This week on the show it’s a hangout show as members of the NoPro Review Crew — namely Toronto curator Katrina Lat, New York correspondent Nicholas Fortugno, our associate producer Parker Sela, and catching up part way through NYC curator Allie Marotta as we chat about a whole lot of things including the brisk sales on Masquerade — that’s the immersive Phantom of the Opera that goes into previews next month, Tribeca Immersive, Voidspace Live, and whatever else tickles our fancy.

• Masquerade
• Tribeca Immersive
• Voidspace Live
• Toronto Fringe
• Fairyland Summer Solstice Ceremony at the Apothecary
• The Next Stage Immersive Summit

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This week on the show we’re joined by long time friend of the show Brent Bushnell — co-founder of Two Bit Circus, scion of the famed Bushnell family, and one of the earliest subscribers to the No Proscenium newsletter — who is here to talk about a new venture he is a co-founder of along with Aidan Wolf and Kevin Habich — DeamPark which turns mixed reality headsets into a configurable virtual theme park — transforming public spaces into ticketed playgrounds filled with dynamic virtual characters and which recently raised over a million in seed funding.

• DreamPark
• DreamPark raises $1.1M to transform real-world spaces into mixed-reality theme parks (Games Beat)
• The Next Stage Immersive Summit Program Guide
• The Next Stage Immersive Sumit Badges

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Another Detour into the world of Star Wars as storyteller extraordinaire Jay Bushman joins NoPro host Noah Nelson to dive into the incredible third arc of Andor's second season.

• Detour: Jay & Noah Talk Andor Season One
• Who's The Bossk: Episode 224: Lonni, You're Out of Your Element with Noah J. Nelson
• Pros & Cons Season 2
• Aaron Burr's Farewell Address
• Night Drive - Synthwave Cyberpunk by Elysium Sound

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PostCurious founder and lead game designer Rita Orlov is joined by writer Lauren Bello (Apple TV's Foundation, Netflix's Sandman) who talk about their collaboration on Threads of Fate, the revised version of PostCurious' very first game The Tale of Ord. Chicago Curator & Remote Experiences Editor Patrick McLean guest hosts.

• PostCurious
• Threads of Fate
• The Morrison Game Factory
• “Transformational Experiences” Are The New Buzzword, But Are You Making Change Or Just Selling It?
• The City, Burned: Immersive in a Era of Radical Change (Op-Ed)
• NoPro’s 10 Most Anticipated New Works of 2023 (Part II)
• NoPro on THREADS

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Eric Garcia, creator of WE BUILD HOUSES HERE and co-director of San Francisco's Detour devised dance company is interviewed by Parker Sela about the immersive dance production that explores the idea of queer sanctuaries by combining shipwrecks and San Francisco's iconic OASIS drag nightclub.

Then stick around for the missing part of last week's show.

• DETOUR DANCE
• WE BUILD HOUSES HERE
• NoPro’s 10 Most Anticipated New Works of 2023 (Part II)
• Stoking Vegas’ Immersive Flame: Lost Spirits Distillery (Review)
• Denver Fringe 2023 Immersive Superlatives
• Review Rundown: The One With Magic & Multiverses

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This week: a DOUBLE FEATURE.

First: our good friend Monica Miklas joins us to talk about a career arc that has taken her from indie work at the Hollywood Fringe Festival to being a senior manager of creative direction at RWS Entertainment, one of the biggest themed entertainment companies in the world, working on everything from haunts to cruise ships.

Then we take a leap over into the digital realm and talk with Clement Deneux and Michael Masukawa of Atlas V about MONSTRORAMA, a Tribeca Immersive selection that truly delighted me this month.

SHOW NOTES

• RWS Entertainment
• Capital W
• Atlas V
• MONSTRORAMA

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This week a true rarity — a SEQUEL. This week we’re following up last week’s minisode with a conversation with my former colleague — entrepreneur and technologist — Kurt Collins about just what Apple is really up to with the Vision Pro.

