciting privilege to attach such projects, talent and cerebral concepts to the studio.

“The VR sector is continuing to build momentum and attract serious investment and we can’t wait to further develop our plans.”

Moss Side resident Adam Alti, a development associate and screenwriter at VRA, secured the rights for the Phil Martin feature through his son, Mario Martin.

Self-taught boxing trainer Phil set up a gym called Champs Camp in 1981, at a time when community tensions ran high in the build up to the Moss Side riots of that same year.

He went on to develop five champion boxers in the 1980s and ’90s, before his death to cancer in 1994.

VRA’s Adam Alti commented: “It’s incredible that a story like this that’s been so important to Moss Side and Manchester is little known.

“We plan to use VR to take audiences back to the Moss Side riots, the old title fights, the drama, the training, the 80s Moss Side life and more importantly put them right into the mindset of Phil Martin.”

He added: “This isn’t going to be a boxing film filled with montages and slow mo, that’s for sure.”

The company’s new VR series, meanwhile, will be an original alternate reality drama created by Gregg Housh, who worked on TV’s House of Cards and Mr Robot, and Joe Fionda, best known for his work on Hacker Wars.

Discussing the deal, Nathan Newman said: “Gregg and Joe created a concept with depth and meaning, and quickly planned out five seasons and a way to tell stories in VR that was irresistible to our team. We had to pick up the show.”

While full details of the e-sports rights VRA picked up are yet to be revealed, Nathan said the firm plans to broadcast the sport to mobile VR headsets in two years’ time.

VRA has started development work on all three projects and will make further announcements later this year.

Nathan added: “Manchester and the North are quickly becoming the place to be for VR, and we’re thrilled to be part of that story.”

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