BLACKTHORN ANNOUNCES CALIBAN BELOW: CHAPTER 7 OF THE ABBOT’S BOOK

“AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE THAT PLACES THE VIEWER INTO A KEY ROLE OF THE VR FILM”

Caliban Below is available free for download on Steam and Viveport and will be available on Oculus later this summer Blackthorn Media has released “Caliban Below: Chapter 7 Of The Abbots Book” a short story in room-scale VR.

This is the second installment of the virtual reality feature film franchise based on “The Abbots Book” by Michael Conelly and produced by the Academy Award winning VFX team from Blackthorn Media.

An Oculus release is planned for later in the summer. “The Abbot’s Book” is the story of a noble but conflicted family in rural Renaissance Italy who finds a mysterious book, exhumed from the catacombs beneath their estate.

The book’s promise of unearthly power upends an already broken family with each generation struggling to correct the misdeeds of its forebears. “Caliban Below” places the viewer into the role of a featured character who has been trapped for decades in the catacombs beneath this huge estate.

As the viewer explores, the character begins to remember a forgotten past and eventually the stunning realization of who they are and why they have been banished. In “Caliban Below,” the viewer roams freely and explores the immense ruins of a lost religion at their own pace.

Wherever the viewer goes there are characters to meet, and rich backstory to be found including family members and the remnants of a mysterious demigod who built the catacombs centuries before.

“A spiritual heir of Edgar Allen Poe and HP Lovecraft, ’Caliban Below’ is a story of secrets and regrets, and what happens when love is overpowered by avarice,” said Michael Conelly, President of Blackthorn Media and the creator of “The Abbots Book.” “We see the future of immersive storytelling as a way to go beyond what a two dimensional movie or TV program can do,” said Larry W. Jones a former senior executive at Viacom and the CEO of Blackthorn Media. “As an industry, we are raising a generation of people who will come to expect that all of their media will be interactive and immersive.

This is a unique time in entertainment to establish characters and worlds where consumers will build incredibly deep relationships that can only be originated and forged in a VR first environment.” The first installment of “The Abbots Book” debuted at Sundance Film Festival in 2016. In 2017, Blackthorn Media released “Dragonflight” direct to millions of consumers on Oculus, Viveport and Steam and is now distributed in hundreds of arcades around the country. Price and availability: A preview of a much larger project, Blackthorn Media’s “Caliban Below” is available for free download on Steam and Viveport platforms and will be available on Oculus later this summer.

Blackthorn Media is an independent Los Angeles based VR / AR Studio whose goal is to develop, create and produce a library of original IP scripted content utilizing the highest level the technology permits with cutting edge CGI. This means fully immersive interactive narratives with 6 degrees of freedom for high-end devices of today and the future. The creative team at Blackthorn is made up of industry leading CGI masters whose work has garnered six Academy Award nominations and one win. With decades of experience between them (all formerly of Rhythm & Hues), they have brought to life The Matrix, Hunger Games, Life of Pi, Narnia and Snow White & the Huntsman to name just a few.

Contact: Scott Acord 323-868-5981 scott@blackthorn-media.com @SDAcord