• Kurt Collins on Bluesky
• No Proscenium on Bluesky
• Noah J. Nelson on Bluesky
• Meow Wolf's The Real Unreal (Grapevine, Texas)

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This week, as we catch our breath after The Next Stage, host Noah Nelson shares his impressions – and concerns – about the Apple Vision Pro announcement and then pivots to talk about two pieces in this year's Tribeca Immersive – The Pirate Queen: A Forgotten Legend and MONSTRORAMA – both of which are being showcased this at the festival through June 17th.

SHOW NOTES

First Impressions of Vision Pro and VisionOS - Daring Fireball

Apple’s Messi Vision - 500ish

The Pirate Queen: A Forgotten Legend - Tribeca Immersive

MONSTRORAMA - Tribeca Immersive

Tribeca Immersive

Why You Need to Get Yourself to the Nearest Meow Wolf Portal and Jump In - io9

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This week on the show Lucas Martell of Mighty Coconut, the creators of Walkabout Mini Golf, is with us to talk about the present and future of one of our absolute favorite things to do.

• Mighty Coconut
• Walkabout Mini Golf

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Joining us on the show this week is Erin Reilly Founding Director of The University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Immersive Institute at the Moody College of Communication. She's here to tell us about the program there and how the next generation of immersive creators is using emerging technology to create deeply human stories.

• Texas Immersive Institute
• The Next Stage Immersive Summit
• The Review Rundown
• The Immersive 5 w/Terence Leclere of #metaforyou

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This week on the show we welcome Nataki Garrett and Scarlett Kim of Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Latoya Peterson of Glow Up Games to talk about Hella Iambic the collaboration between the famed theatre company and the game studio that has previously worked with the likes of HBO on creating original games based on existing works.

The existing work in this case is Shakespeare’s best known play Romeo & Juliet, and the Hella Iambic app is adding a whole new dimension later this month to OSF’s currently running production of the play. 

SHOW NOTES

Romeo & Juliet at OSF

Nataki Garrett

Scarlett Kim

Glow Up Games

The Next Stage Immersive Summit

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This week on the show Evan Neiden, the founder of Candle House Collective — the makers of telephone-based experiences like the award-winning CLAWS and the serialized Lennox Mutual joins us.

Evan and host Noah Nelson go one-on-one in this episode, but keep your ears on the feed for some bonus material soon that features a deep dive with the Review Crew and the Candle House Collective on Lennox Mutual.

• Candle House Collective
• CLAWS
• Lennox Mutual
• The Next Stage Immersive Summit
• Review Rundown: The One With Fair Trades, Mystery Boxes, and Drag Sanctuaries
• ‘Threads of Fate’ Captures Hearts, Challenges Minds (The NoPro Review)

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Jon Pedigo is known to the NoPro universe as one of the creators of Bar of Dreams, which has charmed audiences on both the East and West Coast and to attendees of the 2022 Los Angeles Immersive Invitational as part of the team that created the brilliant Well, Well, Well that year.

Well, Jon will be back this weekend at the LA Immersive Invitational, teaming up with Karlie LeClare and Keight Leighn of Dream Logik (Snow Fridge), and joins us on the show this week to talk about Quonk, his project to create a sustainable venue to introduce immersive theatre to more audiences starting with Quonkhampton in Northampton, Mass.

Quonk

The Los Angeles Immersive Invitational

Who's The Bossk? Episode 224

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NoPro Arts Editor Laura Hess joins host Noah Nelson to trade notes on their experiences at the 2023 Without Walls Festival, a production of La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego. That includes stops at A Shared Space, Brassroots District, Fair Trade, Cleaning The Stables, and La Lucha.

Without Walls 2023

A Shared Space

Fair Trade

Brassroots District

Cleaning The Stables

La Lucha

A Saturday That Wow'd (A NoPro Diary)

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This week on the show we're joined by Terence Leclere & Dasha Kittredge, two thirds of the core team at #metaforyou, the actor led immersive services company whose work can be found in marketing & brand activations from coast to coast. LA immersive heads know Terence and Dasha as two of the powerhouse performers on the LA immersive scene, so it should come as no surprise that the conversation to follow goes long on talking about acting and the art of immersive often in the context of a brand activation aka the thing that pays so many performer’s bills.

In other words: It’s a cozy chat with some friends this week on the pod.

