This week we’re joined by Gillian Leitten , CEO of The Lumen Prize because today is that day that the 99 finalists for the Prize are announced (check the Show Notes) and Leitten is here to talk with us about the prize which celebrates artists forging new systems of meaning through technology’s evolving creative frontier. We give a special focus on the Hybrid and Experiential categories, the later of which is the evolution of last year's Interactive/Immersive category and for the second year in a...
Aug 15, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 498
This week on the show Franki Chan , founder and chief creative officer of IHEARTCOMIX , the award-winning creative marketing agency who joined us last weekend at The Next Stage Immersive Summit along with the team from #METAFORYOU of Terence Leclere, Dasha Kittredge, and Annie McGrath, to talk about the 2-night overnight horror horror experience at the legendary Stanley Hotel dubbed The Overnightmare is with us today to share the backstory of IHEARTCOMIX — from parties at LA’s Beauty Bar in the ...
Aug 08, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 497
Zach Morris of Third Rail Projects and Charlie Miller of The Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ Off-Cente r join host Noah Nelson to talk about the upcoming Sweet & Lucky: Echo — a companion story of the 2016 hit Sweet & Lucky –– which helped put Denver ’s immersive scene on the map. SHOW NOTES Sweet & Lucky: Echo Third Rail Projects The Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ Off-Center The Next Stage Immersive Summit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 25, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 496
This week Parker Sela takes over the show to talk about Pompeii , no not the ancient Roman city that was destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD, but the Fosse-tacular immersive by Detour Productions that is coming to San Francisco at the end of this month. Billed as “part Fosse fantasy, part queer cabaret, part end-of-the-world dance party,” Parker checks in with returning guest, Detour co-founder and Pompeii director Eric Garcia along with performer Mudd The Two Spirt who plays the M.C. in Pompeii ...
Jul 18, 2025•54 min•Season 1Ep. 495
This summer a spectacle has bloomed at Meow Wolf’s Convergence Station in Denver and Omega Mart in Las Vegas, bringing a new interactive performance layer that unfolds on a continuous loop and new characters from uncharted corners of the multiverse in the form of dancers, puppets, and shimmering creatures called Flickerwermz. It’s called Phenomenomaly and it’s running now through August 9th, and the event is inspired by the world — our world — of immersive theatre and dance. Joining us this week...
Jul 11, 2025•53 min•Season 1Ep. 494
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. SHOW NOTES ...
Jul 04, 2025•1 hr 41 min•Season 1Ep. 493
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...
Jun 27, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 492
This week on the show we’ve got another double header. First up, Jake Pinholster the Dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Creative Producer & Director Scarlett Kim — the producers of Worlds in Play , join us to talk about the upcoming gathering of play practitioners—game and theatre artists alike— which is coming to Monticello, Illinois this August. Then joining us is Prescott Gadd , creator of Spies Among Us , a mystery adventure th...
Jun 20, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 491
This week on the show we’ve got an extra-long double header with some real clarity of purpose as we take a look at IMMERSIVE inside Theme Parks. First up, Mike Ostrom , Manager of Entertainment and Events for Six Flags Magic Mountain and WOW! Entertainment Inc’s Mark Brymer join me to spill the details on DC Heroes & Villains Festival - an immersive theatrical takeover of and Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six Flags Great Adventure this summer which kicks off at Magic Mountain in Southern Cali...
Jun 13, 2025•2 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 490
Today on the show we’re talking about this year’s Tribeca Immersive offering at the Tribeca Festival which is currently running in New York City. This year the lineup has come together thanks to a unique partnership between Tribeca, Onassis ONX , and Agog: The Immersive Media Institute. To tell us how that all came together we’ll be joined this week by Casey Baltes , VP Tribeca Games & Immersive; Jazia Hammoudi , Program Director at Onassis ONX; and returning to the show is Chip Giller co-fo...
