This week in the interview we talk with the one, the only, Steve Boyle; CEO of Epic Immersive.

From immersive hackathons in Paris to swing dancing in Japanese internment camps, we cover a whole lot of ground! We start by discussing steve’s background which starts with performance education in Thailand, India, and Indonesia while attending NYU, and ends in the unexpected origins of Epic Immersive. We trace the line between producing 100 actor shows, creating immersive work in China, and starting a secretive immersive incubator in San Francisco. Finally, we land on the part speaker series, part video game experience that is the upcoming ‘This Immersive Globe’.

You can find the complete show notes and more details on the guests and experiences at this page on the Immersion Nation Website

This week in the interview, we talk with David and Lisa Sipra; the co-founders of Room Escape Artist, the most prolific publication covering escape rooms and the escape room industry.

We start by talking about Lisa and David’s first escape rooms and how Room Escape Artist (or REA for short) came to be. Next, we move on to discuss how escape rooms are contending with the COVID-19 pandemic. And finally, we go in-depth on the creation of the first annual RECON, or Reality Escape Convention, which has been meticulously designed to take advantage of the online medium.

You can find the complete show notes and more details on the guests and experiences at this page on the Immersion Nation Website

This week in the interview, we talk with two seasoned immersive performers, Amber Lawson, and Erik Abbot-Main. One who’s principle experience comes from immersive dance in New York City, and the other from interactive acting in Los Angeles. Their professional backgrounds couldn’t be more different, which makes the similarities in their tactics and strategies as immersive performers even more striking.

We discuss how they invite their audiences into the world of an experience. Contrast the disciplines of immersive dance and immersive acting. And finally, explore the mercurial and beautiful experience of performing immersive art both for and with an audience.

You can find the complete show notes and more details on the guests and experiences at this page on the Immersion Nation Website

This week in the interview we get some fresh perspective from outside the immersive community, talking  with Jorge Demoya and Julian Rodriguez about the virtual reality experience, The VOID.

We explore the delta between the reactions of a gamer and a non-gamer to this industry staple and go in-depth on ‘Ralph Breaks VR’. Finally, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the mixed VR and real-world experience that has made The VOID a leader in the immersive space. 

You can find the complete show notes, time markers, and more details on the guests and experiences at this page on the Immersion Nation Website

This week in the interview, we talk with Kendra Slack and Jordan Chlapecka of Linked Dance Theatre, a group based in New York City that creates immersive experiences that utilize a multitude of mediums in their work, but of course, emphasize dance.

We talk about: Their paths and how Linked Dance Theatre somewhat organically broke down that fourth wall. Their most recent in-person immersive experience, ‘Remembrance’. The adventure and challenge of creating ‘Remembrance’ on Governors Island, which is right off the south tip of Manhattan. We discuss the concept of creating an immersive experience in the world of Guillermo del Toro’s ‘The Shape of Water’. And, naturally, touch on a multitude of other topics, including a mid-20th-century group of artists and activists called the Situationists who could very well be considered the philosophical grandparents of the rising Experience Economy.

You can find the complete show notes and more details on the guests and experiences at this page on the Immersion Nation Website

This week in the interview we talk with experience designer Tommy Honton about finding hidden magic in the world and Tommy's origin story. The creation of Stash House, LA. Why the Los Angeles legislature is confused about immersive entertainment. The art of the 2nd or 3rd impression and how Tommy used his unique way of connecting with people to find his way onto the path of the professional immersive experience designer. And so much more.

Note: This is the first episode of season 2 and as such, we’re going to be doing things a little differently! -- Each episode will have 3 segments

First, a comprehensive explanation of the relevant experiences and an introduction of the guest. Second, the interview as always. Third, the Immersion Community Briefing, where we take a few minutes to discuss the happenings in the immersive world over the course of the last week.

This week there are two relevant experiences. First, being StashHouse and the second being The Museum of Selfies.


Visit the page for this podcast on the ImNation Site for complete show notes! 

The results are in!

For all of you who voted. Thank you so much for taking the time helping to help support both your favorite immersive experiences, creators, and the immersive community! On January 28th, we reached out to a myriad of wonderful immersive creators...