SHOW NOTES

• #metaforyou
• The Next Stage Immersive Summit
• The Long Road To Longmont: Paralysis’ ‘Omega’ Brings Immersive Horror To Colorado (FEATURE)
• Checking In On The Black Immersive Creators Grant As Deadline Looms

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Director Steven Calcote is a partner at Butcher Bird Studios and has created all kinds of projects for the likes of Legendary Entertainment, Sony Pictures, Disney, BBC America and more… but today we're going to talk about Making It VRy Big, BuzzFeed’s giant-sized food show which he shot in the 180 VR format and which you can find on Meta Quest TV. The topics at hand include how to make a 180 VR video feel connected to the audience, and just what happens to a film set when a 30 lbs cinnamon roll is introduced.

• Making It VRy Big (MetaQuest TV)
• Making It Big (Tasty's YouTube Channel)
• The Next Stage Immersive Summit
• Imagi-Ne’er-Do-Wells w/ Jenn Wong & Noah Nelson (April 23)
• Call Sheet April 2023

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Without Walls Festival Producer Amy Ashton and Director of Experiences and Activations Mia Fiorella join us to talk about this year's festival, as the La Jolla Playhouse produced event in San Diego moves to an annual schedule, goes free for all, and enjoys a partnership with the San Diego Symphony at the home at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. The festival runs April 27-30th.

• Without Walls Festival
• The Next Stage Immersive Summit
• REA Los Angeles Escape Room Meetup (April 17th)
• TEA x Immersive Institute Meetup in LA (April 20th)
• Imagi-Ne'er-Do-Wells w/ Jenn Wong & Noah Nelson (April 23)
• Call Sheet April 2023

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This week we're joined by Graham Wetterhahn, Sara Beil, and KJ Knies of After Hours Theatre Company to talk about The Tempest: An Immersive Experience, their current collaboration with the Shakespeare Center LA. The gang at After Hours Theatre Company are some of our favorite people to talk shop with.

• The Tempest: An Immersive Experience
• After Hours Theatre Company
• Shakespeare Center LA
• Next Stage: Spotlight Sessions & Deep Dives
• Imagi-Ne'er-Do-Wells w/ Jenn Wong & Noah Nelson - April 23, 2023
• Review Rundown for 4.4.23
• The Immersive 5 with Brett Jackson of Imagi-Ne’er-Do-Wells
• Desert X 2023 Begets Apathy and Heartbreaking Magic (Review)

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This week we head down to San Diego to talk with Optika Moderna's David Israel Reynoso about LA LUCHA, the company's latest immersive theatre piece that will preview during the Without Walls Festival (April 27-30) and then full open in May. Reynoso's previous shows Waking La Llorona and Las Quinceañeras stand tall in NoPro's immersive pantheon, and we expect LA LUCHA to to the same. Plus: a few more notes on WOW, and some updates on The Next Stage and our ongoing Patreon campaign.

• Don’t Miss These Shows At Without Walls Festival 2023
• Immersive Review Rundown for 3.28.23
• Intercon U 2023 — A NoPro Diary
• NoPro Pod: Getting Down with the ‘Brassroots District’ and Planning Your Escape
• Call Sheet March 2023
• The Next Stage Scholarship & Subsidy Application
• The Next Stage Badges

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Those of you who follow the world of experiential marketing have definitely heard of Giant Spoon, the full stack advertising agency that has put together some of the most talked about marketing activations of the era. Favorites of ours like SXSWestworld, The Last of Us premiere, or maybe our favorite thing ever: The Ink Hole puppet speakeasy for The HappyTime Murders. 

We talk a lot about production here, but we wanted to understand more about how these activations come into being from the client/agency side of the equation, and no one is better for insight into that process than Giant Spoon co-founder Marc Simons. Fresh off being named the most innovative ad agency in the world by Fast Company, we sat down with Marc to get a handle on the view of the experiential marketing world from his point of view.

• Giant Spoon
• Call Sheet March 2023
• Review Rundown for 3.14.23
• The Next Stage Summit 2023
• The Next Stage Pricing Info
• NoPro Patreon

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This week a special teamspeak episode of the podcast featuring the NoPro Staff including Leah Davis, Patrick McLean, Laura Hess, Blake Weil, and for the first time on the show Parker Sela, our associate producer.

