The No Proscenium Podcast

If you're in the amusement industry, Kevin Williams is a name you probably know. Once upon a time he headed up the "DisneyQuest" project in Orlando for the Mouse House, and beyond that he's a consultant on numerous projects, the editorial voice of The Stinger Report and founder of The DNA: Digital Out-of-Home Interactive Entertainment Association.

This year he's starting an all new conference focused on the Future of Immersive Leisure. We talked about that, his history in the amusement industry, and a whole lot more.

Plus: David & Lisa of Room Escape Artist stop by to talk about the state of Escape Rooms, and I go into a little more about LEIA: the League of Experiential & Immersive Artists, which is coming together in the Southland.

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Oh, do we have a multi-layered episode for you today.

First, we turn to Jacob Patterson of Think Tank Gallery, as we drop in on the night of their media preview for their next big show Drinkin', Smokin', West Coastin'.

Then we unlock the No Pro time machine (Where do you think all that Patreon money goes to?) to enter the world of Nocturnal Fandango before The Sudden Loneliness Gift disrupted their dreams and plans. That's where we find Jason and Kevin Davidson, the couple at the heart of that company, weeks after Have You Seen Jake? ended, before a tragic fire--an uncanny echo of stories past--took Kevin away from Jason.

All that, and Noah shares his tale of a Technodelic experience.

Wait, what?

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Christian Dieckmann is the Chief Strategy Officer of 3D Live, a technology studio in Los Angeles that specializes in creating "holographic" 3D.

Their LED video wall has made appearances at VRLA and other gatherings, showing that there is something magical to letting those of us outside a virtual space see what happens when participants and performers are interacting with virtual worlds.

Christian is going to be speaking at the Future of Immersive Leisure conference at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas this September 13th & 14th. The conference organizers were gracious enough to set us up with Christian for this interview and our audience up with a 20% discount for the conference when they use the code NOPROSCENIUM.

Shouldn't be too hard to remember.

All that, plus the end of the show notes where I talk a little about In Another Room, which makes its bows this week in LA.

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After two years (!!) we're back with Annie Lesser for a conversation on how her work has evolved as she's become a mainstay of LA's immersive theatre scene.

Plus: field reports from Noah about Midsummer Scream and a pop-up event for HBO's Big Little Lies that pulled in some of LA's best immersive actors and creators.

What a week. 

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At this year's San Diego Comic Con the most buzzed about things weren't movies: they were immersive.

Pop-up "marketing activations" for Westworld, Blade Runner 2049, and Mr. Robot drew on the talents and skills of immersive theatre makers and ARG crafters to created the biggest tentpole for immersive this side of Sleep No More.

We check in with Daphne Mir and Maxwell Robison who checked out Westworld and Blade Runner 2049, respectively, to get a connoisseur eye view of these immersive gateways into some of Hollywood's biggest properties.

Plus: our neighbor uses a garden hose throughout a very special announcement from Noah.

Plus-plus: in LA this weekend? Swing on by MIDSUMMER SCREAM and catch our "STAGE & SCREAM" panel on Sunday. Featuring Zombie Joe, Shine On Collective, The Overlook Film Fest, and Unbound Productions.

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What can we say about this Open Forum edition?

Well: we crack open a can of worms and we go right in. That's what.

WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE.

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Steve Boyle, the CEO of the SF Bay Area's Epic Immersive stops by to talk about their work in immersive theatre and VR... and about their new show The Infernal Motel.

Plus:

• A bit about the Future of Immersive Leisure conference this September in Las Vegas
• A call for submissions in next weeks OPEN FORUM episode
• An op-ed from Noah about some of the issues popping up in the SoCal immersive scene

All brought to you by our generous Patreon backers.

Sustaining Backer: Ross Sigworth

Music By: Chris Porter

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Lauren Ludwig of Capital W stops by to take a deep dive into the process behind her latest, the much talked about Red Flags. Which means we dive deep down the acting and process rabbit hole.

What does that have to do with Jon Hamm? 

You'll see. You'll see.

Plus: "live events locksmith" Simon Rust Lamb jumps in to answer YOUR questions about getting a new production company off the ground.

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John Bucher of Sideshow Media Group joins us to talk about his upcoming book Storytelling For Virtual Reality, and in the process gets Noah to go way, way off script. (Warning: content advisory.)

Plus the creator of the augmented reality/immersive theatre piece Transmission, which will be making its debut at the Edinburgh Fringe stops by.

Brought to you by our Patreon backers, including sustaining backer Ross Sigworth.

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Vinny DePonto is an amazing mentalist based out of New York City who knows a thing or twelve about immersive theatre: he's been working for the past few years with Third Rail Projects on shows like Sweet & Lucky and the recently opened Ghost Light. 

While on tour in LA, Vinny stopped by NoPro headquarters to talk with Noah about how magic is the original immersive theatre and his own background in working in both magic and immersive.

Plus: we get Meiyin Wang, the new Festival Director of the Without Walls Festival, on the line to talk about their big announcement this week and Lauren Ludwig of Capital W (Red Flags, Hamlet-Mobile) stops by to talk about the launch of NoPro's brand new workshop program: because she's teaching the first class next month!

In other words: this is a MASSIVE episode, all in a tiny little space.

Because we know you like it that way.

(Oh, and dig our new logo by Dino Nama, cool, right?)

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