Now, 18 days and couple thousand votes later, we’re back to invoke the names of 2019’s most remarkable immersive experiences. These experiences, both the recipients and the and nominees of the Immersion Awards, helped move both the entire immersive community -and the immersive world as a whole- to a turning point in 2019. 

The immersive revolution, movement, wave? The Immersive Renaissance that is already shaping the entertainment landscape of 2020 was aided, in earnest, by these 16 experiences. 

Welcome to the 3rd and final part of this roundtable discussion on immersive entertainment and it impacts on the real world.

Joining us we have Caroline Murphy, Chief Creative Officer of Incantrix Productions. Jessica Creane, founder of IKANTKOAN Games. Justin Fyles, Co-founder and Managing Director of Any One Thing. And Risa Puno, creator of The Privilege of Escape and Creative Time’s first open call artist.

In this episode, we push out to the edges of reality and ask the question… What happens when we’re all creating immersive experiences for -and with- each other? When the line between the hyperreal and the surreal begins to blur into daily life?

I should say, it might be a little tricky to jump in here if you haven’t heard part 1 and or part 2 because here, the concrete cadence of the conversation begins to transmute into the white-hot liquid theory around this increasingly immersive world we live in.

Last time, we left off wondering how empathy, of all things, could be a destructive force. Well now, we talk about that- and how to avoid it. How to lend yourself to a shared moment in a way that respects the unimaginable experience of another person. All that, and so much more.

Selected Links:

• Caroline Murphy
• Incantrix Productions
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Sinking Ship Creations
    • Calculations
• Jessica Creane
• IKANTKOAN Games
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
    
    
• Justin Fyles
• Any One Thing
  • Souvenir
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
• Risa Puno
• The Privilege of Escape
  • Instagram 
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo

This is part two of the three-part roundtable discussion on the real-world impact of immersive entertainment. This, in many ways, is the perfect set of episodes to be airing now, because this is the time of year where many so many people, subcultures, and industries zoom out to look at the broader picture. Where have we come from? Where is this all going? And what in the world does this all mean anyway? Well, I can think of very few people who are more qualified to help lend some clarity to these questions for the immersive community in 2020.

Joining us we have Caroline Murphy, Chief Creative Officer of Incantrix Productions, Jessica Creane, founder of IKANTKOAN Games, Justin Fyles, Co-founder and Managing Director of Any One Thing, and Risa Puno, creator of The Privilege of Escape and Creative Time’s first open call artist.

If you’re jumping in here and want more context for our contemplative immersive creators, they all have their own episodes on the podcast. They also introduce themselves in the first episode.

Selected Links:

• Caroline Murphy
• Incantrix Productions
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
• Jessica Creane
• IKANTKOAN Games
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
• Justin Fyles
• Any One Thing
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
• Risa Puno
• The Privilege of Escape
  • Instagram 
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo

Mentioned:

• 2019 Immersion Awards: Nominations
• 2019 Immersion Awards: Voting
• Caroline’s Immersion Nation Podcast interview
• Jessica’s Immersion Nation Podcast interview
• Justin’s Immersion Nation Podcast interview 
• Risa’s Immersion Nation Podcast interview •pt 1
• Risa’s Immersion Nation Podcast interview •pt 2
• Mattie Bryce: game designer

Chapter Markers can be found here

This week we have not one but 4 truly phenomenal guests. This is the first part of a round table discussion on immersive entertainment and its relationship to real experiences and the real world. Caroline Murphy of 'Incantrix Productions', Jessica Creane of 'IKANTKOAN Games', Justin Fyles of 'Any One Thing', and Risa Puno of 'The Privilege of Escape' guide us in exactly the kind of thought-provoking, assumption challenging and nuanced conversation that we here at Immersion Nation think is vital for the beginning of any cultural movement.

The topics of identity, empathy, agency, trust, and diversity frame the dynamic perspectives of these creators. They work together to explore the intricacies inherent in creating experiences of depth and transformative potential for their audiences. Finally, the topic of what the future might hold for immersive entertainment speaks to both exciting and perilous potential for a world where immersive experiences are everywhere.