We recorded this a couple of weeks ago, chatting about what we’ve been going to see and experience with a touch of what we’re looking forward to.

The conversation ranges WILDLY, but at around the 55 minute mark we get into a discussion and a description of artist Paul McCarthy’s White Snow for about 20 minutes. That involves discussion some pretty graphic imagery, and younger ears or those who just don’t want to get into sexualized material may want to hop ahead.

So yeah, that’s an EXPLICIT tag. We’re so 90's.

SHOW NOTES

• Doors Of Divergence
• Living Paintings
• POV: you are an ai achieving consciousness
• Paul McCarthy’s WS White Snow
• InterconU
• A Blistering Case of SXSW FOMO (A NoPro Guide)
• Review Rundown for 3.7.23
• CALL SHEET March 2023

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This week on the show our dear friend artist Nancy Baker Cahill is back for another enlightening conversation about digital art — both her work and the big currents that are shaping this constantly evolving world — from XR to working on massive public pieces that are immersive in a whole other dimensions, with stops along the way to talk about museum grade NFTs and incorporating generative AI into the work. 

• Nancy Baker Cahill
• NoPro Podcast Episode 177: Nancy Baker Cahill
• Quest’s Back Catalog Could Be A Knockout, But Meta Pulls Its Punches
• Immersive Review Rundown for 2.28.23
• Hunt A Killer Reviews Round Up
• SXSW: Sport And Immersive: The Past and Future of Fan Engagement
• SXSW: Is This Really Live? Performance in the Age of XR
• SXSW: This is Not a Person Part 2

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This week on the show NoPro’s London curator Shelley Snyder takes over the interview duties to talk with Immersive Everywhere’s Brian Hook about the company’s upcoming debut of The Great Gatsby in New York City after a long London run, along with a few updates about Gatsby’s future in the UK.

It's the first of what’s set to be some regular podcast dispatches coming out of London thanks to the continued support of our Patreon backers. 

SHOW NOTES

• Immersive Everywhere
• The Great Gatsby
• Review Rundown for 2.22.23
• Call Sheet for Feb 2023
• Everything Immersive

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This week on the show we’re marking the imminent Halfway to Halloween point of the year with two interviews.

First up: Jason Egan of Egan Productions - whose Saw, It, and Blair Witch escape games are perreniall favorites in Las Vegas, joins us to talk about his origins in haunts, and his latest endeavor: The John Wick Experience at AREA15. 

Then David Markland, co-founder and executive director of Midsummer Scream the world's largest horror and Halloween convention which will be returning to Long Beach this August, joins us to talk about Midsummer and the state of the horror scene as a whole.

• The John Wick Experience
• Egan Productions
• The Official Saw Escape Las Vegas
• Escape Blair Witch
• Escape It
• Midsummer Scream
• The Los Angeles Immersive Invitational
• Life & Trust Cast & Crew GoFundMe

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This week on the show YET ANOTHER doubleheader, only this time we’re staying on the VR side of things with a check in with ILMxLAB and then with the organizers of the XR Live Performance festival.

First — From ILMxLAB we talk with Director Jose Perez III and CG & Lighting Lead Ronman Ng about the PLAYSTATION VR2 launch title Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge: Enhanced Edition. This is what it says on the tin: an Enhanced Edition of the game we already love, and we get into just what is going into the new edition, what the PSVR2’s haptics are opening up for designers, and the state of VR on this eve of the launch of the highly anticipated peripheral for the wildly successful Playstation 5.

Then Braden Roy and Brian Tull of The Ferrymen Collective are here to talk about something at the other end of the VR spectrum: the XR Live Performance Exhibition now underway which is putting the spotlight on one of VR’s all too secret joys: live interactive theatrical performances staged inside virtual worlds.  

ILMxLAB

Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge: Enhanced Edition

XRLive Performance Exhibition

The Ferrymen Collective

Review Rundown: The One With Murder Mysteries, An Evil Ikea, and a Baby in a Well

‘NOWISWHEREWEARE’ Brings Us to ‘The Stars’ and Back (REVIEW)

NoPro's CALL SHEET, February 2023

NoPro Patreon

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This week on the show another doubleheader, this time reaching into two different parts of the immersiverse.

