MAX | Immersive Documentary

Project: MAX | Immersive Documentary Client: Wheels America Agency: Groove Jones Production: Groove Jones Director / Creative Director: Karim Youssef Producer: Ashton Kennedy Camera / Immersive Capture: Henry Casillas Editorial: Henry Casillas, Karim Youssef Audio Engineer: Andrew Carman VP of Production: Gary Banks

MAX is an immersive documentary experience built around speed, pressure, and the physical reality of racing. Created for Wheels America with Groove Jones, the project places viewers inside the intensity of the track, using immersive capture to bring the sound, motion, texture, and adrenaline of motorsport into a more immediate cinematic form.

Primary Media

The teaser introduces the world of MAX as a high-octane immersive documentary, designed to feel less like watching from the sidelines and more like being pulled into the moment.

Teaser for the upcoming immersive documentary MAX.

Case Study

MAX was developed as an immersive documentary that brings the viewer closer to the world of racing: the preparation, the focus, the machinery, the speed, and the split-second tension that defines the track.

The creative direction focused on making the experience feel physical. Instead of presenting racing as a distant spectacle, the film was designed to put the audience inside the environment, close to the driver, the vehicle, and the sensory atmosphere surrounding the race.

Immersive capture played a central role in the storytelling. Camera placement, movement, perspective, and sound were approached as part of the documentary language, allowing the viewer to feel the scale and energy of the track from within the scene.

The teaser was shaped as a first look at the full documentary experience, building momentum through editorial rhythm, engine sound, track atmosphere, and intimate moments around the subject. The result is a preview of a larger immersive film designed to make racing feel immediate, visceral, and real.

“The goal was to make the experience feel so real you could almost smell the gasoline.” — Karim Youssef

The Documentary

The documentary follows Max Stallone through a race weekend of preparation, practice, qualifying, interviews, technical problem solving, and race-day pressure. The film captures a young driver in motion, balancing discipline, instinct, and trust in the machine.

Racing with Wheels America and PT Autosport, Max closed the season with a first-place result in Spec Miata, adding championship points and scholarship momentum before his professional debut at the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup.

Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup: https://www.mx-5cup.com

Immersive Direction

The project used immersive capture to place the audience inside the world of the film. Every perspective was considered as part of the storytelling: where the viewer stands, what they can feel around them, and how the racing environment unfolds in space.

Story and Tone

The documentary approach balances adrenaline with focus. MAX is not only about speed; it is about preparation, pressure, trust, and the human presence behind the machine.

Blackmagic Immersive Capture

Groove Jones captured the race weekend using the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive camera system, co-designed by Apple and Blackmagic Design for Apple Vision Pro. The system captures stereoscopic 3D immersive video designed for spatial viewing.

During practice and qualifying, the immersive camera was mounted directly to Max’s Spec Miata, placing the viewer in the car with the track opening ahead. On race day, the camera was also used trackside, giving the documentary both an intimate driver perspective and a broader sense of race-day environment.

Rigging, Stability, and Race-Day Reality

Mounting an immersive camera system to a race car created immediate challenges around vibration, safety, visibility, and repeatability. The production approach had to support cinematic presence while respecting the realities of race-day conditions.

Spatial Audio

Spatial audio helped the film carry the full environment of the track. Engine noise, wind, crew movement, and race ambience were captured as part of the documentary texture, giving the immersive visuals a physical sound field to live inside.

Apple Vision Pro, WebXR, and Immersive Viewing

The best way to experience MAX is through Apple Vision Pro. The immersive web delivery supports spatial browsing and WebXR, allowing Vision Pro users to launch the experience directly from a browser-based flow.

Apple Vision Pro / Spatial Browsing immersive link: https://www.groovejones.com/max-gpr

Orchestrated Immersive Media

The project also connects to Groove Jones’ Orchestrator platform for Apple Vision Pro demonstrations, a system designed to deliver synchronized immersive experiences across multiple headsets with centralized control.

Orchestrator platform: https://www.groovejones.com/orchestrator-platform-apple-vision-pro

Project Links

Original Groove Jones case study: https://www.groovejones.com/max-stallone-blackmagic-immersive-nasa-texas-toy-run-racing-video

MAX immersive experience: https://www.groovejones.com/max-gpr

YouTube version:

Full documentary coming June 2026.