Selected Links:

• Caroline Murphy
• Incantrix Productions
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
• Jessica Creane
• IKANTKOAN Games
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
• Justin Fyles
• Any One Thing
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
• Risa Puno
• The Privilege of Escape
  • Instagram 
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo

Mentioned:
Odyssey Works

Show Notes:

• Introductions [1:59]
• Why Is immersive So impactful? [4:02]
• Transformation and a self-selecting audience [6:13]
• Removing adversarial context, choices, and identity [7:47]
• What happens when immersive is everywhere? Self-examination, and diversity [11:52]
• Daily immersive, scale, and intimacy [13:46]
• Tension between documentation and over systematization [16:10]
• Diversity, setting the tone, and developing trust with an audience [18:00]
• An airplane, a brand, and the 3rd rail of social justice issues [20:35]
• Audience psychology in immersive experiences [24:30]
• Designing Internal Experience and what’s next [28:50]

“Diversity of experiences and diversity of thought is so, so important. I think we’re at a place right now, where the more space we make right now, the more space there is going to be in the long run. We have the possibility of having a really exponential impact on that by taking great care” -Jessica Creane

In this episode, we talk about the 2019 immersion awards and take a look at the big picture of immersive entertainment in 2019. We revisit the concept of play with a few listeners of the podcast joining us to share their thoughts on the importance of play. Next, we discuss the potential future of immersive entertainment in 2020 and beyond. Finally, we end the show with the nominations for the 2019 immersion awards.

Selected Links:

2019 Immersion Awards Nominations
Reach out to Immersion Nation 

Jenny Weinbloom’s Talk at ID summit
Meow Wolf’s, Vince Kadlubek, on expansion plans
Discussion about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
Secret Cinema
Creating Evermore Park
The Void Experience
Amazon San Diego Comic-Con 2019 immersive activations

Show Notes:

Episode outline: 2019, The value of play, and 2020 [1:17]
On the 2019 Immersion Awards [3:00]
The immersive zeitgeist in 2019 [6:47]
Jenny Weinbloom, rehearsal for resistance, and Immersion as a catalyst for social change
[6:50]
In case you missed it: Immersive Headlines in 2019 [8:58]
Growth in immersive as a backdrop [12:58]
The Value of Play: Part 2 [14:58]
Listener’s thoughts on the value of play [15:23]
Play, risk, and experimentation [19:07]
Immersive in 2020 [21:31]
2019 Immersion Awards Nomination [24:37]

By now, we all know, It’s all about connection. 
So why am I coming back to this topic here? 

Because connection can be manifested in so many different ways. It struck me when going through the first section of this interview. It seems like the way Ross cultivates connection is by seeing a spark in someone else, and lending himself to that spark in order to meet that person where they are, to speak to that person in their language. Depending on what part of the immersive world you occupy, that might sound obvious…? But, to be able to do that on every level from the experience participant to the producing executive is, I think, pretty exceptional. Today we dig deeper into how this idea of connection works in every part of the immersive design process, from vetting collaborators to the money math of big brands. 

This is the second part of my conversation with immersive experience designer, Ross Tipograph but! It is okay to jump in here. (Though of course, I would suggest you listen to both.) For context: Ross was recently named on the Forbes 30 under 30 list for his work in experiential marketing and has worked on projects like the Amazon immersive experiences for the television shows The Expanse and Carnival Row at San Diego Comic-Con, in 2019. In his under 30 years, he’s been busy.


Selected Links:

• Ross Tipograph
• -Linkedin
• -Facebook
• -Instagram
• 8 Players
  
  
• Forbes 30 under 30
• Giant Spoon
• The aforementioned Amazon Activations:
  • The Expanse
  • Carnival Row
• Book: The Director’s Voice 
• Saint Anne’s warehouse
• Under the radar festival

Show Notes:

• “For guests walking out of one of your experiences, what kind of reactions are you looking for?” [2:57]
• The exclusivity of a shared moment: The good and the bad [4:21]
• If ross had one month to prepare someone for directing an immersive experience [6:54]
• 1- Reconnect with your why [7:23]
• 2- Get ready to work with actors [8:42]
• 3- Vet your collaborators [9:51]
• Preparing for collaboration [11:06]
• How Ross thinks about the macro of experiential and immersive [12:23]
• Why immersive makes sense for large brands [14:49]
• Making immersive viable, seeing the barrier clearly [17:13]
• Desperation and financially viability 101 [18:29]
• Excitement for the future [20:42]
• What needs to change; a fair but spicy take [22:35]
• Immersive about the here and now [24:21]
• Another alternative to nostalgia [25:55]
• A final note for creators [28:20]

We all have our superpowers. The set of unique experiences we have that make us uniquely suited for specific things. Often, our superpowers come from the combination of many different skills. 