First up we have a great talk with Nate Koch, the prolific producer who has been part of Sleep No More, Queen of the Night, and the epic opening of Hermès’ flagship store in New York City to talk about a career that balances creating art and working with some of the biggest companies in the world as clients for experiential marketing. It’s the first time Nate and I have talked, and we have a fantastic conversation. 

Then Athena Demos and Doug Jacobson of Big Rock Creative are back on the show to chat about the surprise closing of AltSpaceVR, where they’ve been hosting the award winning virtual Burning Man celebration known as BRCvr, the future of that particular project and of Big Rock Creative as a whole… and we get into some broader thoughts about the state of VR at this particular moment in time.

SHOW NOTES

• Enveekay
• With a Musical Block Party Extravaganza, Hermès Feted its New (and Marvelous) Madison Avenue Home (Vogue)
• Big Rock Creative
• AltspaceVR is shutting down as Microsoft’s mixed reality division shrinks (The Verge)
• BRCvr
• CALL SHEET FEBRUARY 2023 (NoPro)
• NoPro’s 10 Most Anticipated New Works of 2023 (So Far)

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This week on the show a DOUBLEHEADER with a double dose of horror.

First, our good friend Bryan Bishop stops by wearing a brand new hat: he’s the Immersive Curator for this year’s Overlook Film Festival — the horror focused genre festival which is coming up in March in New Orleans, and he’s here to tell us all about what’s on tap for the festival. 

Then Winston Fisher, Co-Founder and CEO of AREA 15 dials in to give us the lowdown on the recently announced next phase of the Area 15 District in Las Vegas, which will include the first YEAR ROUND Halloween Horror Nights attraction from Universal. 

• Overlook Film Festival
• Fangoria Article on Overlook's immersive offerings
• Area 15
• Universal Is Bringing A Year-Round Horror Attraction To Vegas' Area 15 (Las Vegas Weekly)
• NoPro’s 10 Most Anticipated New Works of 2023 (So Far)
• A Shift at ‘Saint Jude’ (Review, NoPro)
• The Immersive 5 with Patchwork Adventures (NoPro)

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This week a special episode of the pod as Leah Davis, our New England correspondent, takes over the host duties for a panel on LARP in 2023. They’re joined by Darker Larper aka Dann, a LARP creator and academic and Nicholas Fortugno, Director of Gaming Pathways at City College of NY and co-founder of the Come Out and Play festival. (Plus Noah is there in the background, engineering and chiming in a little.)

• NYC Immersive Community Meetup
• The Nest
• 40 Watts From Nowhere on KCRW
• Call Sheet

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In Sugar Land, Texas, just outside of Houston, a bold experiment that brings together performance, puppetry, creative technology, and interactive storytelling waits for the curious and adventurous. This is The Department of Wonder, and it looks to be bringing together all the elements we talk about on the podcast regularly all under one roof.

This week we talk with Brandon Oldenburg and Limbert Fabian Co-Heads of Creative at The Department of Wonder about what their team has built, how they got there, and their plans for the future of the project.

• The Department of Wonder
• Call Sheet (January)

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Last January we told you all about the Black Immersive Creators Grant, which gives direct support to a Black maker who is launching original immersive work with a grant fund target of $10,000.

This year the Grant is back and looking to do it all over again. Joining us on the pod this week is Maya Carter - Vice President of the Board of the Black Immersive Creators Grant — and Grant support team member Kendra Slack of Linked Dance Theatre.

Black Immersive Creators Grant

Call Sheet - Jan 2023

Universal Plans New Family Resort in Texas, Las Vegas Horror Attraction

Review Rundown for 1/13/23

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We kick off 2023 by talking with the creators responsible for one of our 2022 highlights: the NoPro Review Crew trip to The Ministry of Peculiarities: Hope End in Azuza, CA. This escape game is the talk of SoCal's immersive scene, as it blends the best of escape room sleuthing with dialed in performances and a game structure where story is the ultimate reward.

We sit down with Adam Moody and brothers Jonathan & Benjamin Berk, the creative team who are Overlook Film Festival bound this Spring.

