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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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 we’re joined by Margaret Chandra Kerrison, who is here to talk about her latest book The Art of Immersive Storytelling: Strategies from the Gaming World.  Many of you know Margaret from her time with Walt Disney Imagineering where she worked on some projects dear to our hearts like Galaxy’s Edge. These days she is Senior Creative Director for TAIT.

Before we get into the episode — it’s time to break down just who will be joining us at the LOS ANGELES IMMERSIVE INVITATIONAL the first weekend in May.

• The Art of Immersive Storytelling: Strategies from the Gaming World
• The Los Angeles Immersive Invitational
• Patreon: How to use your audio RSS

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This week we’re joined by Alexander Patterson, founder of Beat The Bomb and we go on the origin story journey of the New York based company which traces its roots to Alex’s time with Tough Mudder all the way to its post-pandemic expansion, including the opening THIS WEEKEND of Beat The bomb Denver — the SEVENTH overall.

• Beat The Bomb
• Beat The Bomb Denver
• The 2025 Los Angeles Immersive Invitational

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This week on the show: another double header.

FIrst up: Mikhael Tara Garver and Jenny Koons of Culture House Immersive are with us to talk a bit about the work going on over there, including a fair amount about working with creatives from outside the realm of immersive to bring their worlds to life.

Then we check in with friend of the show Yannick Trapman-O’Brien, who is celebrating an anniversary for The Telelibrary — the much beloved one on one phone based experience that has taken on a life of its own — and is rebuilding the secretive Undersigned after losing some of the show to the devastating fires in LA this past January.

SHOW NOTES

• Culture House Immersive
• Yannick Trapman-O’Brien
• The Telelibrary
• Undersigned

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This week on the show we’ve got a double header.

FIrst up: Amy Ashton and Mia Fiorella of the La Jolla Playhouse will help me make a path through the lineup of this year’s Without Walls Festival, which is coming up April 24-27th on the campus of UC San Diego.

Then Jimmy Reckitt and I talk about making Vampire LARPS which is exactly what he does as the Head of Story for By Night Studios and their upcoming event Darkness Emergent: Los Angeles, the latest in the Darkness Emergent series of blockbuster LARPS which comes to the Biltmore Hotel in LA on Memorial Day weekend.

• Without Walls Festival Lineup Announcement
• Without Walls Festival
• Darkness Emergent
• By Night Studios
• Enemies of the Night Backerkit Campaign

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This week we are joined by Jack Aldisert of Deadweight Theatre, creator of The Manikins, which was the talk of the London immersive scene throughout 2024 — so much so that some legendary figures on that scene became collaborators — and which will be coming to the Overlook Film Festival in New Orleans this April and is sure to be all the talk there.

In the host chair for this discussion is Shelley Snyder, NoPro’s London Curator — and not only do Shelley and Jack deftly avoid serious spoilers (although those who love to go in cold, consider yourself forewarned) they also have one of the frankest conversations about making immersive work I’ve had the pleasure of listening to in quite some time. – Noah

SHOW NOTES

• The Manikins
• Deadweight Theatre
• The Overlook Film Festival 2025 Events

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This week on the show we’ve got a look at two of the experiences in this year’s SXSW XR Experience Competition — The Secret Life of Monsters: The Gateway Experience and Traces: The Grief Processor — we have the key creatives behind both joining us on the pod in a double header.

Once again the SXSW lineup is filled with as many XR experiences, IRL activations, and smarty pants panels a person can take in, and we’ve picked out the ones we’re most intrigued by in our annual SXSW FOMO Guide, which is up on the site and linked in the show notes.

Which includes a panel your podcast host is moderating.

• The Secret Life of Monsters: The Gateway Experience
• Traces: The Grief Processor 
• The 2025 SXSW FOMO Relief Patch (A NoPro Guide)
• From Creator To Closer: Your Path To Greenlight (SXSW panel w/Noah)
• The 2025 NoPro Audience Awards

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This week on the show we’re joined by Erica Boeke, CEO of XPLAND — which covers the business of experiential from awards shows to activism, sports to immersive — and who are gearing up for their second XLIST — which puts the spotlight on the most creative visionaries in experiential. Nominations for which are open RIGHT NOW.

• XPLAND
• The XLIST Nomination Process 2025
• Audience Discount Code for Nominations: XLISTNOPRO25
• The XLIST 2023
• The 2025 NoPro Audience Award Nominees
• Ballot Access for The 2025 NoPro Audience Awards (Backer Only)

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This week on the show we’ve got a double feature.

First up: Graham Wetterhahn of After Hours Theatre Company and NoPro’s own Parker Sela stop by to talk about Dark Library Paris: 1925, a new immersive cocktail experience that’s running in North Hollywood at present.

Then: immersive theatre creator Michael Bontatibus, whose company Witness we have covered in the past here at NoPro, joins us to talk about the state of immersive theatre as a whole, based on a recent essay he wrote entitled "What Happened to Immersive Theatre? How traditional and immersive theatre could rebuild together."

• Dark Library Paris: 1925 
• After Hours Theatre Company
• What Happened to Immersive Theatre?
• Witness
• The 2025 NoPro Audience Award Nominees
• Secret Cinema: Grease
• Universal Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas Tickets On Sale Announcement

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