Now, in our world, the world of immersive entertainment;  theater and marketing may seem like an obvious combination. But Ross is a perfect example of the way in which these skill sets can come together to become greater than the sum of their parts. Theater and Marketing, at their core, have one essential but elusive thing in common. Connection. In the next two episodes, we talk about how the combination of these two abilities led Ross Tipograph to found 8 players, work on 4 experiences for amazon studios, work with the experiential marketing powerhouse, Giant Spoon, and to represent the experiential and immersive world on the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2020

Selected Links:

Ross Tipograph
-Linkedin
-Facebook
-Instagram
8 Players

Forbes 30 under 30
Giant Spoon
HBO’s Sharp Objects
Windy City Playhouse
Influences and inspirations: Scream
Influences and inspirations: Haunted Mansion Ride
Book: The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering 
Book: How to operate a financially successful haunted house 
New York Immersive Night

Show Notes:

Ross’ chosen Fictional world to live in [2:44]
Why we rescheduled [4:32]
Ross awarded Forbes 30 Under 30 [6:02]
Ross Tipograph: Origins [7:29]
Disneyworld and the haunted mansion [9:20]
The 2013 turning point [11:00]
Creating 8 Players [13:40]
“Sometimes it takes busting open a door” [16:23]
Make it Immersive! Sharp Objects [20:00]
2 ways to make a small audience work [27:12]

To recap, last week we left off. Jeromy had gotten a call from a local bar/beer garden asking him to produce a Halloween season show for their upstairs space. They had a month to make this show, the rabbit cage, come together. 

We talk about this adventure in creation and how one could layer experiences together, in the make it immersive segment. Jeromy tells us about an experience he had with Sleep No More, and another where he was momentarily, and thrillingly convinced he was about to be abducted into an experience. Finally, Jeromy talks about the power of being seen and what could happen when an experience is bold enough to stretch the boundary of entertainment.

The ideas that make the foundation of what we do when we create, or go out to an immersive experience are becoming more common. The language of immersive [beat] is beginning to be adopted because whether you’re designing a set, a workplace, a school, or your living room, it applies. If you’re listening to this, you’re witnessing the edge of what is likely a profound shift in the way our culture thinks about shaping the world around us. [beat] And no matter what happens, there is one thing we can be sure about the future of immersive experience… 2020 is going to be wild. Enjoy 

Selected Links:

Dino Lion
-Facebook
-Instagram
The Rabbit Cage

Festival of Disruption
David Lynch
Sleep No More
Day for night festival
Sundance Film Festival

Grey Area, San Francisco
The 21 experience
Beta Theater
Alternate Reality Game
Overlook film festival

Show Notes:

•A month to create a show [4:03]
•All ideas beget other ideas [5:54]
•A brilliant spoiler (for The Rabbit Cage) [7:01]
•Make it immersive [8:47]
•The festival of disruption: Dino Lion Style [6:38]
•Immersive is…. [11:30]
•The in-between could also be an immersive experience! [15:25]
•A Sleep No More Story [16:10]
•An experience within an experience. Where the experience ends [18:31]
•A story about the twenty-one experience. “These guys are going to get out and bag me and throw me this van” [20:24]
•Jeromy Barber on exciting new things in immersive creation [23:01]
•“I want to make work that authentically knows people… There’s a lot of power in being known” [25:24]
•The lattice effect; on being a supportive structure [27:16]
•Being seen; when fiction looks at you [30:13]

In 2005, Jeromy Barber moved from New York City to a small town in Texas.