SHOW NOTES

The Ministry of Peculiarities

Overlook Film Festival

Call Sheet - January 2023

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This week on the show — you’ve got two MIGHTY SEGMENTS featuring members of the Senior Staff of NoPro — Arts Editor Laura Hess, Senior Editor Leah Davis, LA Reviews Editor Kevin Gossett, East Coast Curator at Large Blake Weil all join us in part one [6:37], and then London Curator Shelley Snyder and Chicago Curator Patrick McLean join us for part two [57:23].

SHOW NOTES

NoPro's Best Immersive Moments of 2022

NoPro's Best Immersive Experiences of 2022

Telelibrary Public Auction

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This week we sit down for one-on-one talks with members of our Review Crew to dive into their favorite moments & experiences of 2022. Each team member covers their favorite moment and one of their top shows of the year.

You can find an expanded written, but not identical, version of this at our website.

RUN ORDER

• Shelley Snyder, London Curator [6:42]
• Kevin Gossett, LA Reviews Editor [19:06]
• Katrina Lat, Toronto Correspondent [23:23]
• Nicholas Fortugno, New York Correspondent [36:25]
• Patrick McLean, Chicago Curator [51:42]
• Danielle Look, Denver Correspondent [59:56]
• Blake Weil, East Coast Curator at Large [1:10:25]
• Laura Hess, Arts Editor [1:20:49]
• Leah Davis, Senior Editor/New England Correspondent [1:28:28]
• Noah Nelson, Publisher and Host [1:43:25]

Show Notes

The Telelibrary Ticket Auction

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This week on the show — first we take a trip out to the South Coast Botanic Garden the site of Moment Factory’s ASTRA LUMINA, where with talk with Jonathan St-Onge and Thomas Pintal of Moment Factory and Isabel Solano Global Vice President of Live Experiences at Fever, who are co-presenting Astra Lumina in LA.

Then we chat with Andy Barnes of London's Immersive Experience Network about what this creative community centered group has on tap for 2023, including their current fundraiser for their Immersive Huddle series there in the global capital of immersive.

Show Notes

Astra Lumina LA

Moment Factory

Immersive Experience Network

IEN Fundraiser

Backer Exclusive: The Telelibrary Auction

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As we near Episode 500 I want to start experimenting, exploring other ways to connect with members of the immersive creative community.

One idea I've been toying with is a side-project where we talk with creators about works they love and that inspire them, and so that's what we do this week with long time backer, storyteller extraordinaire Jay Bushman.

Jay and I have known each other for nearly 15 years now, he's integral to the origin story of NoPro, and we both love ANDOR, the second of which starts this week. Somehow, in all this time, we have NEVER talked about ANDOR with each other. Which is weird, honestly, as talking Star Wars with each other is one of the facets of our friendship.

Note: this is a full on SPOILERS ON conversation, and it's less about the show itself then it is about storytelling, meaning making, and... okay it's also a lot about ANDOR! But it's not a recap show, so if you haven't seen Season One you will get lost pretty quick once we get going.

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This week on the show — we’re sharing with you the audio from the panel from the NYC Immersive Meetup hosted last month at Andrew Hoepfner’s GYMNOPEDIE that was moderated by NoPro’s New York Curator Allie Marotta.

The panel features:

• Alex Chmaj - co-owner of Future Proof
• Evan Neiden - Candle House Collective
• Andrew Hoepfner - Houseworld Immersive
• Jessica Creane - IKantKoan
• Risa Puno - Installation Artist, creator of The Privilege of Escape 

This is a frank conversation about the impact of the pandemic on their work, where the field of immersive is going, and includes questions from the audience. 

Note: the audio was recorded live, and we recommend NOT using headphones or earphones for this episode due to a few rare audio issues that are sprinkled through the recording.

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This week on the show — we’re taking a quick trip through the 2022 NoPro Gift Guide with No Pro East Coast Editor at large Blake Weil. Blake and I have pulled seven items from the Gift Guide to talk about including video games, boxed experiences, and live events you should definitely treat you and yours to.

