Joel Newton


Joel Newton is a producer and director and the co-founder of immersive entertainment company CityLights. He is best known for his contribution to the virtual reality experiences ' and ', both of which gained significant attention from the media and went on to secure multiple awards/nominations for landmark feats within the virtual reality industry.

Career

Newton began his career in Hollywood representing writers and directors and also producing films, including The Kids Are All Right, which won Best Picture at the Golden Globes and received four Academy Award Nominations. Newton was also a producer on LUV, which premiered at Sundance, starring Common, and he was an Executive Producer on Raising A Ruckus.
Newton went on to co-found The Virtual Reality Company with Robert Stromberg, Guy Primus, and Chris Edwards. Steven Spielberg was among the company's early advisors. Together with director Ridley Scott, they developed The Martian VR Experience in 2016, which went on to win a prestigious Cannes Lion award.
In 2018, Newton co-founded CityLights. CityLights acquired Executive Producer Darren Aronofsky’s “Spheres,” the space-themed narrative three-piece series that debuted at Sundance and won the Grand Prix at the Venice International Film Festival. It was also the first-ever VR project to screen at Telluride Film Festival. In January 2019, Newton produced a sold out Spheres Pop-Up at Rockefeller Center. Newton was also recently announced as a producer on The MVP Experience, an extended reality project featuring NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes, in which fans can put on a VR headset and be transported into the shoes of the star quarterback.
Newton's directorial debut was the multi-million dollar virtual reality experience,, which was created and produced by CityLights and debuted as part of the record-breaking King Tut museum exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery in London on November 1, 2019.