If Jeromy's life was a screenplay, and I was editing? I would probably advise the writer to make it just a touch less formulaic. It is fantastic. Jeromy has trained with the comedy monolith, Second City. Founded the improv focused Beta Theater in Houston and, of course, owns and operates Dinolion, a quote “Creative video house” which rocks the tagline “Projects we love with people we love.” and does everything from video marketing to, of course, immersive experience design. 

My read on The Dinolion brand, as a creative expression of Jeromy’s style, is bright and brash and I think can only really be described as brilliantly refined chaos. But that’s just my read on it, go check out their reel for yourself after the show; also, fantastic. 

Jeromy’s way of thinking about the creation of immersive experiences is incredibly innovative. So, again for you practicing or aspiring immersive creators out there, these two episodes will hopefully likely spark the same kind of curiosity and excitement that I walked away with. And for the immersive fans, adventurers, connoisseurs? Have you ever heard of a one-person immersive experience in a plane? 

Once again, fantastic.

Selected Links:

Dinolion
-Facebook
-Instagram
The Rabbit Cage

Beta Theater
Bill Callahan
David lynch
Festival of Disruption
Transcendental Meditation
Second City
The Steam Powered Hour
Pollok Texas
Lonely girl 15
Cassie is Watching
Alternate Reality Game
Overlook film festival
The Axelrad Beer Garden

Show Notes:

Jeromy’s fictional world [3:08]
What is Dinolion? [7:16]
The path from video to immersive [9:25]
New York to Texas & discovering ARG [10:42]
Consuming to create in a new medium [13:25]
Starting with easter eggs [14:34]
Cross-discipline: Video and immersive [17:18]
Video in immersive experience [19:14]
Spoilers and marketing for immersive productions [21:33]
The ONLY person who has said the marketing is easy and the complexity ceiling
[23:31]
The golden ratio of immersive: post-experience interest is a champagne problem. 
[26:23]
The draw to the haunt genera [28:14]
The inception of The Rabbit Cage [30:29]

This episode is brimming, overflowing even with tips and techniques for those who like to look behind the curtain. If you didn’t catch last week’s episode, it gives some background on our guest Niyia Mack’s experience producing and consulting on immersive experience design. 

This week, Niyia answers questions about creating immersive experiences when you’re not based in LA, New York, or Chicago, what she’s excited about in the changing world of immersive, and how it’s possible to make more intimate immersive productions financially viable. 

Whether or not you’re a creative in immersive entertainment, getting a window into the world of those who carefully craft experiences for others can be incredibly eye-opening to the end of understanding the ways in which the world around you might be changeable, designable, and resoundingly story-worthy. Enjoy

Selected Links:

Niyia Mack
Niyia Mack’s projects
Janell Langford’s Obsidiopolis
SXSW panel

Some of Niyia Mack’s work and collaborations:

Meow Wolf Denver
Delusion
Spy Brunch’s “Safehouse’
Speakeasy Society’s ‘Johnny cycle’
CoAct Production’s ‘Sideshow’
LEIA
Pasadena Playhouse

Show Notes:

Creating a space of safety [2:41]
Creating when you’re not in LA, NY, or Chicago [7:46]
Finding the community [11:17]
What Niyia is excited about in immersive? [12:48]
LARPing and immersive rookies [16:47]
Financially viable small shows [18:31]
Surprised by the effects of immersive [24:18]

How does it all come together? How does one take a multitude of moving parts; actors, and scripts, and settings, varying degrees of audience agency and assemble them into emotionally evocative experiences? 

If you are the creator, the producer, the director, the writer venturing into unknown territories; the prospect of working in a medium where you are intentionally giving the audience an opportunity to exert their own philistine agency on your creation… Might sound like an undisguised nightmare. 

But, as it turns out, there is some methodology to this and! A select few brilliant producers with more than a little experience in the subtle art of immersive experience. Niyia Mack is an LA-based producer and consultant who has worked with Meow Wolf, Safehouse 77’, and 82’, Delusion, and CoAct Productions to name just a few. Niyia is here to share her experience creating in the immersive realm with all of you.