Show Notes

• The 2022 NoPro Gift Guide

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First up, Scarlett Kim, Associate Artistic Director of Innovation and Strategy, of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival joins us to talk about the QUILLS FEST — where immersive tech and live performance come out to play — which is running now until the end of the month. We dive into why one of the United States' best known theatre companies is commissioning XR performance works. (5:45)

Then Greg Lombardo, Vice President and Head of Experiences at the one and only NETFLIX, stops by to talk about just why it is that Netflix has gotten into the immersive experience business and what Lombardo thinks is so special about the form. (34:40) Netflix, along with its partner Fever, is opening the Los Angeles tour stop of the Stranger Things Experience this weekend, and I have some quick thoughts on the show after the interview. (48:30)

SHOW NOTES

Quills Fest

Stranger Things Experience: Los Angeles

Stranger Things Experience: Atlanta

Stranger Things Experience: London

Stranger Things Review (Leah Davis for NoPro)

40 Watts From Nowhere Patreon Discount

Rumble in the Jungle Patreon Discount

The NoPro Discord

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This week on the show — Felix Barrett, the Artistic Director of Punchdrunk is here to talk about The Burnt City — currently playing in London — but that’s not all. We get into the state of the London immersive scene, LARPS, Punchdrunk’s own experiments with immersive gaming, that time they created a DOCTOR WHO event for school kids, video games, and the origins of Punchdrunk itself.

I tell you straight - I was nervous as heck going into this and I shouldn’t have been. Not only is this the biggest interview of the year for us, it’s also one of our best in ages.

Show Notes

• Punchdrunk
• The Burnt City
• Inscryption
• Immortality
• Quills Fest
• Rematch: Rumble in the Jungle
• NoPro Patreon

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Jeb Terry, the CEO of Cosm – a new company with surprisingly deep roots – joins host Noah Nelson to talk about their plans for bringing large scale immersive experiences, powered by dome projection tech, first to their flagship location being built in LA's Hollywood Park and then beyond. Thing is, the company has the tech stack to back it up, being the technology providers for some of the biggest planetariums in the world. And then there's the sports angle: with the company planning to leverage live sporting events as part of their programming. Something Terry knows more than a little about: he played in the NFL before going into business and leading initiatives at FOX Sports amongst others.

In other words: we're going long on the business of immersive this week.

SHOW NOTES

Cosm

Andrew Hoepfner's "How To Make Immersive Theater Your Full Time Job"

Bottom of the Ocean

Particle Ink: Speed of Dark

40 Watts From Nowhere Backer Discount

Immersive Experience Institute

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40 Watts From Nowhere, an experiential documentary from Mister & Mischief (Escape From Godot, The Builder & The Dove) was the absolute highlight of this year's Without Walls festival in San Diego for the NoPro team. Now creators Andy & Jeff Crocker are bringing the show, which puts audience members into the shoes of Sue Carpenter the real-life proprietor of pirate radio station KBLT in the Silver Lake neighborhood of LA, to the place where the story actually took place.

Strap yourselves in for a fun ride with Jeff, Andy, and host Noah Nelson as they cover the show, Andy's work on Tricks and Treats for Cedar Fair's theme parks, and how the lessons they learn on their home grown creative projects carry over to the work they do in themed entertainment.

SHOW NOTES

40 Watts From Nowhere

Mister & Mischief

Patreon Backer Discount Code

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This week on the show — we’ve gathered together a journalists roundtable to talk about this week’s Meta Connect event — and specifically the keynote address that introduced the Quest Pro headset. Joining are Scott Stein of CNET — who had some serious hands on time with the new device — Todd Martens of the LA Times, who covers games and themed entertainment for LA’s daily newspaper, and the one and only Kent Bye of the Voices of VR Podcast — making this episode a crossover pod!

Show Notes

Scott Stein at CNET

Scott's Quest Pro hands-on, and Reality Labs video

Todd Martens at the LA Times

Kent's Voices of VR Podcast

The Denver Immersive Gathering

What Are Immersive Experiences? (Immersive Experience Institute)

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This week on the show — it’s a two-hander as Los Angeles Reviews Editor and Review Crew captain Kevin Gossett and host Noah Nelson trade notes on LA’s Spooky Season so far — covering Universal Halloween Horror Nights, Knott’s Scary Farm, the Haunted Hayride and a few asides along with shop talk about what makes these things click for both aficionados and the more causal spooky season goers.

