Academy Award-winning production designer Rick Heinrichs has joined the Emmy-nominated production firm Fourth Wall Studios as its executive creative director, the company announced on Thursday.
Heinrichs will oversee visual design of all projects for the studio, which makes transmedia online videos for its proprietary RIDES.tv platform.
Transmedia tells a story across devices, seeking to further engage the viewer in the material. For example, a viewer watching a video on his or her computer via RIDES.tv can receive a text message or intercept a call from within the show.
“Rick has created some of the most amazing worlds in the history of film, and we are so excited to see him apply his vision to the next generation of storytelling,” Jim Stewartson, CEO and founder of Fourth Wall, said in a statement.
Heinrichs has worked with directors such as Tim Burton, Gore Verbinski and Ang Lee. He won an Academy Award for his work on Burton’s “Sleepy Hollow.”
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“The Ledge,” pictured above, Heinrichs’ directorial debut for Fourth Wall's series "The Gamblers," premiered Thursday on Fourth Wall’s RIDES.tv.
“Dirty Work,” another Fourth Wall production, recently received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media: Original Interactive Television Programming.
“Fourth Wall Studios is pioneering entertainment with RIDES.tv,” Heinrich said in a statement. “While others are focused on delivering the same traditional content on different devices, Fourth Wall Studios has created a platform that uses these devices to enhance and add dimension to narrative while engaging fans at a whole new level.”