Selected Links

Niyia Mack
Niyia Mack’s projects

Janell Langford’s Obsidiopolis
SXSW panel

Some of Niyia’s work and collaborations:
Meow Wolf Denver
Delusion
Spy Brunch’s “Safehouse’
Speakeasy Society’s ‘Johnny cycle’
CoAct Production’s ‘Sideshow’
LEIA
Pasadena Playhouse

What is immersive entertainment? Oh my word, does anybody know?? When someone asks you what you did Saturday night, what is the 2 second explanation? I went to see this movie, I went to dinner at x place, I went to this concert. These work because everyone knows what the movie, dinner, the concert experience is. The experience is the medium, the method of communication. You don’t have to work to come up with that mental image. 

This reeeeally doesn’t work with immersive entertainment, which puts Immersion Nation, and our guest in a genuinely difficult position. Because we’re both on a mutual mission to explain the unexplainable. Our guest is the founder of No Proscenium, an immersive entertainment publication and hotbed of wisdom and support for the immersive community. Noah Nelson is here to help you and me understand why Immersive entertainment is so hard to define, and ultimately, why that might not event the goal we should be trying for.

Selected Links:

No Proscenium
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook

Everything Immersive Facebook Group
No Proscenium Podcast

HERE summit
The Rendon
Vampire of the masquerade
Jay Bushman
Sarah Thacher
Candle House Collective
Dead Play

Show Notes:

HERE summit [2:39]
Immersive music proper [3:10]
Chosen fictional world [8:43]
Wreck it Ralph Breaks VR [12:11]
*Spoiler* Into the Spider Verse [13:43]
The ‘I’ word: Immersive [15:26]
The Transmedia wars [17:04]
The Origins of Noah the Nelson [20:04]
“What I like about the field right now… What I worry about” [21:32]
What is immersive? real for just a moment [22:57]
The medium doesn’t matter [24:07]
Lowering the impedance[27:22]

Now this is where things change. One small group of people, one small room, one unexpectedly vulnerable interaction at a time. And it’s not easy. It’s hard to just be present, let alone open up to strangers.

And this is where Siobhan comes in. Someone who can take something serious, and turn it into laughter. Someone who can take something that is so hard to explain, a performance in a bathroom? And not leave you feeling like it makes sense, but like it’s the only thing that makes sense. Siobhan O’Loughlin has crafted and refined and created something in Broken Bone Bathtub that redefines what immersive entertainment can be. 

What is Broken Bone Bathtub?

Broken Bone Bathtub is an immersive theater experience performed -typically- for a small group, in a bathroom.  Siobhan O’Loughlin casts the audience as close friends, letting her borrow their bathtub after breaking her hand in a bicycle accident. In the name of keeping her cast dry, and finding some much needed human connection, she hops in the tub; over the course of the 60-90 minute performance, she interacts with the audience in a way that perfectly walks the line between the topical gravity of the story and the situational levity of the scenario. 

Selected Links:

Siobhan O’loughlin
Broken Bone Bathtub
-Instagram
-Facebook
-Twitter

Press and reviews of Broken Bone Bathtub through the years. 
Siobhan’s Patreon
Siobhan’s Moth Grandslam and other videos

-*Editorial favorite from clips in above link is ‘Every Time I Try’

Show Notes:

Siobahn’s fictional world: artistic renaissance [4:23]
Are Patreon and crowdfunding platforms helping? [6:26]
What is Broken Bone Bathtub? [10:55]
Vulnerability and beginning the bath [15:00]
Japan to LA, meeting the audience where they’re at [19:53]
Spacial improv and staying on your toes [22:44]
The language barrier in immersive performance [24:12]
Moving with and through cultural barriers [26:05]
The impact of immersive experience [28:25]
Building the immersive community [30:55]

We often think of people as so individual, so removed from their context. As individuals.  But try as we might, we are.. the constantly shifting point that sits at the intersection of our internal identity and our external environment.  

And if you think about the curve of human history, this fact has been the point *pause* of thousands of years of frustration. It’s a little bit of an adversarial  relationship. Most of what we categorize as necessities, clothing, shelter, access to clean water are acts of environmental design

But on this episode, we’re discussing how this is changing. How shaping an external environment can enable changes in our internal environment, rather than prevent them. This is part two of a conversation with Risa Puno, creator of The Privilege of escape. An escape room, that uses environmental design to explore the concept of privilege.

