Immersion Nation Podcast

Description:

Spencer Williams has followed a common thread. From documentary, to haunted corn mazes, to boutique immersive experiences for only 1 to 3 guests. The desire to watch a story, a world, a new perspective unfold brought him to the front edge of immersive entertainment.

Creating Walk the Night Immersive, Spencer has developed Tales by Candlelight, The Guest and the Host, and a number of other productions in collaboration with world renowned Bluebarn theatre.

As part of the first cohort of immersive creators, Spencer has helped give legs to the immersive revolution; he, like many others, found a home on the front lines of this changing 

landscape and decided to stay.

Make it immersive:

Creating magic realism: [2:15] 

Selected Links from episode:

• Walk the Night
• Tales By Candlelight
• Grand Rapids, MI [shameless hometown plug]
• Capital W
• Two Bit Circus
• Galaxy’s edge
• Speakeasy Society
• Immersive Sweeny todd
• SXSWestworld
• Scent marketing
• Immersive Design Summit
• Jenny Weinblum of Meow Wolf
• Geoffrey Jackson Scott: Peoplmovr
• Ceaseless fun
• Giant Spoon
• Santa Monica Pier: (does strange things)
• The Guest and the Host: make music

Show Notes:

• Make it immersive [2:15]
• Using personal context to build worlds [13:30]
• Building options and making a new fields [18:45]
• Immersive impacting students [21:02]
• Immersive impact on theatre [22:28]
• Immersive advertising [25:16]
• Scent marketing + awareness [26:43]
• Stepping carefully [27:48]
• Immersive revolution: “What are we revolting against” [30:40]
• The importance of questioning + extended fandom [31:40]
• Facebook, consent, and why Opt-out, not Opt-in? [33:55]
• ‘Move fast and break things’ vs. sustainability [37:37]
• High potential immersive creators [41:27]
• Spencer’s work & details of the experiences [45:03]
• Changes in ‘Tales by Candlelight' booking [50:08]
• Audience ask: ‘Find what’s near you’ [54:17]

Spencer Williams has followed a common thread. From documentary, to haunted corn mazes, to boutique immersive experiences for only 1 to 3 guests. The desire to watch a story, a world, a new perspective unfold brought him to the front edge of immersive entertainment.

Creating Walk the Night Immersive, Spencer has developed Tales by Candlelight, The Guest and the Host, and a number of other productions in collaboration with world renowned Bluebarn theatre.

As part of the first cohort of immersive creators, Spencer has helped give legs to the immersive revolution; he, like many others, found a home on the front lines of this changing landscape and decided to stay. 

Selected Links from episode:

• Magic realism
• Neal Gaiman
• One Hundred Years of Solitude
• Titus Andronicus
• The Tempest
• Sleep No More
• Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Tom Robbins
• Blue Barn Theatre
• Joseph Campbel:
  • “If we fix on the old, we get stuck. When we hang onto any form, we are in danger of putrefaction.”
• No proscenium
• Augmentary Materials
• Walk the Night Imemrsive’s augmentary material
• The Guest and the Host
• Tales by Candlelight
• San Francisco secret society (Latitude society)
• Speakeasy Society
• Cloak and Dagger LA
• Red Flags

Show Notes:

• Favorite fictional world [2:12]
• Spencer’s path to immersion [5:05]
• Shakespeare mixed with Texas Chainsaw Massacre [7:16]
• Ask of the audience & boiling enlightenment [9:34]
• World renowned theatre in Nebraska [13:00]
• 10 million dollar theatre facility?? [17:50]
• 1st Public Announcement: Bluebarn changes [18:20]
• Experiential vs. Immersive [19:45]
• From group to 1 on 1 (what is a 1 on 1?) [25:00]
• How the human mind understands story [28:50]
• Talking like stars and echoes [29:35]
• Open world vs. set paths (Sandbox vs. Tracks) [31:10]
• Why Names are so important [32:10]
• Words as tools and set pieces [35:00]
• Onboarding- new levels to the game [37:22]
• The beauty of Mario [41:45]

Monica Miklas and Lauren Ludwig travel through the fringe, to the front lines of immersive entertainment. Encountering overzealous onlookers, confused law enforcement, and a lifelong frustration with the 4th wall; they solve the problems that come with being on the front edge of a new wave. Based in LA, they are the skilled weavers of wonder that co-founded Capital W

Known for their shows: Red Flags, Rochester, 1996, and Hamlet Mobile. They have both spoken and taught at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, produced shows in Denver, and sustained a continuing run of the infinitely fascinating ‘Red Flags’ since 2017.

In this episode: we discuss immersive entertainment as a tool for cultural realignment, the hazards of confused onlookers, the barrier to entry, and why you shouldn't think that a Disney or Meow Wolf budget is needed to create impactful and inspiring immersive entertainment.

Make it immersive: [20:50]
‘His Dark Materials’ and ‘Clue’

Selected links from episode:

• Capital W
• His dark materials 
• Agatha christie comedy / clue
• Devised work (theatre terminology)
• Toon Town
• Sleep no more
• Hamlet mobile 
• Red Flags
• Rochester 1996
• Filming permits in LA
• Meow Wolf Denver
• Tales by Candle Light
• More than 5 senses

Show Notes:

• World of choice: [2:15]
• Their path to and with immersion [4:14]
• The first why behind the creative drive [8:17]
• Knowing it’s fake, critical distance, and safety [10:20]
• Story: Cops, helicopters, and very confused samaritans [13:30]
• The illusion of Danger [17:10]
• Onboarding bystanders [18:50]
• Make it immersive! [20:50]
  • His dark materials [21:28]
  • Clue [26:46]
• Rapid fire [28:07]
  • Excited about upcoming immersion experience. 
    • Meow Wolf Denver [28:27]
    • Smell in immersion [28:50]
• Immersion’s impact on today's culture [30:30]
• About Capital W! [31:35]
• Lauren and Monica's recommendations [32:46]
  
  

More Episodes: ImmersionNation.com/podcast or your favorite podcast platform

Marcia Angel, Cofounder of Story Works, has been working in both drama and psychology for more than 3 decades. Her staple event, Playback Improv, is one of the oldest most personally impactful vehicles for immersive experience. Originating in Nepal, playback mirrors the stories of the audience through improv actors. In the midst of this performance, a truly unique social space is created. 