SHOW NOTES

Disney signs deal with Lighthouse Immersive (Toronto Star)

Denver Immersive Gathering

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This week on the show — we chat with members of the creative team of Nightfall at Old Tucson — Erik Blair and Michael Thomas-Visgar – about how they’re transforming the classic haunted amusement park attraction into an immersive playground this year.

Then Justin Fix of JFI Productions swings by to talk The Willows, which is returning to LA with its first Spooky Season edition, and we do what Justin and I always do: start talking the business of immersive.  

Show Notes

NYC Immersive Meetup RSVP

Denver Immersive Gathering

Everything Immersive

CASTING

Boston Bar Bloodsuckers

The NoPro Discord Forums

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This week on the show — Yannick Trapman-O’Brien, creator of the beloved TELELIBRARY is here to talk about the TWO shows he has in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival — Fair Trade, a collaboration with Jessica Creane, and Undersigned — which is also making its way to New York City soon. [8:25]

Then David Thomas will be here to help us take a deep dive into The DIG — The Denver Immersive Gathering — as we announce the full schedule for this next great gathering of the immersive creative community that’s coming up on Nov 4–6th. [45:14]

Plus Noah’s riff on this week’s big immersive business news. [1:23:00]

• Fair Trade
• Undersigned
• The DIG
• NYC Immersive Meetup
• BOTO Fundraiser for NoPro
• Today Tix Acquires Secret Cinema for 100 million plus | Variety

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Another double header this week as first we're joined by Winston Fisher, Chief Executive officer of Las Vegas' AREA15 to talk about their 20-acre expansion this year which will see attractions like Felix & Paul Studios’ Interstellar Arc, The Museum of Ice Cream, and the highly anticipated Universal Horror Unleashed. 

Then Graham Wetterhahn of After Hours Theatre Company and Nick Rheinwald-Jones of Spy Brunch join us for a chat about The Los Angeles Immersive Invitational, where competitors will be showcasing their creations on May the 4th at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s The Village at Ed Gould Plaza.

• AREA15
• Universal Horror Unleashed
• The Los Angeles Immersive Invitational

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This week on the show — choreographer and creator Koryn Wicks is here to talk about the upcoming run of her show CASTING, a surreal, satirical take on the casting process that is having its first public run this month at Thymele Arts in Los Angeles after emerging as the winner of the 2019 LA Immersive Invitational, and in classic NoPro form we get into some theory while we’re at it. [5:00]

Then Walter Magnuson, General Manager of Winchester Mystery House is here to tell us all about UNHINGED: NIGHTSHADE’S CURSE, the haunt experience that will take over 13 nights at the Bay Area landmark starting later this month. [28:10]

SHOW NOTES

• CASTING
• Unhinged: Nightshades’s Curse
• Backer Exclusive: BOTO & NYC Meetup Early Access
• Denver Immersive Gathering

Associate Producer: Parker Sela

Music: Chris Porter

Producer and Host: Noah Nelson

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This week on the show — Andrew Scoville, the director of THEATER OF THE MIND, from creators David Byrne & Mala Gaonkar, which opens next week in Denver under the auspices of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ Off-Center program is here to talk about the show, and our Venice Immersive coverage continues [27:20] with Céline Tricart, creator of the VR experience FIGHT BACK, which explores the issue of gender based violence and gives participants a taste of the self defense techniques they can use to, well, fight back.

SHOW NOTES

Denver Immersive Gathering

The Weeping Witch

Boston Bar Bloodsuckers

Casting

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We kick things off this week with the creative duo Lola Tango, that's Jessica Kantor & Eve Weston, whose latest work is the exhibit Be Water My Friend which explores the life and mind of martial arts superstar Bruce Lee, currently on display at Seattle's Wing Luke museum.

Then NoPro's Patrick McLean stops by for a long chat with host Noah Nelson about what they've been playing, together and separately, in VR of late. That would be Walkabout Mini Golf's Labyrinth expansion (based on the Jim Henson movie), Moss Book II, and the tabletop dungeon crawl simulator Demeo, which is the not-so-secret origin of this segment. [27:00]

Show Notes

• The Look Club
• Trailheads
• NoPro Recommends: Best of 2022 (So Far)
• Review Rundown

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