This portion of the conversation is by itself fantastic and illuminating and illustrative but if you find yourself wanting to know a little more about the context of the piece, you should go check out the first part of the interview, episode 23 which you can find wherever you might be listening right now. Beyond that, I hope you enjoy this window into the world of escape rooms, social dynamics, and the way our environment shapes our awareness. 

Selected Links:
The Privilege of Escape

Risa Puno
•@risapuno
•On twitter
•On Vimeo

Creative time
-Sugar Sphinx
-Pigeon lights performance

The Onassis foundation
The olympic tower building
On Post Game Frothing

Show Notes:

The original room design [2:37]
Harvesting spines, you know, the usual [3:42]
The concept of neutral authority [4:14]
The issue of provoking thought [5:26]
The puzzles and the flow and easter eggs [7:20]
Escape room life: Confusion and frustration [9:43]
Privilege is everything you don’t have to deal with [12:23]
Hacking empathy [16:19]
You have to listen [17:04]
Part refrigerator, part escape room [19:10]

The word ‘soundscape’ seems to get lobbed around haphazardly, kind of like a half deflated football picked up out of a sense of obligation around the Thanksgiving season. However, the idea of a ‘soundscape’ seems to have a bit more vigor when applied more literally to an immersive experience. Especially when the lens -or maybe more appropriately, the voicing- of an immersive experience, the original impetus, comes from a musician.

Someone who’s first artistic language is not visual. Andrew Hoepfner, the prolific and determinately resourceful creator of House World, Bottom of the Ocean, Waves, and co-creator of Whisperloge, approaches immersive experience design in exactly this way.

Sound and music are not just another layer in Andrew’s experience composition, but rather are the core, the engine that overtly drives much of what he creates. Right now, Andrew Hoepfner is hard at work in his Brooklyn creative space, Gymnopedie and preparing for the next iteration of the show, Bottom of the Ocean in December. More immediately, he joins us to discuss his path into and through the world of immersion.

Selected Links:

Waves
Gymnopedie
Houseworld
-Instagram
-Facebook
-Twitter

Whisperlodge

Show Notes:

Fictional world Andrew wants to live in [2:53]
Emotional dynamic range [4:33]
Creating the opportunity for peak experiences [6:09]
House World, Whisperlodge, BOTO, and Waves [7:49]
Curious origins of immersive interaction [10:33]
The path from Michigan to NYC [13:55]
When life gives you a 25 room mansion... [15:49]
Melinda Lauw, and new things for Whisperlodge [20:01]

This is a season of the surreal.
On some certain,  inexplicable terms we find ourselves drawn to the ethereal, the supernatural, the unknown, and the misunderstood. At the intersection of all these things lies The Cutting Room Floor.

The Cutting Room Floor is not a traditional haunt, no. This show lends a seasonally appropriate levity and exaggeration to the topics of regret and possession. There are ghosts, there are aliens, there is the Aurora Fox theater, but most importantly, there is Patrick Mueller, the artistic director of Control Group Productions with us right here, right now, to talk about this spooky season experience in Denver. 

Selected Links:

Cutting Room Floor
Aggregate Immateriality

Control Group Productions
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter

Joseph Campbell: Art and religion (interview)
Denver Center for the Performing Arts
Third Rail Projects
Sweet and lucky
Tension experiences

Show Notes:

• Fictional or fantasy world [2:58]
• What is the Cutting Room Floor? [5:57]
• What is real world scary [8:00]
• The key concept is possession [9:21]
• So, What about regret? [11:36]
• Deadly serious [14:17]
• Unexpected audience interaction [18:01]
• A misunderstanding of immersion [22:28]
• Prepare your non-immersive savvy friends [27:29]
• Patricks’ experiences with immersion [28:45]
• Working with Third Rail Projects [31:06]
• Colorado Style immersive [32:41]
• Make it immersive [39:14]
• Playing with physics [40:29]
• Control Group’s Creative workflow [43:48]
• Considering tactics and wind tunnels [44:21]
• Changing from Sweet and lucky [48:43]
• Being handed the keys to the jeep of immersion [53:08]
• Immersive bus tour and other upcoming work [54:35]