Marcia began hosting dramatic events with her husband and cofounder, Billy Angel, in her living room. This eventually grew into a larger room, a larger house, than a physical location. In the process, the events that would become Story Works moved from the UK, to Florida, to Grand Rapids Michigan. For the last 7 years, Marcia and Billy have worked to create a space for the sharing and celebration of creativity and personal stories. 

Make it immersive:
Lion King [18:13]

Selected links from episode:

• Story Works
• Julie Taymor
• Sound and Movement
• Bodywork
• Playback Theater
• Jonathan Fox
• Body Mirroring
• Sonic resonance
• [sp] Dalmiere Boustous (Couldn’t find this guy. Again, Playback is very hard to film and or record)

Show Notes:

Lion King, Julie Tamar, and animals as people [1:49]

Her path to immersion [4:04]

What is playback? [6:05]

No such thing as fictional stories [8:57]

Immersive theatre: history, community, and cultural context[12:04]

Make it immersive: Lion king [18:13]

Auditory/sonic mirroring [24:43]

Space, volume, and noticing cultural differences [28:06]

Playback improv with kids [36:27]

Filming Immersives experiences [37:24]

Vulnerability in a participatory audience [41:18]

Surplus Reality and (not so)rapid fire questions [43:22]

Surplus reality & Marica’s daughter [45:34]

Ian McNeely & Austen Anderson are the shakespearean trained, co-founders of Broken Ghost immersives. Deploying a seemingly infinite supply of creativity, they create experiences that cater to any type of player. They have created The Bunker, and Rogue’s Gallery, and formerly the wake. 

Multi-layered doesn’t begin to cover the degree of engagement that Ian and Austen create in their shmorgishborg of immersive optionality. Their love of game format pairs particularly well with their acting skills. The product of this is a format of immersion that has exists at the rare intersection between personalized narrative and environment interaction.

Make it immersive:
Farscape & Star Trek [21:25]

Selected links from episode:

• Broken Ghost Immersive
• The Bunker
• Rogue’s gallery
• Farscape
• VR baptism
• Mega Games: (watch the skies)
• Interactive events via interwebs, browser, or phone: 
• Wilderance

Show Notes:

• What fictional world [1:40]
• Path to immersion [3:40]
• Creativity Remote performer [6:00]
• State of Escape Room industry in NY [8:08]
• To speak or not to speak in immersive experience [9:30]
• Text, IM, and emotional discourse in immersive experiences [11:17]
• VR baptism, dynamic proximity, and social spaces [13:58]
• Over-communication vs decisiveness in groups [19:06]
• Make it immersive: Farscape & Star Trek [21:25]
• Social experiments as immersive games [26:48]
• Rapid Fire questions [29:09]
  • Exciting potential immersive experiences [29:35]
  • Getting folks engaged & on boarding [32:00]
  • Impact of immersive theater on traditional theater [35:05]
  • What do people take away from immersive experiences? [40:17]
• Where can you find broken Ghost [43:14]

Scott Cramton is the founder of American Immersion Theater with over 1,000 immersive shows under his belt. Over the course of 15 years Scott has developed and refined socially immersive experiences. 

 Scott was born with a cleft palate and -naturally- chose to act professionally. Often, one’s greatest weakness has potential to become their greatest strength. Scott’s path led him to creating an audacious and counterintuitive way of encouraging others to communicate and connect through acting. 

Scott’s -and American Immersion Theater’s- staple is the LARP-esque murder mystery dinner. Though, they also perform princess parties, superhero parties, feigned fame stunts, and a myriad of other events that defy a consistent label referred to as atmospheric entertainment. 

Make it Immersive:
Willy Wonka [32:35] 

Selected links from episode:

• American Immersion Theater
• Princess Parties
• Super Hero Parties
• Famous for a Day
• Atmospheric Entertainment
• Meow Wolf
• Sleep no more
• Act with AIT
• On acting podcast
• Buzzfeed: Famous for a day video
• Robert Reich
• Boy from oz
• The play goes wrong show
• Willy Wonka taste it room

Show Notes:

• About Scott & what he does [1:35]
•  How many shows? [3:46]
• Murder Mystery tour through Europe & Middle East [5:03]
• Actors training, social immersion, and rethinking princess parties [7:07]
• Scott’s fictional word + Wonka marketing, quaker oats [12:40]
• What drew Scott to Immersion and his “Spite-Bulb” moment [15:28]
• Being decimated and catching up on acting skills [20:25]
• Creative impetus behind creating immersive spaces + screwing with actors, inception of MMC [22:50]
• “Wolverine” on stage, Boy from oz & the turning point, It should all be interactive [25:58]
• How to fake it on broadway, Immersive experience idea [29:19]
• Make it Immersive: Willy Wonka [32:35] 
• Willy Wonka fan theories [37:18]
• Asking Mike TV about the fan theories [39:03]
• Brief nuts and bolts thoughts on selecting immersive worlds [41:15]
• Scott’s podcast & where can you find him [44:44]