Jun 06, 2025•53 min•Season 1Ep. 489
This week on the show we go into the field for a visit to Sypher Arts Studio where Labyrinth Masquerade founder Shawn Strider and producer Jacquie Adorni give us a tour of the treasure trove of costumes that make up the living tapestry that is the Labyrinth Masquerade — the Twenty Seventh edition of which will take place this coming August 15th & 16th at the Historic Biltmore in Downtown Los Angeles . The Masquerade hosts thousands of guests each year, with many cosplayers and costumers goin...
May 30, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 488
Little Cinema's Jay Rinsky joins us to talk about his most ambitious project yet: bringing The Matrix — the 1999 blockbuster that defined action movies for a generation — to Cosm’s titanic video domes. In classic Little CInema style they’re using theatrical techniques to bring the world of The Matrix outside the film frame and onto the wrap around canvas of Cosm’s big screens. SHOW NOTES The Matrix in Shared Reality The Next Stage Immersive Summit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more ...
May 23, 2025•55 min•Season 1Ep. 487
This week on the show we are joined by Katy Naylor of Voidspace to talk about Voidspace Live, the interactive arts festival which is coming up in London June 7th & 8th and which is featuring a wonderful cross section of London’s always bubbling immersive & experiential scene. SHOW NOTES Voidspace Live The Next Stage Immersive Summit NoPro Backer Focus Group (Round One - Pillar of the Community Tier & Above) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
May 16, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 486
We wrap up our Detor into Andor: A Star Wars Story's second series with one more trip along the Rimma Trade Route to talk with Jay Bushman about the final arc – ever – of the series which pushed Star Wars storytelling in bold new directions. Spoilers Abound. SHOW NOTES Night Drive - Synthwave Cyberpunk by Elysium Sound Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
May 15, 2025•2 hr 3 min
This week on the show we are joined by Donna Personna & Mark Nassar two of the three writers — along with Collette LeGrande — of The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot which has returned to San Francisco’s Tenderloin after a successful run in 2018. The immersive, interactive play brings to life the 1966 uprising in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district that was one of the first acts of organized LGBTQ+ resistance in the United States pre-dating the Stonewall Riots by three years. Donna beings her real l...
May 09, 2025•52 min•Season 1Ep. 485
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. SHOW NOTES 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
May 08, 2025•1 hr 51 min
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 projec...
May 02, 2025•48 min
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...
Apr 25, 2025•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 483
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...
Apr 22, 2025•1 hr 18 min
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 competito...
Apr 18, 2025•1 hr 41 min•Season 1Ep. 482
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 wee...
Apr 11, 2025•59 min•Season 1Ep. 481
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. SHOW NOTES Beat The Bomb Beat The Bomb Denver The 2025 Los Angeles Immersive Invitational Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 04, 2025•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 480
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 o...
Mar 28, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 479
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 blockb...
Mar 21, 2025•1 hr 36 min•Season 1Ep. 478
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 (al...
Mar 14, 2025•42 min•Season 1Ep. 477
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 i...
Mar 07, 2025•58 min•Season 1Ep. 476
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. SHOW NOTES XPLAND The XLIST Nomination Process 2025 Audience Discount Code for Nominations: XLISTNOPRO25 The XLIST 2023 The 2025 NoPro Audience Award Nominees Ballot Access ...
Feb 28, 2025•50 min•Season 1Ep. 475
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 H...
Feb 21, 2025•1 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 474
This week on the show we’re joined by Planning Your Escape author and one of the creators of the upcoming Mystery Ave. in Portland, the one and only Laura Hall — who will not be talking about EITHER of those things but instead talking about the Center for Immersive Arts — her project to help preserve key parts of the history of immersive art.That includes the resurrection of the classic Alternate Reality Game forum known as the Unforum, as a static archive that captures a key moment in time. SHO...
Feb 14, 2025•50 min•Season 1Ep. 473
This week on the show, Stefanie Frey the Director of Organizing & Mobilization for Actor’s Equity Association — joins us to talk about how Equity — the union for actors and stage managers — has been expanding its membership into places like escape rooms and themed restaurants that touch upon our world of immersive experiences. SHOW NOTES Actor's Equity Association Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jan 31, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 471
