Company

A Yello Brick Road For The Mind's Eye

SOFTMACHINE is an award-winning, trendsetting ANIMATION STUDIO for 360° fulldome content, leading with over 10 years of expertise and experience in immersive storytelling.

SOFTMACHINE is a pioneer of 360° film production. SOFTMACHINE’s works have fundamentally shaped and influenced the way 360° films are produced. Founded in 2001 by Peter Popp, SOFTMACHINE consists of a group of skilled, creative individuals with backgrounds in film production and 3D animation. When ‘Kaluoka’Hina, the Enchanted Reef’ premiered in 2004 it was the first movie telling a story on the 360° screen. It has since become the most successful fulldome production worldwide, shown for over 10 years in numerous digital fulldome theaters around the globe.

SOFTMACHINE produces premium immersive content in 2D and 3D for digital cinemas, planetariums, science centers, entertainment parks and is now transferring its expertise to the production of VR experiences. Our works have been translated into more than 25 languages and are shown in over 55 countries all around the world. Producing films for a hemispheric canvass requires a different approach. With our many years of experience, we master the artistic and creative process of 360° film making: storytelling, editing, camera, sound, music.

Management

SOFTMACHINE is managed by producer, director, writer and composer Dr. Peter Popp.

As a young person he was mainly interested in creative work. He was painting, making short films and performed avant-garde music with his rock band.

After High School he studied Economics and Business Administration at the University in Regensburg. He became chair assistant and earned his PhD in Economics. With fellow students he founded an auditing company during this period.  After his PhD he completed a high level management training at a German jet engine manufacturer and became assistant to the commercial director.  Based on this experience he founded a film production company and is working in this field since then.

He is a visionary and multi-talented creative artist. With more than 20 years of experience he is an industry professional. His fulldome films have won AWARDS at numerous international fulldome film festivals. In addition to filmmaking is music his passion, having composed parts of the score to his films THE LIFE OF TREES as well as THE SECRETS OF GRAVITY. The scope of Peter’s creative work is a novel vision that raises awareness for new perspectives on life and nature. For over a decade Peter is pioneering 360° fulldome film-making. His innovative movies made a substantial contribution to the creative process of fulldome film production.

Over the years, he has founded production companies that have co-produced and co-financed films such as:

Dr. Peter Popp, CEO

Emir Kusturica’s “Underground”
(Golden Palm Cannes Filmfestival 1995)

“Stalin”
(with Robert Duvall and Maximilian Schell – a project which won 3 Golden Globes)

“Shooting Fish”
(with Kate Beckinsale and Stuart Townsend)

“You Stupid Man”
(with Milla Jovovich and William Baldwin)

Peter Popp produced, directed and wrote the 360° films:

‘Kaluoka’Hina, the Enchanted Reef’
Awards_KAL_klein

‘Realm of Light’
Awards_ROL_klein

‘Life of Trees’
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‘The Secrets of Gravity’
Awards_GRAV_klein

‘Shorty and the Legend of the Enchanted Reef’
KAL2_Awards_combined__black_lowRES

Education

SOFTMACHINE works with a passion for the planetarium and science center market. Our productions combine immersive education and entertainment. This turns out to be the most effective way to inspire children. To ensure scientific accuracy our shows are produced in cooperation with distinguished scientists.

Philosophy

Pioneering another immersive audio-visual dimension with a new scope of perception.

SOFTMACHINE produces impact movies that convey a message. Our intention is to create thought-provoking impulses, yet entertain to capture the audience’s imagination to inspire.

As an example: LIFE OF TREES shows in an enjoyable way how trees work while conveying the importance of environmental protection. By cooperating with the NGO plant-for-the-planet.com we plant 50 trees for every license sold and have already planted thousands of trees.

“Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all

living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty.”

Albert Einstein

SOFTMACHINE is partner of:

European Southern Observatory
Supernova
Astronomy Center

Goldener Spatz

Erfurt/Gera 2017

Fulldome Festival

Jena 2017

PLANit

Bolzano 2017

IPS  Conference

Toulouse 2018

Fulldome Festival

Brno 2017

Imiloa Filmfestival

British Association of Planetaria

IMERSA

Fulldome Film Festival Germany

Reef Distribution GmbH Munich

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