Today we’d like to introduce you to Emir Cerman.
Hi Emir, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
My name is Emir Cerman, and I am the Chief Creative Officer at ROTU Entertainment. My journey is a little unusual. I was born in Istanbul, Turkey, and as far as I can remember, I have always been interested in visual art and storytelling. In my early days, LEGO was the first tool I used to express my storytelling. I would also draw and split those drawings into different pieces to build worlds. I was an only child, so I think creating uncharted worlds and imaginary heroes was my way of escape.
My bottomless curiosity led me to discover the early versions of 3D Studio Max and Maya at a tradeshow circa 1999. I remember this feeling of uncontainable excitement because I had discovered a new avenue to explore the depths of my imagination. Back in the day, the only way you could learn these tools was through instruction manuals translated into Turkish. During those years, I discovered my other passion – film music. I started getting into music deeper and deeper, and one day, I picked up a guitar and tried to learn to play so I could play around the summer campfire.
After many years of trying to explore many musical instruments, I ended up falling in love with writing music. At this point, I knew I wanted to pursue this as a career, so I got introduced by a friend to this prestigious school of music called “Berklee College of Music.” I then knew this was the place I had to be. In 2007, I got to attend one of their auditions in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 3 months after the audition, I received the news that I got accepted to Berklee with a full scholarship. And then in January of 2008, my USA journey began. During my student years, I found myself surrounded by many talented musicians from all over the world, and that led me to create a new project called “Rhythm of the Universe.”
With the help of Jason Parks, one of my classmates at Berklee, I gathered 90 musicians from 90 countries to write a song called “Anthem for the World. This student project became the largest multicultural musical group in the world and led to giant sold-out live shows for many years, and we finally formed the company called ROTU Entertainment in 2012.
Since then, we have created many purpose-driven projects, like going to the Peruvian Amazon to film and write music to bring awareness to illegal gold mining and climate change. At that stage in my life, I was hungry for creating more ideas, and this was the point I started to write a new fantasy world idea based on music mythology.
We then knew that, as a team, we had something special, but we didn’t know how to introduce this universe to people. In 2016, we got to try HTC Vive for the first time. I remember so vividly leaving the room and saying that this is what we need to do. The biggest problem was none of us were game developers, but we all looked at each other and said, “Well, let’s go and figure it out!” This was full circle for me, and now, after all those years in the music industry, I’m back to playing with the 3D tools again.
Our team has a background stretching all the way from Live Entertainment to Virtual Production and Video Games. Back in 2011, we started producing live shows that gathered musicians from 90 different countries under one roof with the goal of creating one-of-a-kind live experiences. Since then, we have become an independent studio that creates VR games, immersive story-living experiences that inspire empathy and reinforce the power of taking action as well as expanded our network and visual art team to provide services for Stage and Virtual Productions using LED and projection walls and exploring the new stories for TV and Film.
Since 2015, with the expansion of Virtual Reality to larger audiences, we’ve begun producing immersive VR experiences for external parties and services. Starting to work with our partners at PlayStation, Epic Games, and Oculus, we launched successfully award-winning VR games like Ionia and Eolia on all platforms. Our Art Department has worked with notable companies in the gaming field, like Meta, Unity, Skymap Games, and Tigertron, to provide high-fidelity art resources for their projects to push the envelope further. And in 2023, we decided to open our doors to Hollywood, and partnering up with Orbital Virtual Studios has positioned us at the cutting edge of visual storytelling, redefining the very methods of filmmaking.
Our journey serves as a beacon of inspiration, showcasing the transformative power of determination, collaboration, and relentless innovation. From humble beginnings to the forefront of immersive storytelling and virtual production, my story exemplifies the potential within each of us to forge new paths and redefine the landscape of creativity.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It was far beyond of smooth :)) Struggles were, being a foreign in this country, when I arrived, I was barely speaking English and somehow, I got accepted to Berklee College of Music in Boston with full scholarship. So, I had to learn music education while I needed to learn an English and communicate :).. so that was issue number 1
but then, life challenges, financials, and the biggest thing is the determination. Because following your dreams can test you to your limits… you need to stay on course no matter what. just go one step at a time,
and you will find yourself the place you always dreamed off
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about ROTU Entertainment & Media?
This is a great video to Explain what ROTU do, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5RcOJSwuRU&ab_channel=ROTUEntertainmentandMediaLtd
To give you little deeper explanation.
Leap into the future of storytelling with ROTU Entertainment, your award-winning production partner. We level up film, ads, live shows, games, and more. Among our esteemed clientele are global giants like Tencent, Meta, Bethesda, and Mach49, alongside icons like Keanu Reeves and Adam Savage. Our backstory is pretty cool, too.
Think of the ROTU team as your “Creative Genies,” empowering creators of all kinds to venture fearlessly into the digital landscape, laying the foundation for tangible success.
We’re fusing cutting-edge real-time graphics with inventive optimization strategies. We disrupt, innovate, and transcend the ordinary with access to VP/MOCAP stages through our partners at Orbital Studios. Our vibrant, global network of developers, artists, and trailblazers puts an unrivaled spectrum of talent, creativity, and fresh innovation at your fingertips.
With ROTU, you’re not just engaging a service – you’re embarking on a journey to the pinnacle of digital innovation, where storytelling transcends known boundaries. Choose ROTU – be a part of the story that shapes tomorrow.
Instead of waiting weeks to see your creative vision come to life, we can often execute in days. These high-fidelity virtual sketches of characters, creatures, or entire worlds can help kickstart collaboration and maximize project creativity right from the beginning.
In addition to unbeatable iteration speed, we craft advanced systems for each project that cut down revision timelines and increase impact at every stage of the creative development process.
From real-time collaboration and revisions to pre-viz that could be shot as final viz, we are always pushing to make a creative impact at industry-leading speed.
Some of Our client list includes Disney, Epic Games, Meta, Microsoft, Sphere, Tencent, Playstation, Orbital Studios, Bethesda, HTC Vice, Unity.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Inspiring and motivating others makes me happy. I have my days like anybody, but I can almost day everything, waking up with a smile and excited for the day of my creative adventures. Curiosity keeps me going.
I also love discovering people’s hidden talents and helping bring them out, and I do my best to motivate them. I do love to see when others get inspired after seeing my work or listening to my music because it gives me the same strength each day while I’m working on it.
I guess safe to say,
Making other people happy is making me happy 🙂
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rotu.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emir_cerman/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotuentertainment/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emircerman/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmirCerman
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-5eZtqLvT9dXbuC_lqYC4Q
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/album/35xCWxkzWxXMg2h1mU8gfw
Image Credits
Wilder Herms
Xenia Helix Suarez
Noemi Santo
